Eighth-day Pesach: The Tale of The Four Mourning Children (Yizkor d’var Torah delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on April 13, 2023) Remembrance. We’re all here today to remember. In Judaism, we have an obligation to remember. The Haggadah teaches that in every generation, we’re all obligated to see ourselves as though we had personally […]
Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach: Freedom–Use It Or Lose It (A d’var Torah delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on April 8, 2023) On this third day of Pesach,we continue to celebrate how we went ,מִעַבְדוּת לְחֵרוּת from slavery to freedom. As we read in the Haggadah on seder night from Deuteronomy 26: וַיּוֹצִאֵנוּ יְהֹוָה מִמִּצְרַיִם […]
Parashat Vayakhel-P’kudei: What Makes a Sanctuary? (A Torah discussion led by Maayan Lev on 3/18/2023) [NOTE: For our discussion this past Shabbat, I wanted to do something different. I wanted to have a town hall of sorts. I wanted to really ask the congregation how they felt about things. It was important to hear from […]
Parashat Vayakhel-P’kudei: What Kind of Giver Are You? (D’var Torah delivered by Maayan Lev on 3/17/2023) This week, as the book of Exodus comes to a close, we not only have a double parashah, Vayakel-Pekudei, but it’s also Shabbat HaChodesh, which I’ll mention again tomorrow. As you can see, there’s a lot going on this […]
Parashat Vay’chi: The Problem of White Lies (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on January 6, 2023) For me, among the more amusing commercials running on television are those by GEICO. Do you know them? One series of ads began with the question, “Would switching to GEICO save you money on car insurance?” My favorite in […]
Hanukkah and Assimiliation: Ba-yamim Ha-em U-vaz’man Ha-ze (a discussion led by Maayan Lev on December 17, 2022) This week’s parashah is Vayeshev, which begins the story of Joseph. But on top of what’s happening in the Torah this Shabbat, it’s also Hanukkah tomorrow night. So what do these two narratives have in common? In both […]
Parashat Vayeshev: The Bullies Among Us (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on December 16, 2022) Tears can be good or bad. The worst tears of all accompany a child’s death. In this week’s portion, Vayeshev, Jacob experiences such tears when his older sons bring him the blood-soaked “coat of many colors,” which Jacob personally made […]
Parashat Vayeitzei: Lions And Tigers And Bears, Oh My (Haftarah study led by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on December 3, 2022) In this week’s Torah portion, Jacob accidentally marries Leah instead of Rachel. He was in the dark about the swap made by his uncle Laban, quite literally. He could not see his partner when […]
Parashat Vayeitzei: The Torah Meets Greek Mythology (delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on December 2, 2022) Chanukah will soon be upon us. It is the story of our victory against the Greeks. The story recounts that we successfully resisted the urges of assimilation, and retained our Jewish identity. To the Maccabees, Greek culture was […]
Parshat Chayei Sarah: “Bring Your Days with You” (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on November 18, 2022) Old age takes away from us what we have inherited and gives us what we have earned.[1] Let me repeat these important words from Gerald Brenan. Old age takes away from us what we have inherited and gives […]