Parashat Yitro: Be Prepared (A Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on Saturday, February 3, 2024) We read the Ten Commandments today. There is so much to say, so much to unpack, so much to explore. Time, however, does not permit that. So let’s focus on the Shabbat commandment. Here it begins by commanding […]

Parashat Yitro: On One Foot? (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on February 2, 2024) According to a popular Talmudic tale,[1] a stranger once approached Hillel and Shammai, the great sages of the first century, with a request: “Teach me the Torah while I stand on one foot.” First, he brought the request to Shammai. According […]

Sh’mini Atzeret: Universality, Now Particularity (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on October 6, 2023) Sukkot represents more clearly than any other festival the dualities of Judaism. Most especially, the holiday holds up the tension between the universality of nature and the particularity of history. The aspect of Sukkot that focuses upon rainfall, harvest, and climate, […]

Sukkot: Everything is Breath (d’var Torah delivered by Rabbi Sacks on September 30, 2023) Admiral James Stockdale was the most senior officer in the United States Navy. He led a torpedo squadron during the Vietnam War. On September 9, 1965, while flying on a mission over North Vietnam, Stockdale ejected from his Skyhawk, which had […]

Swaddled by G!d (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on September 29, 2023) We dwell in temporary structures in order to remember, as the Torah depicts G!d explaining, “that I caused the Israelites to live in sukkot when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.”[1] In a famous rabbinic debate,[2] Rabbi Eliezer explains that […]

ROSH HASHANAH SECOND DAY: T’FILLAH, T’SHUVAH, ACTION! (Torah discussion led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks)   Introduction to Study/Exploration Our custom here at Am HaYam is to begin the year by studying together on Second Day Rosh HaShanah. In general, I try to place before us three texts that come from three different places, even three different […]

First Haftarah of Admonition [Jeremiah 1:1-2:3]: Lessons from an Almond Tree (Torah discussion led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on Shabbat Pinchas–July 8, 2023) Starting today, none of the next ten weeks will feature haftarah selections associated with the Torah portion. Rather, today, we read the first of three haftarot of admonition, since we just recently […]

Parashat B’Shalach: Three Mornings (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on February 4, 2023)  Boker tov! In stressful times, in desperate times, it is natural for people to yearn for a better day. The kind of future that one projects depends, at least to some extent, upon the age, background, and character of each individual. A […]

JEWISH QUOTES TO PONDER AS WE BEGIN A NEW YEAR–PART 2 (A community study period led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on January 7, 2023) At our first Shabbat services after Yom Kippur Wednesday and before Sukkot began, we took time together to ponder various quotes that could help us to set the tone for the […]

Shabbat of Sukkot: Kohelet Through The Lens of Yizkor (Delivered by Student Rabbi on October 17, 2022) Over the course of our lives, the number of people we carry with us grows and grows. Sometimes that number starts when we are very young. Some of us find healing. Some of us don’t. Some people find […]