Shavuot Yizkor: We Are Never Finished (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on June 13, 2024) Q: Why couldn’t the prisoner stop talking? A: He couldn’t finish his sentence. I had a clock for lunch earlier. I couldn’t finish it, it was time consuming. My therapist told me the way to achieve inner […]
Parashat B’midbar Sinai: Counting and the Severity of Compassion (d’var Torah delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on June 7, 2024) The Book of Numbers begins with a head count of the entire Jewish People, before they depart from their Sinai encampment, on the way to the Promised Land. Moses organizes this massive endeavor, with the […]
Parashat Sh’mini: A Midrash on Moses and Aaron (Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on April 6, 2024) Leviticus 10:20 וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיִּיטַ֖ב בְּעֵינָֽיו׃ When Moses heard this, he approved BT Z’vachim 101b (= Sifra, Sh’mini, 2:12) “וייטב בעיניו”–הוֹדָה וְלֹא בוֹשׁ לוֹמַר לֹא שָׁמַעְתִּי (זבחים ק”א): AND IT WAS PLEASING IN HIS […]
Parashat Sh’mini: A Love That Transforms (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on April 5, 2024) Tomorrow in our Torah portion, Sh’mini, we shall read the tragic story of Nadav and Avihu, Aaron’s two eldest sons. They died, consumed by Divine fire, after bringing an offering of “strange” or “alien” fire within the sacred precincts of […]
Parashat Ki Tisa: Aaron’s Way (and Moses’ Way) of Conflict Resolution (A d’var Torah delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on March 1, 2024) What do you think is the best way to get two people in a conflict to be reconciled with each other? We learn of our ancestor Aaron’s method in the rabbinic work […]
For TU B’SHEVAT: Two Poems by Alter Esselin (A Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on January 20, 2024) With Tu B’Shevat coming this week, let us look at two poems by the Yiddish poet, Alter Esselin. Esselin was born with the name Orkeh in the Russian empire in 1889. His father died when […]
Shabbat Hanukkah: O Ir Kleyne Lichtelech (A Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on December 16, 2023) Hanukkah has inspired numerous poems over the centuries. I wanted us to look at one that seems especially resonant this year. Later, we will sing this in Yiddish, but due to time, let’s read it and unpack […]
Jewish Prayers Of Thanksgiving (Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on November 18, 2023) TEXT #1: Mode/Moda Ani (every day preparatory prayer) מודֶה [מודָה] אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ חַי וְקַיָּם, שֶׁהֶחֱזַרְתָּ בִּי נִשְׁמָתִי בְּחֶמְלָה, רַבָּה אֱמוּנָתֶךָ I thank You, living, enduring Sovereign, for You have restored my soul to me, in compassion, for […]
Thanksgiving Day: Arousing Out of Need, Not Abundance (delivered by Rabbi Sacks on Friday, November 17, 2023) If we think about Thanksgiving and research its history, we find that it has been largely misunderstood. We usually paint an idyllic picture of Pilgrims inviting Native Americans to festive tables piled high with sumptuous dishes. In truth, […]
First Comes Courage Rabbi J.B. Sacks- Delivered Dec 1 ,2023 A Jewish proverb teaches, “When you have no choice, mobilize the spirit of courage.” Pretty much all Israelis and all of us Jews have had to at least try to mobilize our “spirit of courage” since the October 7 attacks against Israel and the […]