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 Chayyei Sarah: All Years Are Equal (Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on November 19, 2022) We do not have a lot of time, but it’s important for us to share words of Torah. So let me speak briefly on today’s Torah reading. The first verse we read today, Genesis 23:1, is […]
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 […]
Parashat Lech L’cha: Lot’s Got Plenty o’ Nuttin’ (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on November 4, 2022) I remember the thrill of seeing Porgy and Bess for the first time. It was a 1935 English-language tragic opera by George Gershwin.[1] It features a cast of classically trained African-American singers, a daring artistic choice at the […]
Shabbat Breishit: Mistakes–A Gift From G!d? (Delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on October 21, 2022) We’ve made it. The High Holy Day season is over, and we are now returning to our regularly scheduled programming. This week, we have scrolled the Torah back to the beginning, and start over with the story of Genesis, […]
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 […]
Sh’mini Atzeret: Reconsidering Our Relationship to Time (Delivered by Rabbi Sacks on October 16, 2022) If you were alive in the early days of television, you might remember one of the first television game shows, “Beat The Clock.” It actually began as a radio show in 1948 called Time’s A’ Wastin and later called Beat […]
Sukkot First Morning: Judaism and Environmentalism: An Obvious Sermon (Delivered by Rabbi Sacks on October 10, 2022) Chag Samei-ach I’m Rabbi Obvious, and this morning I’d like to give an obvious sermon. A sermon is a speech in which a rabbi tells people what they already know. Do I really have to tell you to […]
Erev Sukkot: The Three Jewish Pigs (Delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on October 9, 2022) Chag Samei-ach! It’s a great joy to be together tonight in the sukkah, a sukkah whose invisible branches criss-cross for miles around, creating a web-based canopy above our heads. But is this just a joke? Does an online sukkah […]
JEWISH QUOTES TO PONDER AS WE BEGIN A NEW YEAR–PART 1 (A community study period led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on October 8, 2022) As we have just completed Yom Kippur Wednesday and are about to begin Sukkot tomorrow night, I thought we should take time to ponder various quotes that could help us to […]