Shabbat Chazon: Moses’ Lessons As We Head into Tishah B’Av (delivered by Rabbi Sacks on Friday, August 5, 2022) The Torah has a sense of humor. Tomorrow we read from Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah. It begins,[1] אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן These are the words that Moses […]
Parashat Balak: What Hardship Have I Caused You? (Torah Study led by Rabbi Sacks on July 16, 2022) We just read today’s haftarah from the prophet Micah, who lived roughly between 740 BCE and 690 BCE. Micah, like Amos, is from a small southern town in Eretz Yisrael, evident in his use of imagery borrowed […]
Parashat Balak: Know that We Don’t Know (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on July 15, 2022) A friend of mine in Manhattan told me about an encounter she recently had on the bus. She has a chronic, but “silent,” illness. It is often debilitating, but you wouldn’t know that by looking at her. She was […]
Parashat Korach: Moses and Korach, Without and Within (Delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on Friday, July 1, 2022) In this week’s reading, we witness three dramatic power struggles that have national repercussions! Korach, a fellow Levite, leads a struggle against Moses’ religious authority. Datan and Aviram, descendents of Jacob’s first-born Reuben, push back against […]
Parashat Beha’alotcha: When It’s Not Too Late (Delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on Friday, June 17, 2022) Shabbat shalom everyone. It is so good to be with you all tonight on Zoom. I am sorry I wasn’t at CAH for Shavuot, but I was not feeling well. I felt bad about not being […]
Shavuot Yizkor (delivered by Rabbi Sacks on June 5, 2022) We are all reeling from the tragedy at Uvalde. It’s a lot to process and a lot of issues have rightly captured public attention. Yet now I hone in on one overlooked piece.. When the detailed official timeline of the shooting emerged, Texas Department of […]
Parashat B’midbar Sinai: Counting Ourselves As Israel (delivered by Rabbi Sacks on Saturday, June 4, 2022) We begin reading the Book of Numbers this week. It opens with the taking of a census. After the rather arcane matters we have been reading about in recent weeks—the sacrificial cult, laws of purity and impurity, skin eruptions, […]
Parashat B’midbar Sinai: Is the United States, “All For One” or “None For All,” and, if the Latter, Do We Deserve to be a Country? (delivered by Rabbi Sacks on Friday, June 3, 2022) When Shabbat ends tomorrow night, we begin a very special celebration in the Jewish world, the birthday of the Torah, Shavuot. […]
Parashat B’har Sinai: The Task of Peace-Building delivered by Rabbi Sacks on May 20, 2022 We are nearing the conclusion of the book of Leviticus. The book, especially in the latter half, makes clear that extraordinary action is called for as part of our people’s calling to be kadosh l-d-nai E-l-hecha, “holy unto HaShem your […]
Parashat K’doshim: The Holiness Mirror delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on Saturday, May 7, 2022 We just finished reading this week’s Torah portion, K’doshim. K’doshim is about holiness. Its passages form the core of what is referred to as the Holiness Code. K’doshim begins, “You shall be holy, for I, HaShem your G!d, […]