Two Themes of the Hanukkah Story (D’var Torah delivered by Rabbi Sacks on December 15, 2023) Hanukkah offers the idea of miracles–their possibilities, their actualization, and basking in them. On Hanukkah, we focus on two miracles. One is the nes mil-chamah, the miraculous victory of the few over the many, and the weak over the […]

Yom Kippur: The Power of Postcards (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on September 25, 2023) American poet Elaine Equi[1] speaks of her relationship to postcards: “The postcard is sacred to me. It makes me sad that no one sends them very much anymore because of email and texting. I still like to buy them, but […]

Parashat Naso: On G!d’s Speaking/”Speaking” (A d’var Torah/Torah study delivered by Rabbi Sacks on June 3, 2023) The final verse of Parashat Naso is easy to dismiss as a wrap-up. It comes after a long passage that describes the gifts the leader of each tribe presented at the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting (both names […]

Parashat Emor: For What Should I Compromise on Religious Observance? (A d’var Torah delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on May 6, 2023) Around the corner and half way up the street was an small Orthodox synagogue, housed in a converted home. They were small and only met on Shabbat and holy days. Their president davened […]

 PESACH, Day 1: QUOTES about SLAVERY and FREEDOM (A community discussion led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on April 6, 2023)  [NOTE: We took time together to ponder quotes about slavery and freedom to better think through all the ways that both are experienced in the world–physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Today we’ll focus on page 1 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

Haftarat Eikev: The Evolution of G-d (as We Know Them) (A discussion led by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on August 20, 2022) We just read this week’s haftarah,[1] the second of the Seven Haftarot of Consolation, read during the seven weeks following Tishah B’Av. The Haftarah opens in Isaiah 49:14 with the words: וַתֹּאמֶר צִיּוֹן: […]

Parashat Eikev: Hearing The Silent Shema (delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on August 19, 2022)  It’s so wonderful to be with you all once again after a meaningful summer break in Israel. While Rosh HaShanah is over a month away, this begins my second year as the student rabbi at Am HaYam. While I […]