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 […]
Shavuot: What Are Our First Fruits? (A text study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on June 12, 2024) TEXT: Mishnah Bikkurim 3:2-4 כֵּיצַד מַעֲלִין אֶת הַבִּכּוּרִים? כָּל הָעֲיָרוֹת שֶׁבַּמַּעֲמָד מִתְכַּנְּסוֹת לָעִיר שֶׁל מַעֲמָד, וְלָנִין בִּרְחוֹבָהּ שֶׁל עִיר, וְלֹא הָיוּ נִכְנָסִין לַבָּתִּים. וְלַמַּשְׁכִּים, הָיָה הַמְמֻנֶּה אוֹמֵר “קוּמוּ וְנַעֲלֶה צִיּוֹן אֶל בֵּית ה’ אֱלֹהֵינוּ:” הַקְּרוֹבִים מְבִיאִים […]
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 Emor: Counting–The Omer, Singing Competitions, and Confidence in College Presidents (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on May 18, 2024) We are in the midst of the period of the counting of the Omer, which helps us tie the Passover holy days with their reminder of our getting out of Egypt and oppression to Shavuot, […]
Parashat Emor: When One Struggles to Celebrate (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on 5/17/24) While tomorrow’s reading contains one of the Torah’s discussions of holidays and instructions for their observances, rabbinic literature provides guidance for their observance in the context of the complexities of the participants’ lives, even those who might be struggling to celebrate. […]
Pesach Yizkor: Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on April 30, 2024) (Singing:) “There’s a grief that can’t be spoken There’s a pain goes on and on. Empty chairs at empty tables Now my friends are dead and gone”…… Eight days ago we all sat around our seder tables where […]
Sh’vi-i shel Pesach: Trauma and Transcendence (delivered by Rabbi Sacks on April 29, 2024) Barely had our Israelite ancestors left Egypt, their belongings on their shoulders and the unleavened bread in their pouches, when they found themselves and their children in mortal jeopardy. Before them lay the expanse of the Reed Sea, and behind them […]
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 […]