Parashat Yitro: Be Prepared (A Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on Saturday, February 3, 2024) We read the Ten Commandments today. There is so much to say, so much to unpack, so much to explore. Time, however, does not permit that. So let’s focus on the Shabbat commandment. Here it begins by commanding […]
Parashat Yitro: On One Foot? (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on February 2, 2024) According to a popular Talmudic tale,[1] a stranger once approached Hillel and Shammai, the great sages of the first century, with a request: “Teach me the Torah while I stand on one foot.” First, he brought the request to Shammai. According […]
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 […]
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 […]
Parashat Vayishlach: Listening, and Responding to Victims of Sexual Assault (delivered by Rabbi J.B. Sacks on December 2, 2023) One of the phenomena we are witnessing in the aftermath of October 7 is the attempt to erase and deny the brutal sexual violence that Hamas perpetrated that day against Israeli women and girls. This has […]
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, […]
Parashat Vayera: Solidarity with Israel Shabbat (A Torah study led by Rabbi J.B. Sacks, November 4, 2023) Now more than ever, in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and in the midst of a war that may be protracted and one that we hope will not escalate into something more […]
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 […]