History – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

July 17, 2026

Four Takes on the Book of Deuteronomy (Shabbat Chazon, Devarim 5782/2022)

This was my D’var Torah on August 26, 2022 for Parashat Devarim, the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy. When you look at the Torah in the scroll or even in a book, it all looks the same – the stories, the laws, the recipes for meals at the altar, the census lists and travelogues,… Continue reading

Books, Brit, Calendar, Devarim, High Holidays, History, Holidays, Jewish Education, Leadership, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Prophets, Simchat Torah, Study, Synagogue, Teshuvah, Torah

July 10, 2026

Where Exactly Is The Land of Israel? (Mattot/Mas’ei 5785/2025)

This was my D’var Torah on Saturday, July 26, 2025 for Parashiyyot Mattot-Mas’ei. I have probably mentioned before one of the most unusual early manuscripts of a Talmudic text. It’s unusual because it was found in the ground about five miles west of the Jordan River in the field of Kibbutz Ein HaNetziv, and when… Continue reading

Archaeology, Current Affairs, Gaza, History, Israel, Mas’ei, Mattot, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Sabbatical, Shmittah

July 3, 2026

Celebrating America at 250 — Or, The Daughters of Tzelophechad Meet the Founding Fathers (Parashat Pinchas 5786, the 4th of July!)

This is the draft of my words for Shabbat morning, July 4, 2026, the day of America’s 250th anniversary! The parasha (reading in the Torah) is Pinchas, and my link to that is chapter 27 of Numbers. Chapter 27 of Numbers begins: They came up close, the daughters of Tzeloph’chad, son of Chefer, son of… Continue reading

Calendar, Conservative Judaism, Current Affairs, Equality, Feminism, Freedom, History, Holidays, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Pinchas, Power, USA

July 2, 2026

Hope in America — Data Points and Torah (Chukkat-Balak 5786/2026)

This was my D’var Torah for June 27, 2026, a week before America’s 250th anniversary, for Parashiyot Chukkat-Balak. Though I don’t reference it specifically, Parashat Balak is an interlude in the complaints of the wilderness, a reassurance from the outside that despite the challenges the people are experiencing they are fundamentally blessed and their project… Continue reading

Balak, Calendar, Chukkat, Current Affairs, Exodus, History, Holidays, Hope, Leadership, Miryam, Moshe, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Power, Torah, USA

July 2, 2026

A Jewish Leap of Faith Into Our Democracy (Yom Kippur 5783/2022)

This was my Yom Kippur morning sermon for 5783 (2022). As with other Yom Kippur morning words of mine, I was speaking right after the Haftarah, which is mostly from Isaiah 58, and the final words here are from there. When we all stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments,… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Election, Equality, Freedom, High Holidays, History, Inclusion, Justice, Midrash, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Yamim Noraim

July 2, 2026

Why I Chose America

This is a D’var Torah I gave just before Independence Day 5776 (2016), for Parashat Sh’lach L’cha. I became an American for good the same year I had decided to become Israeli, and the same year I decided to become more observant, and the same year I pretty much decided to become a rabbi. I… Continue reading

#integratingamerica, Calendar, Conservative Judaism, Equality, Freedom, History, Immigration, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Parashat Hashavua, Sh’lach L’cha, Social Theory, Tikkun Olam, Torah, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

June 19, 2026

Exploring Equality as American Jews as We Approach 250 (Parashat Korach 5786)

Here is my current draft of a D’var Torah for this Shabbat on Parashat Korach. It’s one of many in this period leading up and beyond July 4, the 250th anniversary of the U.S.A. June 20, 1776, was a Saturday just like this year. On that day the town meeting in Natick, Massachusetts, unanimously approved… Continue reading

Books, Calendar, Current Affairs, Equality, History, Inclusion, Justice, Korach, Leadership, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Social Theory, Torah, Tzedek, USA

May 29, 2026

How to Bless With Our Most Ancient Blessing (Parashat Naso 5786)

This is the draft of my D’var Torah for May 30, 2026, Parashat Naso. We are celebrating the arrival of a newborn so that’s both a good occasion for talking about this particular text, and referenced in my words. I want to start with a story that is in the top five of stories I… Continue reading

Blessing, History, Jerusalem, Naso, Parashat Hashavua, Parenting, Speech Ethics, Spirituality, Teens, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

Parenting

April 29, 2026

Sterling Bans Silver For Life (Parashat Emor 5774)

This is the D’var Torah I gave for Parashat Emor in 2014/5774. How is this for a news headline from the week: “Silver Bans Sterling for Life.” That’s from NBA.com, the official website of professional basketball. Usually, “sterling” is the most refined kind of silver, but this week it’s been the opposite. Sterling is Donald… Continue reading

Civil Rights, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Emor, Ethics, History, Inclusion, Leadership, Parashat Hashavua, Torah, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

Sports

January 6, 2026

Brotherhood, Evolving (Parashat Shmot, MLK Weekend 5783/2023)

This is excerpted and adapted from a D’var Torah I gave in January 2023, when MLK Weekend began on Shabbat with Parashat Shmot, the opening reading in the book of Exodus. Here I’ve omitted the (long) opening, which is very similar to most of the other words I have posted about those opening chapters of… Continue reading

Civil Rights, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Exodus, History, Inclusion, Justice, MLK Day, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

December 31, 2025

Across the Generations (Parashat Vayechi 5785)

This is the D’var Torah I gave for Parashat Vayechi, the last reading in Genesis, on January 11, 2025. This is an original first album of Peter, Paul and Mary from 1962. Does anyone else here have one of these? I would say if you listed the release years of the music that was played… Continue reading

Education, History, Jewish Education, Parashat Hashavua, Serach bat Asher, Torah, Vayechi, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

December 25, 2025

Not a Christian Nation, Mr. Vice President, But Yours and Mine

I published this post on Facebook on December 22. 2025, to much positive reception, so I am posting it here too. Sometime around when my family was lighting our last Chanukkah candles last night, the Vice President of the United States proclaimed in a speech at the Turning Point USA convention that the United States… Continue reading

Calendar, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Freedom, History, Holidays, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Leadership, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult