Jerusalem

July 10, 2026

Preserving Our Soul in Wartime (Mattot 5774/2014)

This was my D’var Torah on Saturday morning, July 19, 2014, Parashat Mattot. I am uploading this online this 2026, as wars involving Israel, the U.S., Hamas, Hizbollah, and Iran continue in the aftermath of October 7, 2023. The specific references from 2014 are important and the message is still germane. This week is another… Continue reading

Antisemitism, B’midbar, Current Affairs, Ethics, Gaza, Israel, Jerusalem, Mattot, Middot, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Peace, Torah

Rav Kook
June 12, 2026

Kalev — Like a Heart But Even More (Parashat Sh’lach L’cha 5785)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Sh’lach L’cha on June 21, 2025. As I publish this a year later (5786/2026), I plan to iterate on very same focus in the synagogue this Shabbat. It’s early summer; Year 2 in the wilderness, the midbar. It’s been some weeks of the nation moving forward, and also… Continue reading

B’midbar, Calendar, Current Affairs, Gaza, GLBT, Hope, Immigration, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Jerusalem, LGBTQ+, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Patience, Sh’lach L’cha, Soul, Torah
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
January 2, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #8: War and Peace

The word Shalom is probably the most widely-known Hebrew word, among Jews and also people who aren’t Jewish. Shalom means peace, and because of that Shalom is also the word for greeting someone and saying goodbye. Shalom means not just peace but wellbeing and wholeness, so when we see someone we are expressing our hope… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Calendar, Current Affairs, Ethics, Israel, Jerusalem, Parashat Hashavua, Peace, Torah, Vayishlach, War
December 25, 2024

A Message for the Start of Chanukkah 5785 (2024)

This is the note I sent our synagogue community today, before the first candle of Chanukkah. Chag Urim Sameach! Dear Friends: Tonight begins Chanukkah, the festival of light and miracles and hope. This year Chanukkah comes at a time of ongoing war in Israel, and at the end of a difficult year for Jews everywhere.… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Holidays, Hope, Israel, Jerusalem, Power, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
October 6, 2024

A Prayer For All of Us Who Are Mourning A Year After October 7

A year of mourning has a rhythm, supposedlyA bass line laid down by SagesTo help the heart re-pace itselfSo the heart can help the bodyMetabolize absenceLet go the face, the name,The vocal signatureLet them travel the neuron network pathwaysFor 7 days, for 30; 11 months, a yearFind their way to the assembly pointAt the node… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Current Affairs, Dreams/Dreaming, Gaza, Israel, Jerusalem, Peace, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
July 19, 2024

D’var Torah for Balak: Saying We Are Blessed

It's Friday and here is my current draft of a D'var Torah for Shabbat morning on Parashat Balak, Numbers 22:2-25:9: In the parasha this week, an enemy of the Jews asks a man of powerful words to curse Israel. To say bad things about us in a way to bring us harm. And it doesn’t… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Balak, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, Hope, Israel, Jerusalem, Lech L’cha, Parashat Hashavua, Torah
December 7, 2023

Serious Chanukkah: Cultural Integration, Freedom, War and Power Then and Now

I love Purim and Chanukkah. It’s true that these are not the major Jewish chagim, and not in some sense as important as Passover/Pesach. But I have come to love them more and more because they are set in worlds I recognize as more contemporary than the major festivals. Their stories have more texture… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Freedom, Gaza, History, Holidays, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Jerusalem, Justice, Leadership, Power, Talmud, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
November 29, 2023

Partition Day: November 29, 1947

On this day in 1947, November 29, the United Nations approved a plan for the partition of British-governed Palestine into three areas: an Arab state, a Jewish state, and a UN-governed enclave encompassing Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The entire area would be joined in an economic union. The Jewish Agency, which was the official Jewish leadership… Continue reading

Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Gaza, History, Israel, Jerusalem, Peace
October 27, 2023

You Are Not Alone, You Are a Blessing

This is the D'var Torah I plan to give tomorrow in services, October 28, 2023 for Parashat Lech L'cha, the opening of the saga of Sarah and Avraham, three weeks after the Hamas attacks of October 7 and as the war continues in Gaza. Who said the Torah had to be divided into 54 roughly… Continue reading

Abuse, Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Gaza, Hope, Israel, Jerusalem, Lech L’cha, Parashat Hashavua, Torah, Young Jewish Adult
July 3, 2023

My American Tale — What’s Yours? (Or, Why Is Yaz on Masada?)

This is the D’var Torah I gave for Parshiyyot Chukkat-Balak 5783, July 1, 2023. This is a picture of me at the age of 17 on top of Masada in Israel, wearing a baseball cap that says “YAZ”. I remember asking someone to take this… Continue reading

#integratingamerica, Balak, Calendar, Chukkat, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Freedom, History, Holidays, Immigration, Israel, Jerusalem, Parashat Hashavua, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult
December 22, 2022

This Chanukkah — Many Ideas

I am still trying to keep on top of my many channels, between this blog and the Tov! podcast and Temple Beth Abraham's site and blog, not to mention social media. (Not complaining!) I haven't put a link here yet to the many thematic Chanukkah-related writings I've got, some of them reposts from prior years and… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Freedom, History, Holidays, Hope, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Jerusalem, Joy, Justice, Peace, Ritual, Spirituality, Study, Tikkun Olam, Torah, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth