Kedoshim
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The Name in the Holy of Holies — What the Yom Kippur Ritual Teaches About Words
This is my D’var Torah for April 25, 2026, Parashiyyot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, particularly chapters 16 and 19 of Leviticus. (If you’re reading it right away, I have to go and fix up where italics go to make it easier to read.) Imagine a world where the more important a word was, the harder it was… Continue reading
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A Year of Jewish Ethics #15: Gossip (Lashon Ha-Ra)
How does Torah define gossip? The dictionaries in English describe gossip as talking about people behind their backs, usually in an uncomplimentary way; or spreading rumors about people without knowing whether something is true; or sharing private details about someone without their permission. Gossip seems like a casual kind of talking, though of course the… Continue reading
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The Elul Love Your Neighbor Study Challenge
Dear Friends: This Shabbat is the first day of Rosh Chodesh Elul, the new moon marking one month before Rosh Hashanah. I want to invite all of you into a challenge with me: the Elul Love Your Neighbor Study Challenge. Part of the process of teshuvah (returning, redirecting ourselves) is studying what the Torah says about relationships between people and… Continue reading
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Boston
The bombings in Boston this week were attacks on our own community. From God's point of view, so to speak, this week was no more horrible than any other. Monday was hardly the only day when people were killed by human beings with no regard for the sanctity of life, for any of the reasons… Continue reading
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Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: Do Ritual and Ethics Need Each Other?
This week we reach the very middle of the Torah. In the parashiyot of Acharei Mot and Kedoshim, we read the central chapters of the middle book of the Torah (Leviticus, Vayikra). Needless to say, position matters — nothing in the Torah is where it is without a reason. Some scholars look at Leviticus Ch.… Continue reading
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