Lashon Hara

April 24, 2026

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

Acharei Mot, Kedoshim, Lashon Hara, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Speech Ethics, Torah, Yom Kippur
April 17, 2026

Make Me a Kohen (Tazria-Metzora 5786)

Here is the draft of my D’var Torah for April 18, 2026, Parashiyot Tazria-Metzora. Mr. Feldman comes to see the rabbi one day, and he says: Rabbi, I’d like you to make me a kohen. The rabbi says: That’s not something I can do. You either are a kohen or you’re not a kohen. Feldman… Continue reading

Ethics, Gratitude, Lashon Hara, Metzora, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Tazria, Torah
May 8, 2025

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

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Ethics, Gossip, Kedoshim, Lashon Hara, Maimonides, Metzora, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Speech Ethics, Tazria, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
September 23, 2021

Tov! Chapter 7 — Lying!

On “The Good Place” Chapter 7 is the classic lying episode, and on the podcast Rebecca Rosenthal and I jump off from the Talmud’s analysis of white lies to talk about truth and relationships, how and when we tell people important truths, and how truth emerges between people not just by telling. (Also the Klingon… Continue reading

Education, Elul, Ethics, Feminism, Foregiveness, Gossip, High Holidays, Jewish Education, Justice, Lashon Hara, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Study, Talmud, Television, Torah, Tov! Podcast, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
August 8, 2021

Launching Tov! The Podcast About “The Good Place” and Jewish Ideas

If you're a fan of "The Good Place" and at all connected to Jews or Judaism, try out my new podcast that I'm creating with a bunch of colleagues! Tov! is on all the major podcast platforms, and it will be a fun and interesting way to explore some Jewish texts and ideas. Check out the… Continue reading

Calendar, Education, Ethics, Foregiveness, Gossip, Harry Potter, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Jewish Education, Lashon Hara, Leadership, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Talmud, Television, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Yamim Noraim, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
July 20, 2021

Ahavat Yisrael or Sin’at Chinam — Learning From the Destruction of the Temple

This is the D'var Torah I gave on Saturday, July 17, Shabbat Chazon — the Shabbat preceding the fast of Tisha B'Av, which commemorates the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the Romans. I want to tell you a story from the Talmud often taught at this time of year, around… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Current Affairs, High Holidays, Holidays, Israel, Jerusalem, Justice, Lashon Hara, Leadership, Middot, Peace, Taking Sides, Talmud, Tisha B’Av, USA, Yamim Noraim
April 22, 2019

Seders Are Done, But Passover Isn’t!

My column for the April 2019 bulletin for Temple Beth Abraham: One way to experience Pesach (Passover) is: Two nights of Seder, followed by a week of matzah. Two nights of a unique happening – around a table, with people very familiar and/or new to you, part recitation and part roleplaying, with symbolic foods and… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Books, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Food, Freedom, Gossip, Holidays, Jewish Education, Justice, Lashon Hara, Sefirat Ha-omer, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek
January 20, 2017

Inauguration Day Thoughts

I did a lot of my thinking about today even before Election Day, so attached is what I said in our synagogue on Yom Kippur. The theme was "repairers of the breach", after the words of the prophet Isaiah. I was pretty sure then that the division that we felt then and feel today would… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Inclusion, Justice, Lashon Hara, Leadership, Patience, Peace, Taking Sides, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA
November 18, 2016

An Open Letter to Speaker Paul Ryan

This is a letter that I am mailing and publishing, prompted by the appointment of Stephen Bannon as chief strategist for President-Elect Trump. It reflects my personal political perspective and my own read on what Mr. Bannon represents, which overlap but are not the same as many of my friends and readers. I will also be sending… Continue reading

Abuse, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Freedom, GLBT, Health Care, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Lashon Hara, Leadership, Peace, Rabbi, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA
September 6, 2016

The Art of Apology: Lena Dunham

Over the weekend in the world of celebrity, actor and writer Lena Dunham generated a stir over an interview in which she commented on being seated at an event next to athlete Odell Beckham Jr. Ms. Dunham noticed Mr. Beckham on his cellphone, and she said that she imagined he was avoiding her because of her… Continue reading

Calendar, Elul, Ethics, Gossip, High Holidays, Holidays, Lashon Hara, Rosh Hashanah, Teshuvah, Yom Kippur
May 16, 2014

E-Maggid: Halacha

Why is Jewish law known as halacha – the walking? Possibly, the term flows from the opening line of this week's Torah reading: If you walk in My laws, and keep watch over My commandments, and do them… (Leviticus 26:3) Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev taught that this verse describes stages in the performance of a mitzvah.… Continue reading

B’chukotai, E-Maggid, Gossip, Lashon Hara, Parashat Hashavua, Spirituality
April 15, 2010

Tazria-Metzora: A Teaser On Gossip

The word metzora means one who is afflicted with a certain skin disease (probably not leprosy, the usual translation). The rabbis take the word metzora apart and play with it, turning into motzi ra or motzi shem ra — one who brings about a bad name (reputation) for someone else. So traditionally, this parasha is… Continue reading

Gossip, Lashon Hara, Metzora, Parashat Hashavua, Tazria