Leadership

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

Solidarity Is an Extra Oath (Mattot/Mas’ei 5781/2021)

This was my D’var Torah for July 10, 2021, Parashyiot Mattot-Mas’ei. The opening refers to the phase of the Covid-19 pandemic we were in at the time. About six weeks ago, I flew to Minnesota to see my parents. Laurie and I made calculations, which we’re pretty strict about — about sitting crunched between two… Continue reading

B’midbar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Ethics, Inclusion, Leadership, Mas’ei, Mattot, Middot, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, USA, Youth

Solidarity
July 10, 2026

Moshe the Uncompromising? (Mattot/Mas’ei 5779/2019)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashiyot Mattot-Mas’ei on August 3, 2019. As you’ll quickly see, it’s a monologue in the voice of Moshe. Sam Waterston. In the role of New York City Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy on Law and Order. That’s who would play me, Moshe, and that’s exactly how he would play… Continue reading

Anger, B’midbar, Ethics, Leadership, Mas’ei, Mattot, Middot, Miryam, Moshe, Negotiation, Parashat Hashavua, Patience, Peace, Torah

Aharon
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
June 25, 2026

Leadership For a New Generation (Parashat Chukkat 5784)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Chukkat on July 13, 2024. The comedian Karen Morgan has a bit called “Every Generation Explained.” She goes from the Silent Generation through the Boomers, Gen X, Millenials etc., and jokes about what it is about each generation that infuriates the other generations. So about the millenials, she… Continue reading

Chukkat, Current Affairs, Israel, Leadership, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Torah, USA
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
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
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
December 10, 2025

From the “Archives”: Parashat Vayeshev and the 50th Anniversary of JFK’s Assassination

I am updating my site with what I take to be interesting Divrei Torah (“sermons”) of mine that I hadn’t shared before. This one, connected with the Torah reading of the current week, I shared in November 2013. As I studied this parasha in light of all the commemorations of President Kennedy this week, I… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Dreams/Dreaming, History, Inclusion, Leadership, Parashat Hashavua, Power, USA, Vayeshev
October 23, 2025

During the Flood, Inside the Ark — Learning From Bonhoeffer and the Freiburg School

This was my D’var Torah about Parashat Noach in 5783 (2022). This Torah reading centers on the Flood. This teaching here is about “during the Flood”, and at the end I discourage us from seeing our era as sliding toward the Flood. If we do see it that way, we still might ask the question… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Economics, Ethics, Holocaust, Hope, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Leadership, Noach, Noah, Parashat Hashavua, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek
September 26, 2025

Rosh Hashanah D’var Torah Day 2: The Power of Kindness in a Brutal World

This was my D’var Torah for the second day of Rosh Hashanah 5786 (2025). In a piece in Slate about the TV show Ted Lasso, Amanda Prahl wrote: Kindness is the vanilla of emotional concepts. It has the reputation of being safe, two-dimensional, passive, and utterly bland. Ask any culinary expert, though, and they’ll tell… Continue reading

Anger, Antisemitism, Current Affairs, Gaza, Gratitude, High Holidays, Holidays, Immigration, Inclusion, Israel, Justice, Leadership, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Vayera, Yamim Noraim
March 12, 2025

Recommended Links of Mine for Purim This Year

Here in one place are links to the pieces I've done related to Purim and our contemporary world that I think are particularly worth a look or listen this year. For reading, listening, or watching. Introducing Adar Conversations: Esther-Informed Spiritual Therapy (read and video) Getting to Mi Yode'a ("Who Knows") — Moral Clarity in a Topsy-Turvy World… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Current Affairs, Esther, Holidays, Inclusion, Israel, Jewish Education, Joy, Justice, Leadership, Middot, Midrash, Power, Purim, Shabbat Zachor, Simcha, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Tov! Podcast, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth