Numbers

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

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
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
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
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 13, 2026

Serious Numbers Will Always Be Heard (Parashat B’midbar 5783)

This was my D’var Torah about Parashat B’midbar, the opening of the book of Numbers, on May 20, 2023. This D’var Torah about the beginning of the book of Numbers is brought to you by the Koch Brothers, Paul Simon, baseball cards, the psychology departments at Ohio State and the University of Oregon, the 2023… Continue reading

B’midbar, Graduation, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Torah
July 20, 2021

Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy — A Map of Spring and Summer 2021

I've been wanting to get this down for weeks…. I’ve been very affected since March by Torah time – by how the cycle of reading the Torah in synagogue has mapped onto our experience of the pandemic since its one-year anniversary. The first anniversary of the formal declaration of the pandemic and the massive shut-downs… Continue reading

B’haalotcha, B’midbar, Behar, Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Elul, High Holidays, Holidays, Ki Tetze, Ki Tissa, Korach, Leadership, Mas’ei, Mattot, Metzora, Naso, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Patience, Pekudei, Pinchas, Re’eh, Rosh Hashanah, Shmini, Shoftim, Study, Tisha B’Av, Torah, USA, Vayakhel, Vayikra, Yamim Noraim
July 7, 2021

Getting Up Close — Advocacy, Daughters of Tzelophechad-Style

This was my Dvar Torah on Parashat Pinchas from July 3, 2021. ותקרבנה בנות צלפחד — Vatikravna Bnot Tzelophechad, they came up close, the daughters of Tzelophechad son of Chefer son of Gilad son of Machir son of Menashe of the families of Menashe son of Yaakov, and these are the names of his daughters:… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Feminism, Housing, Immigration, Inclusion, Leadership, Numbers, Parashat Hashavua, Pinchas, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA
June 22, 2021

Parashat Chukkat — Is Judaism More Red Heifer or #SelfCare?

This was my D’var Torah for Saturday, June 19, 2021, Parashat Chukkat. The article I reference at the start is really good, in ways that somewhat connect to my theme and also jump off in another important direction. I was in the middle of thinking about the parah adumah — the red heifer with its potpouri… Continue reading

Chukkat, Halacha, Harry Potter, Middot, Midrash, Movies, Numbers, Parah, Parashat Hashavua, Ritual, Spirituality, Torah, Young Jewish Adult