Peace

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

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
May 27, 2026

Three Takes on the Nazirite During a Hard Time (Parashat Naso 5781/2021)

This was the D’var Torah I gave for Parashat Naso, May 22, 2021. The references here are to the Covid-19 pandemic at that time, as well as the attacks by Hamas of that year and the fighting between Jews and Arabs within Israel proper that flared up in some places. I am leaving as they… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Gaza, Israel, Maimonides, Naso, Parashat Hashavua, Peace, Talmud, Torah
October 12, 2025

Why Our Jewish Community Should Be at the CROP Hunger Walk

If you’re in our area, I hope you will be part of next Sunday’s interfaith CROP Hunger Walk. Here is why I think that’s important always, and especially for all of us thinking about the place of Jews in America right now. Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Food, Gaza, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Jewish Education, Justice, Peace, Synagogue, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
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
November 20, 2024

What I Wish President Biden Had Put More at the Center

I am pretty sure that from very soon after President Biden was inaugurated, I wrote and/or said that he had one essential mission, one which he was uniquely situated to do. To bring to bear his basic decency and his long experience with so many different types of people and groups in our society, and… Continue reading

Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Leadership, Peace, USA
November 4, 2024

Pre-Election Reflection for Before and After the Vote

Here's the note I sent to the congregation today. You can see the gatherings referenced in the letter at tbanashua.org Dear Friends: Tomorrow is of course Election Day. I imagine that almost all of you know who you will be voting for. Though if you are still deliberating about any of the choices and are looking… Continue reading

Current Affairs, Election, Freedom, Leadership, Peace, USA
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
May 16, 2024

An Invitation From a Zionist to Non- or Anti-Zionists: Talk to Me

For the non-Zionists or anti-Zionist in my circle, a sincere set of questions from a Zionist. I’m actually looking to understand where you are coming from, so these aren’t gotcha questions. I’ve been working on this for a week or more, but held off posting so as not to intrude on people’s marking Yom Hazikkaron,… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Freedom, Gaza, History, Holocaust, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Israel, Justice, Peace, Speech Ethics, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Yom Haatzmaut, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
January 5, 2024

Who Were the Baby-Savers of Exodus and Who Are We?

Saving babies, according to the Torah, was the first crack in the oppression of the Israelites by Pharaoh. In the first two chapters of Exodus, the start of this week’s Torah reading in the synagogue and Jewish study cycle, two sets of people save baby boy Israelites from the death decreed by Pharaoh. First it’s… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Exodus, Feminism, Freedom, Gaza, History, Holidays, Interfaith Dialogue, Israel, Midrash, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Peace, Shmot, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, 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
November 18, 2023

Reflections on Marching and Lobbying for Israel on Nov. 14

This is the note I sent out to the congregation and posted on Facebook. Dear Friends: This past Tuesday along with about a dozen people from our synagogue, I was in for the March for Israel at the National Mall in Washington. About 20 people from the Southern New Hampshire Jewish community were there in… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Gaza, History, Israel, Justice, Leadership, Peace, Terrorism, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth