Home / The Latest / Friday Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Weekly Dvar Torah

The Faith to Be Held: Some Thoughts for Simchat Torah

Oct 23, 2024

The Faith to Be Held: Some Thoughts for Simchat Torah

I am experiencing such a panoply of emotions as we approach Simchat Torah this year: sadness, despair, and rage, at the memories of last year’s Simchat Torah massacre, but also giddy triumph, hope, and faith. I feel differently than I did a week ago… God pulls the strings behind the curtain, where we cannot see His interventions on our behalf until lo! we are saved.
The Courage to Rejoice

Oct 16, 2024

The Courage to Rejoice

What is truly remarkable is that Sukkot is called, by tradition zeman simḥateinu / our time of joy. That, to me, is the wonder at the heart of the Jewish experience: that Jews throughout the ages were able to experience risk and uncertainty at every level of their existence and yet they were still able to rejoice. That is spiritual courage of a high order. Faith is not certainty; faith is the courage to live with uncertainty.
A Thought for Yom Kippur

Oct 11, 2024

A Thought for Yom Kippur

May we all embrace the majesty of what praying toהמלך can potentially provide for us as we work toward self-transformation & renewal (בריאה חדשה), reconnect to our own power to do good, and reconnect with our innate value and innate value of all others. We are living through a moment in history where the choices of today will have enormous implications for the future. This is a time for us to be humbled but also find our moral clarity…
The Shofar Is Calling

Sep 27, 2024

The Shofar Is Calling

The sound of the shofar is primal & ancient. It produces a strange sense of awe and reverence. Think back to that moment before the first blast is sounded; a hushed expectancy fills the synagogue. At the moment we hear the first piercing note, we are struck with an almost childlike wonderment. And for most of us, it is one of our earliest childhood memories. The notes of the shofar are not beautiful by any musical standard, but somehow, we find in their thin piercing blasts something that calls to us.
The Meaning of Hurricanes

Sep 27, 2024

The Meaning of Hurricanes

Here are my feelings on the matter. First, gratitude and joy that we haven’t had a direct and devastating hit so far! Second, sadness and some survivor guilt because some other community(ies) got hit. Third, the realization that hurricanes and other natural disasters are only disasters if human beings live in their path… Think about it. Hurricanes have probably been battering our fair peninsula for thousands of years. But until human beings lived here, no one assigned a “good/bad” label to them.
Happiness is a Choice

Sep 20, 2024

Happiness is a Choice

This week I came across something called the World Happiness Report, which ranks the overall sense of population happiness in 143 countries… Here are their top five countries as ranked by happiness for 2024: 1) Finland 2) Denmark 3) Iceland 4) Sweden and (drumroll please…) 5) Israel! The rest of the top ten are rounded out by 6) Netherlands 7) Norway 8) Luxembourg 9) Australia and 10) Switzerland. Aside from the overwhelming domination of Northern European countries, I was more than a little surprised to see that Israel ranked so highly. Here is what they had to say about Israel…
Making Progress

Sep 13, 2024

Making Progress

Years ago, I was invited to speak on a panel about the role of women in religion alongside three other women religious leaders: a protestant pastor, a Muslim scholar and a very involved practitioner of the Bahai faith. I happily agreed to be on the panel, and then I received in my inbox the details of the event including its title: “Women in Religion: Have We Come Far Enough?” And I said aloud to my computer: “No!” To my mind, if we were asking the question, we already had the answer. What could truly be “far enough?”
The Weeping of the Shofar

Sep 6, 2024

The Weeping of the Shofar

This week, we entered into the Hebrew month of Elul. In most years, Elul is month of promise and renewal, carrying the energy of hope. This year, our hearts and souls are cracked and grieving. We need to leave space for the sorrow, and know that, as heavy as it feels, and as often as our eyes fill throughout the day, we are not alone in carrying this pain. The world feels so incredibly broken. In so many places. I don't believe we can skip over the grief, force ourselves to put on a good face and paper over the deep sadness. It's there, and there is good reason for its presence, and we need to invite it into the circle, so to speak.
The False Prophet - Thoughts on Parshat Re’eh

Aug 30, 2024

The False Prophet - Thoughts on Parshat Re’eh

“I ain’t no false prophet - I just know what I know. I go where only the lonely can go,” sings Bob Dylan in his song “False Prophet.” A false prophet makes claims to have secret knowledge that others cannot access. The false prophet uses this information to persuade followers to a particular agenda. Dylan warns against making him into this kind of person: “What are you lookin’ at - there’s nothing to see. Just a cool breeze encircling me.” A false prophet can only exert the authority others give him.
To Be Worthy

Aug 23, 2024

To Be Worthy

It is a paradox, really. People of real worth tend to have worth, because of their belief in their unworthiness. That's one of Moses's messages to the Israelites in this week's Torah portion, Eikev. Much of the book of Deuteronomy is Moses speaking to the people, giving them a pep talk if you will, attempting to relay the most important messages of the Israelite story so that they can take the wisdom learned with them as they enter the Promised Land.