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Shabbat Weekly Dvar Torah

Write Your Own Torah

Sep 4, 2026

Write Your Own Torah

One of the great challenges facing rabbis, teachers and educators today is how to communicate the Torah in a language that is relevant. Moses, the greatest teacher of all, was faced with the same conundrum. Can stories, which are just words, help people feel as if they had lived it themselves? Could the Torah ever be as relevant for future generations as it was for the Jews who experienced Sinai firsthand? For the last five weeks of Moses’ life, during which the entire book of Deuteronomy takes place, he reviews, rebukes, exhorts and even pleads with the nation to remember and constantly relive those moments. And he saves the best for last, the final mitzvah of the Torah, No. 613, is for every Jew to write their very own Sefer Torah (Torah scroll). In the words of Maimonides (1135-1204), writing a Torah scroll is not just for the purpose of study, rather it is a sacred rite for everyone to accomplish in their lifetime.
Who is the God We Choose?

Aug 28, 2026

Who is the God We Choose?

The Jewish people are often referred to as "the chosen people," but Parashat Ki Tavo flips this concept around. Here, the Israelites are described as "choosing God." But what does that look like for us today, especially when we have so many different ideas about what God means to each of us? What does it mean to choose God? As Jews, we so frequently hear the phrase, "the chosen people." Parashat Ki Tavo offers a different approach. Deuteronomy 26:17 describes the Israelites ‘affirming God’: “You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your God…” Essentially, this is describing us as choosing God. But what is this God that we're choosing? "God" means many different things to different Jews. Some of us are fervent, deep believers; some of us believe in an imminent God, one whose presence is felt in this world; others believe in a transcendent God, a God that exists, but whose presence is not felt directly.
What We Choose to See

Aug 21, 2026

What We Choose to See

It is serendipitous that as we approach Rosh Hashanah, the day of reckoning, the weekly Torah reading presents us with laws that help us to train in noticing and weakening our tendency towards willful ignorance (Deuteronomy 22:1-4). Both sets of laws, those of returning a lost animal and those of helping our fellow to reload his animal and ease its pain, stress that when we see we must not ignore… But why would we choose to ignore? The answer lies in the fact that both situations involve inconveniencing ourselves, ruining our good day by having to go out of our way to do something unpleasant... the Torah commands us to train in approaching discomfort, bringing it close as an act of compassion.
Justice Belongs to the Courts

Aug 14, 2026

Justice Belongs to the Courts

Every rabbi eventually learns an uncomfortable truth: it is much easier to condemn the sins of others than the sins of our own. The prophets of Israel understood this. Nathan did not rebuke the Philistines; he rebuked King David. Jeremiah did not devote his ministry to the moral failures of Babylon. He called his own people to account. Covenant begins with self-examination. That is why I found myself nodding in agreement as I read Bret Stephens’ recent column in The New York Times warning that Jewish terrorism in the West Bank poses “a direct threat to Israel’s security and statehood, and thus to Zionism itself.”
El-Sayed and the Allure of Magical Thinking

Aug 7, 2026

El-Sayed and the Allure of Magical Thinking

I took my six-year-old daughter to see Aladdin on Broadway, and as I watched, I realized: here was a street thief who steals from the rich to feed the poor, a candidate the DSA could run tomorrow, and the show’s answer to poverty and to longing is a magical genie. And then this week many of us watched, with dread, magic of a scarier kind: a monumental primary election in Michigan, where El-Sayed’s victory, celebrated loudly by Mamdani and his movement, rode the promise of tearing down what is and conjuring a utopia in its place.
Lose That Hurry!

Jul 31, 2026

Lose That Hurry!

Years ago I was a group leader for the American Jewish World Service Alternative Spring Breaks. I would accompany groups of college students to poor countries, mostly in Central America, to learn about global poverty and American Jewish responsibility. There were very few rules about how we would observe Jewish traditions on those week-long visits, but one of them was that we would not work on Shabbat.That was difficult for some students. We were there to work! To help out! The need was so great! How could we “waste a day” resting? Sometimes these days when I teach about contemplative spiritual practice, I hear an echo of those students.
That's Why They Call It "The Present"

Jul 24, 2026

That's Why They Call It "The Present"

We have just observed Tisha b'Av, a day which marks our most profound divisions, on which we remember how our people's baseless hatred for one another contributed to unfathomable pain and suffering and the exile of the Divine Presence from its home. The question I want to raise is not what our politics should be — many other good people are discussing that. My question is: How can we practice loving one another despite our deepest, most profound divides?
Turn and Begin the Journey

Jul 17, 2026

Turn and Begin the Journey

We are presently in “the nine days” that lead up to Tisha B'Av (next Wednesday night through Thursday), a day marking the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the loss of Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel nearly 2000 years ago. These are days of introspection, semi-mourning and sadness. Most Jews who observe halacha in an Orthodox way will not shave or cut their hair, eat meat, listen to music, or go swimming. At this season, I always like to reread an excellent book entitled This is Real and You are Completely Unprepared by Rabbi Alan Lew (z"l), founder of the first meditation center connected to a synagogue (and the author of a book I haven't yet read with a great title - One God Clapping: The Spiritual Path of a Zen Rabbi).
The City of Refuge Inside Us

Jul 10, 2026

The City of Refuge Inside Us

Here’s the thing: we all make mistakes, sometimes with harmful consequences for ourselves and others. Mostly we don’t make these mistakes out of ill will or an evil nature, but simply because we are human beings, inclined to error and imperfection by our very nature. Our relationships are messy; we try; we do our best, but often there is still hurt, still harm, still wrong even. What are we to do with ourselves and each other in light of this pervasive imperfection? There is a choice. You can take these parts of us that don’t measure up, that sometimes do the “wrong” thing despite meaning well and allow the harsh climate of our inner critics to hold sway and attack them. Or you can provide them with some shelter, a place of refuge and acceptance and compassion. In Numbers 35:6-7, the Torah opts for the second alternative in creating the ir miklat, the city of refuge, for the accidental killer.
The Waves of Life

Jul 3, 2026

The Waves of Life

Sometimes it is helpful to focus in on the details— this is true in life and in learning Torah. When we pay close attention, we can find deep meaning in the subtleties of a smile or in noticing the filigreed pattern of a leaf’s veins jus as we can find profound meaning or beauty in one verse — or even letter — of Torah. For each detail is a fractal, or at least a portion, of a larger reality and truth. Through paying attention to details we can connect to beauty and to meaning. However, there are also times in which it is helpful to step back and take in the big picture. From afar, we can take a broad perspective in which beauty and meaning emerges through the melting away of detail.