This Shabbat, we read from Parashat Vayeilech, which brings us to the conclusion of Moses’ life. After forty years of leading the people of Israel through the wilderness, Moses knows that his own journey is coming to an end. He…
Tag: Devarim
Ki Tavo – Do Not Neglect Nor Transgress
Listen to an audio version …lo avarti mi’mitzvoteycha v’lo sha’chachti “I have neither transgressed nor neglected any of your commandments” (Devarim 26:13). This is the pledge that God commanded the children of Israel to declare every third year after removing…
Shoftim – The Gift of Da’at
The Search for Spiritual Insight Human beings have always searched for spiritual insight. We long to understand what lies ahead, to make sense of life’s uncertainties, and to find wisdom beyond ourselves. That longing is not sinful. I believe it…
Re’eh – There Shall Be No Destitute Among You
A Kingdom Unlike Any Other The Torah places before us what appears to be a contradiction. In Deuteronomy 15:4 Moses declares with breathtaking confidence, “There shall be no destitute among you.” Yet only a few verses later he says, “The…
Eikev – Look to the Rock
The Rock Our Haftarah opens with one of Isaiah’s most beautiful invitations: “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek Adonai. Look to the Rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were…
Va’etchanan and Shabbat Nachamu – From Grace to Comfort; Moses’ Prayer Becomes God’s Promise
A Prayer That Begins with Grace Every year, immediately following the darkest day on the Jewish calendar, Tisha B’Av, we gather for what has become known as Shabbat Nachamu, the Sabbath of Comfort. The transition is almost startling. Only days…
Chazon and Devarim: The Vision Beyond the Rubble
A Time To Move On There are moments in life when we realize we have been standing still for far too long. Sometimes we remain in place because of circumstances beyond our control. More often, however, we remain because something…
Ha’azinu – If Life is a Journey
At the end of his long discourse, Moses breaks into song in Ha’azinu, painting a poetic picture of Israel’s journey into the unknown. It is a song of warning, a song of memory, and a song of hope. In the…
Nitzavim – Life, the Gift That Keeps on Giving
In just a few days, the shofar will sound, Rosh Hashanah will dawn, and the Days of Awe will open before us. The Jewish calendar, in its divine wisdom, does not wait for tragedy to remind us of mortality—it sets…
Ki Tavo – Normal Mystics and Wandering Arameans
From the first rays of the sun in the morning, through our meals, our chores, our friendships, our studies and our work—we are constantly surrounded by a vast array of fragrances, sounds, visions, and thoughts. Some of them catch our…