As Purim became a holiday of tremendous festivities and lightheartedness, the Rabbis knew that the end of the Megillah in Chapter 9 has a dubious quality, that of a massacre on Haman's people. Is this a happy ending, a desirable ending, that o

The 19th Century Reform Rabbi Who Changed Physics

Feb 19th, 2024 9m 11s

The most influential rabbi you've never heard of? Based on an episode of the RadioLab podcast ("Relative Genius") and a biography in the Jewish Encyclopedia -- https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12611-rebenstein-aaron -- I tell you ab

The Israelites Left Egypt Armed: Gender & Chauvinism Preceding October 7

Jan 30th, 2024 16m 10s

In the second verse of Parashat Beshalach (the flight from Egypt and the crossing of the Sea of Reeds), the Torah states that the Israelites fled fully armed. I explore the traditional commentaries on why, and connect this to the haftarah (sto

Who Gets to Be a Spokesperson for Israel? The Soft of Heart and Slow of Speech

Jan 15th, 2024 13m 46s

The focus of the American and international conversation about the Hamas attack and its aftermath has been "Ceasefire or No Ceasefire" by which people mean (since there was a ceasefire prior to Hamas's breaking it) whether Israel should cease i

Tikkun Olam and Redeeming the Hostages

Dec 23rd, 2023 16m 56s

As a Dvar Torah for Vayigash (Joseph's revealing himself to his brothers following Judah's speech), I explore the mitzvah of redeeming our captives and the limitations on the law "for the sake of Tikkun Olam."The conversation among American Je

Halakhah and Aggadah: The Ten Stories We Tell PART TWO

Dec 1st, 2023 9m 23s

PART TWO of this Yom Kippur 2023 sermon, in which I share the result of my personal and rabbi experiences of the last 15 years: that the longer we live, the shorter our eulogy becomes; that life (like scripture) is a combination of halakhah (d

Halakhah and Aggadah: The Ten Stories We Tell PART ONE

Nov 23rd, 2023 16m 34s

In this Yom Kippur 2023 sermon, I share the result of my personal and rabbi experiences of the last 15 years: that the longer we live, the shorter our eulogy becomes; that life (like scripture) is a combination of halakhah (direct description

Is There a Fear of God In This Place? Our Different Experiences of the Israel Gaza Conflict

Nov 6th, 2023 14m 16s

Using the stories of Avraham, Sarah, and Hagar in Vayera, I voice what it's like to have utterly different experiences of the Gaza conflict with our coworkers, friends, and family members, some of whom seem to embody Dara Horn's prophecy that t

The Commandment of Shevut: How Do We Handle its Inherent Subjectivity?

Oct 16th, 2023 18m 2s

In Deuteronomy, we are commanded to keep Shabbat as restfulness. Many are unaware that this does not just involve practicing the Shabbat observances and restrictions --Biblical and Rabbinic-- but the highly unusual special-to-itself halakhic c

The Kol Nidrei Ritual: Stepping into Your Future Self

Sep 26th, 2023 24m 59s

Drawing on the traditional meaning of the Kol Nidrei --"All Vows"-- prayer, plus the Mishnah and Talmudic tractates on the Nidrei (Nedarim: Vows), plus the philosophy of Ritual Drama and the recent psychological studies about Future Selves, Rab

Hineni Resolutions: I’m Ready but Are They?

Sep 24th, 2023 19m 52s

My Second Day 5784/2023 Rosh Hashanah Sermon explores the New Year's resolution ("neder" as in "Kol Nidrei") in Biblical, Talmudic, and Contemporary Jewish spirituality. What is the one resolution in your life that is "If not now, when?" and wh

The Genders Within God, and Within Ourselves!

Sep 18th, 2023 23m 26s

My Rosh Hashanah 5784/2023 (first day) sermon examines the understanding of God's image as multiple genders in Jewish theology, mysticism, and Rabbinic midrash. What are the implications for transgender, nonbinary, and queer identifications? An

The Three Covenants: God Cares About God’s Brand. Do You?

Jul 24th, 2023 10m 26s

As we begin the journey to High Holidays, I look at Matot the end of the Book of Numbers, where God is fastidiously concerned that we get right our relationship with the God of Judaism and, even deeper, the true God of the Universe. When these

The Three Covenants: God Cares About God’s Brand. Do You?

Jul 24th, 2023 10m 26s

Is the Book of Numbers about Remote Work?

Jun 16th, 2023 13m 41s

Parashat Beha'alotkha begins with a memo to all the Israelites that doubles down on the top down hierarchy of Aharon and Moshe at the top, and then it continues with a series of amplified grumblings, complaints, and a continuation of the deteri

Be Someone Else: Victor Turner and the Subversiveness of Ritual Performance

Jun 4th, 2023 13m 29s

The longest parashah of the Torah's is Numbers' Naso, which begins with the theme of the tabernacle of roving ritual performance, like a traveling theater group, and then describes four ritual dramas that take publicly: the financial penitent,

”Make Yourself a Wilderness” To Receive Torah

May 25th, 2023 10m 51s

The Rabbis are understandably preoccupied with why the Torah was given bemidbar Sinai, in the wilderness of Sinai, rather than in the Land of Israel. Entire commentary collections are devoted to this one profound fact. In fact, the fourth boo

Jubilee and the Passing on of Generational Wealth

May 19th, 2023 10m 25s

In this teaching, I note how there are two sorts of social legislation that emerge out of the Holiness Code of Leviticus (as well as other places): the kind that is aspirational --invitations to become a holy people through holiness of giving,

Two Forms of Action: Embodying the Kabbalistic Forces of Netzach and Hod

May 8th, 2023 8m 51s

In honor of Lag B'Omer, I succinctly recount the Jewish mystical practice of embodying God's attributes during the period of Counting the Omer. Specifically, in the transition to the week of Lag B'Omer, we transition from practicing in our liv

Torah In a Minute: What’s the Big Deal About the Lunar Calendar?

Apr 26th, 2023 1m 24s

Hope you're not having an Ecclesiastes month....

The Golden Calf and the Present Government in Israel

Mar 13th, 2023 18m 15s

Drawing on many articles, from the New Republic to Thomas Friedman, I use Nachmanides' commentary on a verse from the Golden Calf account, the verse that recounts Moshe's reaction to witnessing the events unfolding, with unflinching criticism o

Jewish Law, Head Covering, and Knowing Before Whom You Stand

Feb 20th, 2023 22m 14s

Using Rabbi Jane Kanarek's 2019 CJLS (Conservative Movement) halakhic responsum, I explain the complex development of Jewish head covering for both men and for women. Though my conclusions from the sources are a bit different from Rabbi Kanare

God the Stutterer, God the Reluctant

Feb 1st, 2023 8m 14s

I've always wondered why we repeatedly pray to God to be willing to grant us Shabbat, etc. What does it mean to be willing, or to be capable of exercising one's will? Free will and the exercise of will always comes up when trying to understan

The Unalloyed Joy of Grandparenting

Jan 10th, 2023 13m 39s

There are virtually no references to grandparenting in the Torah, until, by sharp contrast, we are told in Genesis 50:23 that Joseph got not only to grandparent but great-grandparent as well. I reflect upon this startling exception using two a

Oppenheimer: The 20th Century ”Joseph”

Dec 29th, 2022 13m 44s

Using the interpretations of the Rabbis (including Nachmanides and Sefer HaYashar) to understand Joseph's assimilation (in name, dress, etc.), I compare him to the American hero very recently in the news!