Parashat T’tzaveh
Friday, February 26, 2021/14 Adar, 5781 Parashat T’tzaveh Exodus 27:20–30:10 Dear Friends, This week, as we are celebrating Purim, leading into Shabbat, and then celebrating Shabbat Tetzaveh, I cannot help but think about costumes. Costumes and dressing up is an important part of the festival of Purim, as we mask ourselves, dressing up, often, as […]
Tetzaveh 5781
The Counterpoint of Leadership One of the most important Jewish contributions to our understanding of leadership is its early insistence of what, in the eighteenth century, Montesquieu called “the separation of powers.”[1] Neither authority nor power was to be located in a single individual or office. Instead, leadership was divided between different kinds of roles. One […]
Parashat T’rumah
Friday, February 19, 2021/7 Adar, 5781 Parashat T’rumah Exodus 25:1–27:19 Dear Friends, The Shabbat before Purim is called Shabbat Zachor, or Shabbat of Remembering. In addition to reading the words of Parashat Terumah (the Torah portion, which talks about building the Tabernacle), we read a small section of Torah referred to as Parashat Zachor: Remember […]
Terumah 5781
The Home We Build Together The sequence of parashot that begins with Terumah, and continues Tetzaveh, Ki Tissa, Vayakhel and Pekudei, is puzzling in many ways. First, it outlines the construction of the Tabernacle (Mishkan), the portable House of Worship the Israelites built and carried with them through the desert, in exhaustive and exhausting detail. The narrative takes almost […]
Parashat Mishpatim
Friday, February 12, 2021/30 Shevat, 5781 Parashat Mishpatim Exodus 21:1–24:18 Dear Friends, Judaism is often described as a religion that emphasizes deeds. This characterization originates from this week’s Torah portion. There are three separate biblical verses in which the Jewish people promise to take on the teachings of Torah. When Moses tells the people that […]
Mispatim 5781
Vision and Details Our parsha takes us through a bewildering transition. Up until now, the book of Shemot has carried us along with the sweep and drama of the narrative – the Israelites’ enslavement, their hope for freedom, the plagues, Pharaoh’s obstinacy, their escape into the desert, the crossing of the Red Sea, the journey […]
Parashat Yitro
Friday, February 5, 2021/23 Shevat, 5781 Parashat Yitro Exodus 18:1–20:23 Dear Friends, Of the fifty-four Torah portions we study each year, there are only six named after individuals, and three of those are named for people who are not Jewish. There is a portion named Noah, for the prophet, who created a boat, saving countless […]
Yitro 5781
A Nation of Leaders This week’s parsha consists of two episodes that seem to constitute a study in contrasts. The first is in chapter 18. Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law and a Midianite Priest, gives Moses his first lesson in leadership. In the second episode, the prime mover is God Himself who, at Mount Sinai, makes a […]
Parashat B’shalah
Friday, January 29, 2021/16 Shevat, 5781 Parashat B’shalah Exodus 13:17–17:16 Dear Friends, It strikes me as fitting that at the heart of arguably the most significant moment in the Torah, the Israelites erupt into song. The song that appears in this week’s Torah portion is so important that this Shabbat is named Shabbat Shirah, or […]
Beshallach 5781
Looking Up The Israelites had crossed the Red Sea. The impossible had happened. The mightiest army in the ancient world – the Egyptians with their cutting-edge, horse-drawn chariots – had been defeated and drowned. The children of Israel were now free. But their relief was short-lived. Almost immediately they faced attack by the Amalekites, and […]