Torah

Stranger, Resident, and the Meaning of Belonging

Stranger, Resident, and the Meaning of Belonging

Parashat Chayei Sarah - By Maharat Ruth Friedman - In this week’s parsha, Avraham, who has spent much of the time we have known him wandering, wishes to establish roots in Hevron. The death of Sarah creates a need for him to pay honor to her, and so after his initial mourning, Avraham approaches the [more]
The Wisdoms of Welcome

The Wisdoms of Welcome

Parashat VaYeira - By Rabbi Steve Greenberg - Three tired and hungry travelers are accosted by an old man. He is running, actually limping toward them. He beseeches them to come back with him and to take some nourishment, some food and drink, to rest their feet for a bit in his home. He prepares [more]
Abraham’s Calling: The Journey to Authenticity

Abraham’s Calling: The Journey to Authenticity

Parashat Lech Lecha - By Dr. Sunnie Epstein, Director Welcoming Shuls Project, Eshel - Our Parsha begins as G-d instructs Avram to leave all that he knows from the past – his land, his birthplace, and his father’s house.   He is called to completely cut himself off from all that has occurred in his [more]
A Fur Coat or a Bonfire

A Fur Coat or a Bonfire

Parashat Noach - By Rabbi Steve Greenberg - Noah and Abraham are both paragons of righteousness.  While both characters are deemed virtuous, it is not the similarity of these two moral giants that is highlighted by the biblical text and its interpreters, but their difference.   Noah's righteousness is seen as relative and limited, while Abraham's [more]
Creation and the Problem of Twos

Creation and the Problem of Twos

Parashat Bereishit - Rabbi Steve Greenberg -   The starting point of the Genesis story is God.  Before creation, God fills existence.   There is no-thing else, no place for an-other.    God’s oneness is without division or separation.  One is always all-powerful without needing any power-over to be so.   One is stable and sure, unchanging and [more]
Rebooting Hanukkah

Rebooting Hanukkah

The meaning of the holiday changes -- and that might even be the meaning of the holiday Published in the Times of Israel December 7, 2018 What is Hanukkah? This is how the Talmud begins its short foray into the origins of Hanukkah. Remarkably, there is very little material in the Talmud on Hanukkah. While [more]