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Vayikra: Drawing Near We’ve long spoken about the bond between a mother and child. But just the other day, I learned that scientists studying breast milk were surprised to find that the composition of the milk changes throughout the day. The mother’s body responds to what the child needs — adjusting in ways that support […]

Terumah — Reflections of Light Years ago, I remember standing at a wedding reception watching a disco ball turning slowly above the dance floor. Nothing extraordinary about it — just a silver sphere hanging from the ceiling. But when the light hit it, the entire room changed. Tiny points of light scattered everywhere — across […]

We often talk about the Torah as a blueprint for righteous living. But if I’m being honest, most of us — myself included — haven’t studied it deeply enough to always know what that looks like in practice. The Torah rarely hands us neat moral lessons. More often, it shows very human, very flawed people […]

Parshat Bo – Strength, Limits, and the Courage to Ask Parshat Bo is often remembered as the parashah of power—plagues, defiance, a dramatic showdown between God and Pharaoh. But if you listen carefully, Bo is also a story about limits. About what happens when limits are denied… and what becomes possible when they are finally […]

Parashat Va’eira takes place in a world where human beings have stopped being seen as human beings. To Pharaoh, the Israelites are not parents, children, neighbors, or elders. They are a problem. A labor force. A threat. A number. And the Torah teaches us something frightening: the moment people stop being seen as people, cruelty […]

At the end of the Book of Genesis, which we concluded last week, the Israelites had been invited to relocate from Canaan to Egypt to wait out the 7 year famine. After the 7 years, they remained in Egypt and, as we begin the Book of Exodus this week, our story picks up 400 years […]

A few years before either of my parents passed, my brother and I sat down with them to discuss their wishes. My father said he wanted to be cremated, and that when both he and my mother had passed, we should mix their ashes together. My mother was horrified: ‘What, you want me to have […]

You probably remember the story behind this week’s Torah portion. Joseph—the youngest brother, the dreamer—was betrayed by his brothers years ago. They were so jealous they even thought about killing him, but instead they sold him to a group of traveling merchants on their way to Egypt, and when they returned home, they told their […]

D’var Torah – Miketz & Chanukah: When the Oppressed Gain Power Parshat Miketz opens with a miracle that doesn’t feel like one at first. Joseph wakes up in prison and, by the end of the day, he is second only to Pharaoh. From the pit to the palace in a single moment. We know this […]

You know, every family thinks their mishigas is unique… until they open Parshat Vayeishev. Then suddenly you realize, “Oh — compared to Jacob’s family, we’re basically the Waltons.” In this week’s Torah portion, Joseph brings bad reports about his brothers to their father. You see, Joseph was that kid. The tattler. The golden child. The […]