Dr. Carol Ochs

Dr. Carol Ochs retired as Director of Graduate Studies and Adjunct Professor of Jewish Religious Thought at HUC-JIR in New York in 2009. She is the author of eight books, including four—Women and Spirituality, Jewish Spiritual Guidance, Our Lives as Torah, and Reaching Godward—that are currently in print.

Passover

Outside the Camp: A Modern Midrash

D'Var Torah By: Dr. Carol Ochs

May 29, 2015

This midrash, or haggadic story, takes place amid the Israelites' wandering in the desert. We read in B'haalot'cha : When they were in Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married:"He married a Cushite woman!" They said,"Has the Eternal spoken only through Moses...

Tzav

The Sacrifice of Drawing Closer

D'Var Torah By: Dr. Carol Ochs

March 11, 2015

The portion Tzav in Leviticus describes the rituals of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the reparation offering, and the offering of well-being. The word used in English for the offerings in the Temple is "sacrifice,"but that disguises or obscures the true meaning of korban, the term in Hebrew, which...

Governance

A Road Map

D'Var Torah By: Dr. Carol Ochs

January 28, 2015

Hardly a day goes by that we don't see, hear, or read about the Ten Commandments. Actually, we have grown so accustomed to their being tossed about on the Internet, on television, in the newspaper, or in our places of worship that when we speak of them they no longer...

Marriage

Sarah's Obituary

D'Var Torah By: Dr. Carol Ochs

October 24, 2014

In an ironic twist, the portion dealing with the death of Sarah is called Chayei Sarah, "The Life of Sarah," but on second thought, it is not really so strange. We celebrate a person's life only when it has been rounded out, or to paraphrase Nicomachean Ethics I 1089a18, do...

Vayeilech

Shabbat Shuvah! "Be Strong and Resolute"

D'Var Torah By: Dr. Carol Ochs

September 11, 2014

In Vayeilech, the shortest portion in the Torah, Moses tells the people that he will not be leading them into the Land of Israel, per God's instruction; instead, Joshua will lead them (Deuteronomy 31:1-3). Then God informs Moses that he will soon die and that he should prepare Joshua to...