Dr. Ruhama Weiss

is the director of the Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem.

It’s Important To See the Whole Person, Not Just the Illness

D'Var Torah By: Cantor David Berger

I’ve never had great knees, but this was a bit much. At 32 years old, I was limping around, struggling to go up and down stairs, and just feeling terrible about it. Thankfully, surgery and physical therapy helped and I have long since recovered. The most important lesson I learned from my bad knees is one that I see reflected in this week’s Torah portion. Parashat Tazria-M’tzora teaches us about our physicality; its focus is on the skin, hair, fluids, and organs that make up our bodies. We learn how out of our control those things can be and we gain some insight into our relationships with those entrusted with our care.

To Survive a Sermon About Technical Lists

D'Var Torah By: Dr. Ruhama Weiss

It's hard to imagine a writer who would dare to begin a book the way Numbers opens with Parashat B'midbar: four chapters loaded with technical details; names, flags, and the numbers of men in each tribe. It presents a challenge for clergy to carve out a sermon by mining for