Jeffrey Salkin

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin is the rabbi at Temple Beth Am in Bayonne, New Jersey.

Torrah and Kippah
Ki Tisa

When Moses Is with God for 40 Days and 40 Nights, It’s Back to the Idols

D'Var Torah By: Peter S. Knobel
Parashat Ki Tisa recounts the incident of the Golden Calf in a multilayered narrative about faith and leadership. In Exodus, chapter 32, we read that Moses remained on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. In his absence, the Israelites demanded that Aaron fashion an idol so God would be present with them.

Of Vileness & Virtue

Jeffrey Salkin
The 1990s author Tom Wolfe calls it "the decade of moral fever," as compared to the 1980s -- "the decade of money fever." The cry for moral virtue, particularly from the religious right, has reached thunderous proportions in response to the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal.