Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport

Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport is co-senior rabbi with his wife Rabbi Gaylia R. Rooks at The Temple, Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom, in Louisville, KY. He received his Ph.D. from Washington University in 1988 and has taught Bible and Jewish thought for two decades at Bellarmine University in Lousiville.

Torrah and Kippah
Yom Kippur

A Rambling Rose

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport

 April 24, 2015
As the great flood story begins, we learn that Noah was "a righteous man; in his generation he was above reproach" (Genesis 6:9) and we wonder what kind of compliment has Noah just been paid. After all, what does it mean to be the most righteous person in a generation...
Torrah and Kippah
Tazria

The Plagues of Our Time

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

 April 22, 2015
The Issue No society is perfect. Each has some accomplishments and a number of deficiencies. The question is how to deal with the problems affecting its well-being at any given time. In this d'var Torah, as suggested to me by a friend of mine, I would like to raise the...
Torrah and Kippah
Tazria

Again and Again

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport

 April 22, 2015
Imagine, if you will, that today is not today, and you are not who you thought you were when you woke up this morning. Imagine that today is really some years prior to today, and you are here to meet with the rabbi in preparation for becoming bar or bat mitzvah.
Torrah and Kippah
Sh'mini

Your Body is a Temple

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport

 March 24, 2015
Once upon a time in a parallel universe that has yet to emerge, just one year from now, I had-or perhaps I should say, I will have-the most interesting experience: my heart stood still. I prefer not to think of it as a "heart attack" as if my heart itself...
Torrah and Kippah
Chol HaMo-eid Pesach

Shabbat Chol HaMo-eid Pesach: The Cleft in the Rock

D'Var Torah By: Rabbi Joe Rooks Rapport

 October 18, 2012
On the Sabbath during Passover, we take a break from the sacred and the profane, from sin and sacrifice, from what fits and what is unfit; we set aside all things Leviticus and step into another world. This week's special portion carries within it one of the most luminous and...