The Role of Sacrifice
In T'tzaveh we read the commandment, "Now this is what you shall offer upon the altar: two yearling lambs each day, regularly" (Exodus 29:38). This was later called the tamid offering (daily burnt offering).
Ureem and Tumeem: A Model of Brotherly Love
Aaron and Moses: Two brothers with two different paths to greatness. Aaron was a prophet, preacher, and visionary, yet it was Moses, his younger brother, who was selected by God to lead the Israelites. Their relationship could have developed into a sibling rivalry without equal.
Hide and Seek
In discussions with pre-b'nei mitzvah students and parents every year, I ask how they would feel about someone attending services in ripped jeans. What about a woman wearing a dress or blouse showing cleavage? What is proper attire in a synagogue?
What Was Golden about the Golden Calf?
The story of the Golden Calf has so seared itself into our consciousness that it has become one of the prime acts of apostasy in the Jewish story.
What Is the Purpose of the Synagogue?
The Hebrew term for synagogue is beit k'neset. It means "house of assembly" and thus approximates the Greek word 'synagoge' which also means "assembly." For centuries, the synagogue functioned primarily as the ancient world's idea of a "JCC," a place for Jews to assemble.
Sometimes We Are Jonah
Every Yom Kippur afternoon, congregations all over the world read the Book of Jonah, as set out for us in the Babylonian Talmud, M'gillah 31a. Most people believe that this haftarah is chosen because it models complete repentance.
Voices of Torah / Yom HaKippurim
Decades ago, Rabbi Jack Reimer explained Yom Kippur for me this way. It's not saying: I'm sorry I was bad and I won't do it again. That's only a Sunday school, superficial expression of something much deeper and spiritually far more important.