Honor Is Not Enough
Focal Point
You shall each revere your mother and your father, and keep My sabbaths: I the Eternal am your God. (Leviticus 19:3)
D'var Torah
Being Holy - and Staying Alive
Acharei Mot, the first of this week's two parashiyot, begins on an unsettling note—a reminder of the death of Aaron's sons and the suggestion that such tragedies might occur again unless the priests take specified steps to prevent them
Remembering Yom Kippurim Past
Last Yom Kippur afternoon, unable to concentrate because of the rumblings of my stomach – which I hoped only I could hear – my mind began to wander.
On Yom Kippur and Year-Round, Help Others to Choose Life
“…I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse; choose life, therefore, that you and your descendants may live.”
Nakedness and Vulnerability
In Leviticus 18:3, in Acharei Mot, it is written, "You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you."
For The Sin of Prejudice: Growing Up Jewish as a Person of Color
Every year on the High Holidays, police officers sit outside our synagogue to protect our community and building from harm.
Feeding Your Soul and Memory
Last year, my rabbis asked me to give a speech on Yom Kippur afternoon about creating a day of ultimate tranquility on the "Sabbath of Sabbaths." I expressed my