SB Right – 3 Column
Tetzaveh
Shalom aleichem We read very early in Tetzaveh the exquisitely detailed instructions God gives to Moses with regard to the “garments of sanctity” – his be’gdei kodesh, garments that will be made by wise-hearted people to dress the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol. The Chevra Kadisha continues to use these garments today – by the […]
Terumah
Shalom Aleichem, This week in my Rabbinics class we were asked to write about Pastoral care. This is my submission, in part. Who amongst us has not lost a beloved one, be they a parent, a spouse, a sibling, or God forbid, a child. This week our Jewish community lost a teacher of many years, […]
Mishpatim: Civics and Angels
Shalom Aleichem I alluded last week to my maniacal preparations for my own ceremony of Bat Mitzvah as a grown woman, and as someone who chose to enter the covenant. Mishpatim is that sidra that caused me to pause and consider my need to allow others to help me prepare for that day. Mishpatim includes […]
Yitro
Shalom Aleichem, Yitro is the חוֹתֵן, the father-in-law of Moshe, a relationship that is reiterated and reinforced many times in the first section of this sidra. The name Yitro means abundance or riches – and truly this is what Yitro gave to Moshe. Not riches of kind, but of counsel regarding sustainability, practical counsel that […]
B’shallach
Shalom Aleichem, I didn’t realize until I had to write a d’var Torah every week, how often I say, “Now this is truly one of my favourite sections in all of Torah” – I am like a woman with many grandchildren. Years ago I was in Brooklyn. I had made arrangements with a very orthodox/observant […]
Bo
Shalom Aleichem, Many years ago, while on a sabbatical in Los Angeles, we had been invited for an upcoming Shabbat afternoon to visit a friend – and her pool – which at 100+ degrees sounded like a great idea. Except we were Canadians. It was January, and it never occurred to either of us to […]
Vaeira: Jewish Take-out
Vaeira is another one of those sections of Torah that sounds familiar to us – mostly because of our annual re-telling of this story. It all sounds very familiar: our ancestor’s servitude in Egypt, the recounting of the 10 plagues, Pharaoh’s hardened heart. One almost wants to break out into a raucous Dai Dai-einu and […]
Shemot
This week, we have shifted from the first to the second book in the Five Books of Moses, or our Written Torah. We have left Bereshit, Genesis and are now in the book of Shemot, or Exodus. We have also shifted from the stories of our Avot and Imahot, our patriarchs and matriarchs, – Avraham, Yitzhak […]
Ki Tisa
February 19, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk
Shalom Aleichem. Life has many blessings, and many pitfalls. So too does Ki Tisa. This is another one of those parshiot filled with verbs – remember, provoked, ascended, descended, smashing, carved – as if to remind us that every action we take, even the act of intention, holds tremendous import. Ki Tisa is about our […]