Torah

Holiday of Sukkot Has More Than One Meaning

By:

Rabbi Adam Zeff

The holiday of Sukkot that we are celebrating this week centers on the Sukkah, the fragile structure with three walls and a roof of leaves and branches in which we eat, rest, study and even sleep during the holiday. The Torah teaches us that living to the extent possible in the Sukkah is the primary observance of Sukkot, since even...

Torah

His Last Words: Service to God ‘Is Your Very Life’

HAAZINU, Deuteronomy 32:1-52

By:

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell

What would your last words be if you knew you were about to die? How would you choose and position your words to reflect your deepest commitments? How would you capture, and then keep, the attention of your listeners, and, without self pity, give them the tools to carry on after you are gone? This year, after spending 10 days...

Torah

This Is the Time to Turn Back to God

KI TAVO, Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8

By:

Rabbi Adam Zeff

Some might say it is a coincidence of our calendar that this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, is read just before the High Holidays. Yet one of the axioms of studying Torah is that there are no coincidences. Even the most minute laws contained in this week’s reading have important things to teach us about teshuvah — the “turning” of...

Torah

Portion Challenges Us to Rethink What Is Just

KI TETZE, Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

By:

Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell

On Sunday, Aug. 19, Jews around the world welcomed the month of Elul with a single blast of the shofar. At the kotel, women who gathered in honor of Rosh Hodesh Elul were arrested for wearing modest ritual garb. They were removed from this holy place before they could hear the shofar. Their arrest signified the state's denial of their...

Torah

Seek Refuge in Most Glorious of Spots: Torah

SHOFTIM, Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9

By:

Rabbi Joshua Runyan

A refuge comes in many forms. For many children, husbands and wives, home is a refuge, a shelter from the pressures of the world and the criticisms of others. In many states, national wildlife refuges provide shelter for birds and other animals -- plots of land and sea protected from the encroachments of hunters and heavy industry. In this week's...