by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 4, 2024 | Chosen Nation, Redemption, Shemot, Tests and Trials
The Torah portion of Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1), which opens the Book of Exodus, recounts the transition of the Children of Israel from their esteemed position within Egyptian society to a state of harsh subjugation and relentless oppression. This period of suffering and...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 3, 2023 | Antisemitism, Chosen Nation, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Kings, Temple, Tenth of Tevet
High school was difficult for me. Not only was I an awkward teen but there was also a group of guys who, unbeknownst to me, had decided amongst themselves that they would make my life miserable. They would take turns playing pranks on me. At first, I thought I was the...
by Eliyahu Berkowitz | f 5, 2022 | Antisemitism, Chanukah, Chosen Nation, God, Prayer, Psalms, Tests and Trials
Hanukkah is quickly approaching and I am reminded of a joke my father, of blessed memory, used to tell every year after lighting the candles. With the doughnuts and potato pancakes arranged on the table and waiting to be eaten, my dad would announce, “They tried to...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 24, 2022 | Antisemitism, Chosen Nation, Community, Covenant, God, Gratitude, Israel, Psalms, Tests and Trials
The recent surge in antisemitism from the Black Hebrew community regurgitates age-old tropes, namely that another group has replaced the Jews as God’s Chosen People. When Christianity first broke off from Judaism 2,000 years ago, the younger religion claimed that...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2022 | Chosen Nation, Faith, God, Israel, Lech Lecha, Miracles, Prayer
By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz A wonderful aspect of reading the weekly Torah portion is the synchronicity that happens when the scripture matches up with current or historical events. This week, we read the section of the Torah containing God’s promise to bless those who...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 25, 2022 | Chosen Nation, Re’eih
According to Google, the meaning of the word treasure is “a valuable or valued item.” In the Torah portion of Re’eh, God uses this term of endearment to describe the Jewish people (Deuteronomy 14:2), a term that He first uses to describe them in Exodus: For you are a...
