by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 18, 2022 | Community, Covenant, Education, Fear of God, God, Yitro
When Moses presented the Jews with the prospect of receiving the Torah at Sinai, they respond: “All that Hashem has spoken we will do!” (Exodus 19:8). This expression of acceptance was repeated and expanded in a phrase that has characterized Jewish observance...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 13, 2022 | Beshalach, God, Holiness, Sukkot, Temple
God watched over the Children of Israel as they traveled through the desert toward the Promised Land, guiding them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. The pillars were a constant presence. At dawn the pillar of fire would stand in place,...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 2, 2022 | Bo, God, Gratitude, Prayer, Temple
Judaism is an ethnic identity that bears with it many religious obligations. It is widely known that Jews circumcise their sons on the eighth day, a ritual called brit milah, as mandated in the Torah. But less well-known is the commandment of pidyon haben, redeeming...
by Rabbi Tuly Weisz | f 31, 2021 | Chosen Nation, Community, Education, Eikev, God, Israel, Redemption
On January 1, 2012, Rabbi Tuly Weisz sent his first daily newsletter to several dozen friends and family members (and hasn’t missed a day since in the past decade!). “I was inspired by this verse in Deuteronomy,” said Weisz, “that God’s eyes are upon the Land of...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 29, 2021 | God, Va'eira
When Moses and Aaron confronted Pharaoh, his court magicians tried to refute their demand to release the Hebrews by mimicking their miraculous acts. This proved to be within the magicians’ abilities when they faced the rod-born serpent, the Nile turning to blood, and...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 21, 2021 | Fear of God, God, Hebrew Language, Holiness, Prayer, Shemot
In Moses’ dramatic first encounter with God, he asks who he should say sent him to free the Jews. More precisely, he asks, “When I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’...
