The westernmost member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
Written Torah, Oral Torah, and Atonement
Behar–Bechukotai בְּהַר-בְּחֻקֹּתַי
Drash by Daniel Koster
Blessed were the Israelites in the time of Moses, for they knew the danger. The procedure for sacrifice is to place the offering on the altar, and wait for fire to… Continue reading
Tazria and Tzaraʻat
Parshat Tazria Drash by Alexander Fellman
Good Shabbos, all. I’d like to start, as is my custom, with a little story: There is a council of Rabbis meeting, discussing a matter pertaining to the ritual impurity of an oven under… Continue reading
Dancing to Praise God
Haftorah Commentary for Sh’mini by Stan Satz
In the Torah, the most familiar example of dancing to praise God is found in Exodus Chapter 15 verse 20: Miriam, the sister of Aaron and Moses, choreographs and orchestrates the… Continue reading
Eternal Flame and Sacrifice
Tetzaveh Drash by Daniel Koster
Why does God want all this? This week, God instructs the Israelites to maintain an eternal oil lamp, to construct extremely intricate (that is, expensive) robes for the priests, and to sacrifice a… Continue reading
Justice and Mercy
Parsha Bo drash by Stan Satz
Parasha Bo (Chapter 10 through the 16th verse of Chapter 13)
I was in graduate school at Kent State University in the iconoclastic early 1970’s. At that time, one of my non-Jewish English graduate… Continue reading
The Bones of Joseph
Vayehi Drash by Howard Streicher
The different themes to pursue in Parsha Vayehi (“And he lived”) give us the opportunity for integrating the past into the present. Yet, accepting the value of Torah without questioning the literal truth of… Continue reading
The Rest is Commentary
Vayera Drash by Alexander Fellman
וַיְחַזֵּ֤ק יְהוָה֙ אֶת־לֵ֣ב פַּרְעֹ֔ה
But Hashem hardened pharaoh’s heart.
There is a concept among Christians called the unforgivable sin, the sin that God will never allow repentance for. In most churches, it is the… Continue reading
The Blessings of Yaʻakov
Toldot Drash By Alexander Fellman
There’s a story I like. A Jew was found on a deserted island. He’d made quite a time of his prison there, building himself a house, a street, and two synagogues. “I go to that… Continue reading
Divine Justice & Free Will
Reʻeh Drash by Howard Streicher
Reʻeh, “see,” is the longest parsha with the most words in the book of words (Devarim) 7442 letters, 1932 Hebrew words.
To begin the parsha, God appears to offer a clear choice placing… Continue reading
Tzedek
Shoftim Drash By Marlene Booth & Avi Soifer
Marlene: The portion of the Torah I read today emphasizes the need to have two witnesses in a criminal case. No conviction can be based on the testimony of a single… Continue reading
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