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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

New Members for the Sof Board

On Sunday, March 19, the Sof Board met and appointed some new members for the congregational year. The new members of the board are listed below.

Carrie Dibrell – Welcome Chair

Kate Lingley – Recording Secretary

Jennifer Ezekiel – Oneg… 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

Hear and Remember

ʻEkev Drash by Sandra Z. Armstrong

The great joy of Shabbat carries through every day until the time comes when we open up the Torah and the words flow through us. In ʻEkev, Moses stresses the importance of “remembering” to… Continue reading

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