Rabbi's Message

Parshat VaEtChanan is a monumental parsha. It contains two of the most foundational texts of our tradition: the Shema and its first paragraph, and the second telling of the Aseret HaDibrot (Ten Commandments). This is no ordinary Torah portion. What is it about the word Shema that makes it so

Next week we will observe Tisha B’Av (תשעה באב), the Ninth of Av. Traditionally, this is a day associated with calamity for the Jewish people. It’s the day on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, the city of Betar fell, the Romans plowed over Jerusalem, and—long before

Does it matter that the mayor of a large American city calls our people monsters? Does it matter that people accuse the Jewish officiant of a mega celebrity wedding, for two non-Jews at a non-Jewish ceremony, of being a genocide supporter? Does it matter that candidates for elected offices across

In 1894 something happened that forever changed the Jewish People and the world. From that year until 1906, a Frenchman named Alfred Dreyfus, a captain in the French military, was accused, convicted of, and punished for the high crime of treason. There would be multiple trials and retrials and eventually

I still remember, vividly, sitting in the Washington Convention Center and witnessing Alon Ohel come onto the stage and perform the song Superman with the artist who made it famous, Five for Fighting. I had chills then, and when I remember it, I have chills now. This moment was the