Taste of Torah

Our final haftarah of this three-week period of reflection and grief begins with Isaiah’s hazon (vision)—thus earning the title “Shabbat Hazon.” As in the case ...

In Jewish North African (Maghreb) traditions, especially in Morocco, it was common to make pilgrimage to the tombs of outstanding figures (kivrei tzadikim). The tombs ...

In the first of three special Haftarot of Admonition during the three weeks between the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha Be’Av, we meet Jeremiah, as ...

We can hide the pain of our most difficult experiences, knowing that from time to time a trigger will bring that pain back to the ...

In this moment of upheaval in which we find ourselves, when we feel our own hearts have departed us, we must seek to find not ...

Sometimes, it is necessary to break the rules and speak truth to the people. We pray that God gives us the ability to see and ...

What new depth may we derive from the priestly blessing, in a moment when exile feels all too acute?

Our seasonal study of Pirkei Avot during the weeks between Pesah and Shavuot gives us teaching after teaching of guidance to walk through life with ...

As we continue our journey through our own midbar—our own wilderness—may we remember that Torah is indeed for all of us...

This past April, one third of all renters in the United States did not pay their landlords on time or in full.

After a long list of commandments, the very end of Parashat Emor brings us a startling narrative.

Why does the Torah repeat the fact that Moshe is serving as a messenger between God and Aharon?

In this week’s parashah, Tazria-Metzora, we read of the conditions that make one exist in a state of tumah (often translated as impurity) and detailed ...

As we come out of Pesah, our options for eating expand, though only so much as the current moment of isolation allows (finding any available ...

On Shabbat Hol Hamo’ed Pesah, we return to a narrative that we encountered only a few weeks before—that of Moses seeking God’s face.

While this ritual might seem unique, it’s not uncommon—at least not for long. Just a few chapters later, we see the exact same ritual of ...

This week we begin a new book of the Torah, marking the end of Exodus narrative and diving deep into the Israelite’s need to create ...

Disregarding any concern about idol worship, Bezalel Academy boldly set the precedent that modern Judaism, just like ancient Judaism, was to be a culture of ...

We are reminded that if we find ourselves in a period of spiritual loneliness (or even if God seems fully absent from the text of ...

We are reminded that if we find ourselves in a period of spiritual loneliness (or even if God seems fully absent from the text of ...

How might we reconcile these two distinct expressions of giving as presented in the text—bringing from the generosity of one’s heart and bringing from a ...

As we go through life, let us refuse to pass by opportunities to grow in our compassion and reason and patience.

Our foundational document, our Torah, is a living text. Like Jefferson’s vision of the Constitution, we must in every generation engage in its ongoing interpretation ...

As parashat Beshallah opens, the people of Israel are finally about to leave Egypt, but not before one last moment of crisis. Standing at the ...

When we don’t truly see one another—by responding to someone’s needs, being attentive to their pain, and celebrating with them in their joy—we create the ...

When kindergarten teacher Anne Forer began attending Women’s Liberation meetings in the late 1960s, she struggled at first to understand the problem. What, exactly, did ...

The book of Exodus opens with a scene that is at once terrifying and today, chillingly familiar. A foreign population—the children of Israel—have dwelled in ...

In this week’s parashah, the narrative arc of Yosef and his brothers comes to a close, as does the entire book of Bereshit. With much ...