“There is a certain people, scattered and dispersed among the other peoples in all the provinces of your realm, whose laws are different from those of any other people and who do not obey the king’s laws; and it is not in Your Majesty’s interest to tolerate them. If it please Your Majesty, let an edict be drawn for their destruction, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the stewards for deposit in the royal treasury.”

(Megillat Esther, The Book of Esther)

Dear Friends,

The Book of Esther, which we read on Purim, is a far darker story than many realize. For example, Vashti was beheaded because she was unwilling to humiliate herself in front of the king’s guests. The king was the epitome of the failed leader who was given a title and influence but squandered it on meaningless pleasures. Haman was the embodiment of the …

Dear Friends,

This week’s Torah portion begins with a powerful exchange between Moses and his father-in-law Jethro. It then describes the preparation necessary before Moses would be permitted to ascend Mt. Sinai and receive the Ten Commandments.

וַיֵּ֧רֶד מֹשֶׁ֛ה מִן־הָהָ֖ר אֶל־הָעָ֑ם וַיְקַדֵּשׁ֙ אֶת־הָעָ֔ם וַֽיְכַבְּס֖וּ שִׂמְלֹתָֽם׃

Moses came down from the mountain to the people and warned the people to stay pure, and they washed their clothes.

Through Moses God tells the Israelites to purify themselves.
He tells them to wash their clothes.
He instructs them to stand at the base of the mountain.
He warns them against touching the mountain lest they incur punishment.

But then he says this…

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־הָעָ֔ם הֱי֥וּ נְכֹנִ֖ים לִשְׁלֹ֣שֶׁת יָמִ֑ים אַֽל־תִּגְּשׁ֖וּ אֶל־אִשָּֽׁה׃

And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day: do not go near a woman.”

Under any circumstance, this would be a jarring statement but its presence here, at exactly …

I’m excited about February 19th. I’m anxious about February 19th. February 19th cannot get here soon enough. 

Dear Friends,

In this week’s Torah portion, Beshalach, we find our ancestors are caught between the waters of the Sea of Reeds on one side and the approaching Egyptian army on the other. They were, at that moment, faced with an impossible choice.

If they remained where they were the Egyptian army would force them back into slavery. Even worse, the Israelites would now be dealing with a Pharaoh who had been humiliated and would likely be crueler than ever.

If they continued forward it was more than a bit likely that many of them would drown.

The situation presented them with quite the dilemma. But while it is true that, after a few weeks in the Sinai wilderness, the Israelites would become filled with nostalgia and long for their lives in Egypt, …

Dear Friends,

One of the ways Jewish tradition was shared in ancient times was through a process known as She’elot u-Teshuvot (Hebrew: שאלות ותשובות “questions and answers”). This process began when a question would be brought to the rabbi. If the rabbi was not able to answer the question he (in those days only men were rabbis) would write down the question and have a messenger carry it to HIS teacher. If the second rabbi was unable to answer the question the process would be repeated and the message sent to HIS teacher. Once the question was answered the response would be returned to the original questioner along the same route. Moreover, the question and the answer would be read by the members of each community along the journey home. In this way, Jewish legal questions and answers spread across Europe. This allowed our dispersed community to be far more …

(Watch a video version of this message.)

 

Dear Community Members,

It is with complete disgust and revulsion that we are forced to share with you that in spite of our own Rabbinic Authority’s clear Jewish legal guidance and those of our movement and other rabbinic organizations plus recent medical guidance, there were a number of people who blatantly violated our synagogue’s policy and indeed participated in a rogue worship gathering this past Shabbat. This level of raw chutzpah and dangerous behavior that puts others at risk cannot be tolerated. This type of behavior and the individuals who perpetrated it must be responded to with significant consequences.

That is the first paragraph, slightly edited, from Rabbi Edelman to his South Florida congregation. His message is direct and his language is overly harsh. Obviously. And while it goes without saying that I would never use such language with …

רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר אוֹמֵר, אַל תְּרַצֶּה אֶת חֲבֵרְךָ בִשְׁעַת כַּעֲסוֹ, וְאַל תְּנַחֲמֶנּוּ בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁמֵּתוֹ מֻטָּל לְפָנָיו

Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar said:
Do not try to appease your friend during his hour of anger;
Nor comfort him at the hour while his dead still lies before him…
(Pirke Avot 4:18)

I’ve been thinking about this teaching from Pirke Avot- Ethics of the Fathers- quite a bit in recent weeks. There are, of course, teachings from this small section of the Talmud that are more uplifting. There are many that are more spiritual… more optimistic. And yet, this year, this is one of the sections of Pirke Avot that is resonating most loudly for me.

There are a few reasons for this.

The statement “[Do not try to] comfort him at the hour while his dead still lies before him…” may strike some as a bit too “in your face” but …

 Click this image for a video version of this week’s message.

One of the most compelling aspects of Torah study is that each year, as part of the annual cycle of reading the Torah from start to finish, there is always something new to see. For while the text of the Torah is canonized or fixed, the eyes with which we read and interpret our sacred text are continually changing. For example, the Torah portion about Noah may look very different to us in a year when there have been terrible floods than it would in the midst of a draught. Similarly, we may see something new when studying the story about Joseph’s interactions with his jealous brothers if we ourselves are in the midst of a fight with our siblings. The text of the Torah remains the same form year to year. But the eyes and the experiences through …

There is a tradition that, each Shabbat between the Festivals of Passover and Shavuot, a chapter from the small section of the Talmud known as Pirke Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers, is studied. One of the most famous teaches:

Hillel used to say:
If I am not for me, who will be for me?
And when I am for myself alone, what am I?

That one statement reminds us how important it is to strike a balance between self-interest and selflessness.

If I do not take care of myself, my family or my community I cannot expect anyone else to.

But if I am only concerned with myself, my family or my community and I do not concern myself with my obligations to do good in the world I have only done half the job.

I have always loved this quote as I believe it captures one of the …

Click the Image for a Video Version of This Message

Dear Friends,

During rabbinic school I was at the beach in Southern California. I was standing on a pier and saw a young person get caught in the undertow. Each time he tried to get up either a wave knocked him down or the pull of the current and the slipper ocean rocks led to him losing his step. Things look desperate until a woman standing on the shore yelled instructions to him. He followed them and, a few minutes later he was safely on the beach.
This instructions led me to write this piece which, as I sit on my computer at the beginning of Passover, seems more relevant than ever.

I wrote:

Fleeing the Egyptian soldiers, the Israelites came to the Sea of Reeds. They looked across the waters and were terrified that they would soon drown

Dear Friends,

As we approach Passover I, and everyone I know, cannot help but see the ten plagues sent against Egypt in a new way this year.

On ten occasions God sent a plague against the Egyptian people and, time and time again, just as Pharaoh appeared to soften and behave with a bit more compassion the text of the Torah tells us that God hardened his heart.

One of the ten plagues was the plague that began when, as the text of the Torah teaches,

…there was a thick darkness (Exod. 10:22).

The rabbis of old taught:

“The darkness was twice and twice again thicker [than the darkness of any other night, so that] “no one was able to move from his place for three days” (Exod. 10:23)… During the three days of darkness, the cover of thick cloud made it dark for the Egyptians but gave light to