Related Blog Posts on Voices of WRJ

parent and child
Voices of WRJ

Parashat Haazinu

Linda C. Kramer
 October 6, 2022
Parents provide lessons for their children and for good or bad, we are role models for our children.  It behooves us to remember that our relationships are what’s most important. The memories we leave for our loved ones allow us to live on and not be forgotten. But how is it that we want to be remembered? At the end of life, we must continue to create joy in the moment and to find ways to enjoy what we now have. Moses’ words illustrate that we need a meaningful relationship with our loved ones, even though we know that relationship must end with death. 
Voices of WRJ

Parashat Haazinu

Jane Karlin, WRJ North American Board Member & Chair of the YES Fund Grant Allocations Committee
 October 6, 2022
For thirty-one chapters in Deuteronomy, Moses has told the Israelites how to act. He has explained what God wants and has guided the Israelites, so their lives may be blessed. But now Moses is preparing to say goodbye. God told Moses to ascend Mount Nebo, where he would see the Promised Land and die. After 120 years, how will Moses – Moshe Rabbeinu – our greatest teacher, our revered prophet, address the Israelites?
This Week's Torah Portion
Voices of WRJ

Parashat Vayeilech

Lisa Schwartz, Ph.D. LMFT
 September 30, 2022
The phrase, “Be Strong and Resolute,” is found in v. 6 and v.23. This dictum is a powerful one and sometimes hard to maintain. I have found this especially true when it seems that almost every day, there is an assault on who I am as a Jewish woman, as well as my professional role as a sexuality educator and therapist. For over 35 years, my life’s work has been devoted to helping people understand the complexity of sexuality. My goal is to help people heal and, in so doing, contribute to repairing the world.
This Week's Torah Portion
Ki Tavo

Parashat Ki Tavo

Shari Carruthers
 September 16, 2022
As I enter the High Holy Days, it is a time each year for self-reflection. What are the good deeds I’ve done this year? Have I been a good person to those around me? What lessons have I learned from my mistakes? Whom have I hurt with my words or actions?  Have I kept my personal commitments as a Jew to my friends, family, and community? Have I lived “Jewishly” according to God’s commandments?
Ki Teitzei

Parashat Ki Teitzei

Rachel Roth
 September 7, 2022
In this parashah, we are simply and directly commanded to pay our workers. We are compelled to pay the people who work for us in a timely manner because they rely upon those wages to take care of themselves, their families, and even their communities. Nachmanides, the medieval sage known as Rambam explains, “For if you do not pay him immediately when he leaves work, he will starve and die that night.” While that may feel like an extreme example of what might happen in our 21st-century world, it is not so far-fetched when we look deeper into the inequalities of our employment systems, particularly in the United States. 
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs with a gray mountain and blue sky backdrop.
Voices of WRJ

Parashat R’eih

Michelle Scheinkopf
 August 26, 2022
The pandemic has offered us an opportunity “to see” (R’eih) more clearly what our blessings are. These past two and a half years have given us a moment to pause and consider what is truly important in our lives. ... My synagogue is the central meeting place where I get to practice and live my Judaism with my temple community. To belong and to be connected to something very powerful and to belong to others gives me great meaning and fulfillment. My central meeting place, my synagogue, is forever a blessing.
Torah scroll
Ki Teitzei

Parashah Ki Tetzei

Dr. Madelyn Mishkin Katz
 August 19, 2021

I suspect that everyone has gone through an experience in which you felt resentful, angry or depressed about a past encounter with someone and found it hard to get past it. Someone close to you may have said, “Get over it! Put it in your past!

This Week's Torah Portion
Voices of WRJ

Parashah R'eih

Lisa B. Schwartz, WRJ North American Board Member, Yardley, PA
 August 5, 2021


Parashah R’eih (Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17) opens with the verse “See, this day I set before you blessing and curse (Deut 11:26-28).” Many instructions of daily living are included in the text.

Torah scroll
Voices of WRJ

Parashah Eikev

Emily Dana, HUC-JIR Rabbinical Student, Waltham, MA
 July 30, 2021

Parashah Eikev, while it may be one of the parashyot in Deuteronomy that we gloss over on our way to Simchat Torah, actually raises several challenging questions and can teach us meaningful lessons. In this parashah, Moses continues his speech to the...

Torah scroll
Voices of WRJ

Parashah Va-et'chanan

Karen Sim, WRJ First Vice President, Isaac M. Wise Temple, Cincinnati, OH
 July 23, 2021

 

When I was a little girl attending Sunday school, I learned about the Ten Commandments and understood the gist of most of them, particularly the commandments about one God, not stealing, and honoring my Mother and Father. I learned the Sh’ma, our...