At the beginning of parashah, Ki Tisa (“when you take”) Moses is still on the mountain receiving some last-minute instructions from G-d about the census, the tabernacle, purification rituals, and recipes for the holy oils and incense.
This portion speaks to me in many ways. As women, we have long fought for a place in our homes, congregations, towns, states, nations, and world.
“Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts: you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved.” (Exodus, 25:1)
This, of course, is what we like to think of as the original congregational building fund..
This week’s torah portion, Mishpatim, which translates into ‘these are the rules’, covers three broad areas: interpersonal laws, laws about ritual and the assent to the covenant, na’aseh venishma, which begins the start of Moses’ forty days on the mountain...
Our Sedra addresses an event that was wondrously terrifying and terrifyingly wonderful. The Israelites stood at the foot of Mount Sinai, newly escaped from slavery in Egypt. They had already been the victims of a vicious attack by Amalek on their way to the...
The inspiration for my D’Var Torah is found in Exodus 14:19, but before explaining why, a brief summary of the whole of Parashat B’shalach is warranted for it is action-packed.
Parashat B’shalach begins and ends with the Israelites traveling, first as a...
Three more plagues! That is what we find in Parashat Bo. We see the last three plagues brought down on Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go. There are locusts, darkness, and the most horrible, the slaying of the first born. These plagues are not...
This parashah describes G-d appointing Moses and Aaron as the ones to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage to freedom. Moses did not feel he was a good candidate for the position, but Adonai believed in him.
We have the ability to shake off our own..
Sh’mot is Hebrew for “names.” As God answered, “I, God, am the one who gives humans the ability to speak.” He has given us the words to say when it is necessary for us to speak up.
When Grandma is asked in “Grandma’s Reply” (published in Covenant of the Generations) how she felt about not carrying Torah, she replies, “Ah, Medele, but I did carry Torah. I carried Torah in my heart and in my soul. I carried it within me into the cellar...