(Want to learn more about Jewish views on morality? Visit Ethics and Values.) This week’s parashah is Vayera. Within its verses we find some of the most familiar, and troubling, stories in the Torah. For Vayera contains within it the stories of the Akeidah (the binding of Isaac on Mt.
Joseph, the dreamer and interpreter of dreams, is the son of a dreamer. It is no surprise that he is Jacob’s favorite son. Young Jacob dreamed of a stairway reaching to heaven, traveled by angels. In a dream-like state, Jacob wrestled. Yet Joseph’s dreams of a heavenly connection are far
The difference between a prophet and a sage is where each discovers God working in our lives. The prophet studies the future and points out the opportunities for righteousness and goodness that we may encounter in our life’s journey. The sage looks into the past and shows us how we
(Want to learn more about Jewish views on purpose and meaning? Visit Reconstructionism – Believing.) The goal of Jewish life is to embody Torah, the living word of the living God addressed to all creation through the life and experience of Am Yisrael, the Jewish people. This Jewish insight teaches
The following is adapted from a d’var Torah given by RRC student Mackenzie Reynolds in early 2017 at a gathering of congregational presidents and rabbis at the Society for the Advancement of Judaism, a Reconstructionist Synagogue in New York. “If I have found grace in your sight, don’t bury me
A woman in our congregation once came to see me with a heavy heart. Her son was soon to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah. She told me a sad but unfortunately all too familiar tale of enmity and anger, silence and deep-seated hurt between members of her immediate family. How her
“Not by might, not by power, but by my spirit….” (Zechariah 4:6) Our rabbinic ancestors chose Zechariah’s important words as the prophetic message of Chanukah. In some ways, it’s an odd choice. In the Torah portion, Miketz, Joseph harnesses Pharaoh’s might and power to save the Egyptians from the impending
When I was sixteen my family moved from Santa Monica to Sacramento. I had just finished my first year of high school and had been selected to play drums with the SAMOHI jazz band in the Hollywood Bowl (which I did the night before we moved). I was certainly not
“All dreams follow the interpreter.” Talmud, Berakhot 55b Everyone has dreams. Some of us dream of heights we intend to scale, battles we intend to win, glories we intend to capture. Some of us dream of love, or riches, or fame, or the quenching of our deepest desires. Some dreams
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