D’var for Shabbes Zachor • February 19, 2021 • Beth Israel Center Madison, WI I want to ask you, to start, to take 10 seconds to concentrate on a painful memory. Go ahead. Focus. Close your eyes if you need to. Ok. Now, for 10 more seconds, do the same…

D’var for Vayigash (December 26, 2020); Beth Israel Center, Madison, WI Thanks to Rayla, Mark, and the Ritual Committee for the chance to give this d’var. In it, I’m going to claim that in this week’s parasha, Vayigash, we see the creation of the first Jewish enclave in history. To…

D’var for Ki Tavo (September 4, 2020); Beth Israel Center, Madison, WI It’s been a challenging week for me, in terms of preparaing this d’var. Classes launched in less-than-ideal circumstances. On top of that, I broke my foot last Saturday afternoon. And so this evening I’m following in the footstep…

D’var for Shelach (June 19, 2020); Beth Israel Center, Madison, WI Good shabbes! And happy Juneteenth. This week’s parasha, Shelach, has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. It’s the parasha in which my namesake’s named. Before sending Hoshea, son of Nun out with 11 other spies…

D’var for Behar-Bechukotai (May 15, 2020); Beth Israel Center, Madison, WI This week’s double parsha is Behar-Bechukotai. Bechukotai is the parsha from my bar mitzvah parsha, from back in May 1989. Luckily for me, it was only a single parsha that year. But even as a single parsha, Bechukotai is…

D’var Torah for Vayechi (January 11, 2020); Beth Israel Center, Madison, WI It’s a pleasure to have another opportunity to talk at you. Today, I’m taking advantage of Rabbi Forester’s absence to engage in dialogue with her d’var for Vayeishev. In that d’var, the rabbi anticipated today’s parsha, invoking Joseph…

Are Jews a distinct race? Does it matter? Is it good for the Jews? The questions aren’t new. But a 2018 employment discrimination case has returned them to the spotlight. Bonadona v. Louisiana College et al. has captured attention, both because it poses the question of whether today’s Jews constitute…

D’var Torah for Va’etchanan (August 17, 2019); Beth Israel Center, Madison, WI Shabbat shalom! First, thanks to Matt Banks, who encouraged this d’var. In appreciation, I’ll be citing one of Matt’s favorite Jewish scholars, the Sfas Emes, whose title means “language of truth.” That’s a thing you should keep in…