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Open Your Hand DT Re'eh Kligler
Pato’ach tiftach et yadcha l’achicha, l’aniyecha u’le’evyoncha b’artzecha
כִּ֛י לֹא־יֶחְדַּ֥ל אֶבְי֖וֹן מִקֶּ֣רֶב הָאָ֑רֶץ עַל־כֵּ֞ן אָנֹכִ֤י מְצַוְּךָ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּ֠תֹחַ תִּפְתַּ֨ח אֶת־יָדְךָ֜ לְאָחִ֧יךָ לַעֲנִיֶּ֛ךָ וּלְאֶבְיֹנְךָ֖ בְּאַרְצֶֽךָ׃
You must open, open your hand to the poor and to the needy in your land. (Deuteronomy 15:11)
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/open-your-hand
Posted on: 2017/08/11 - 2:24pm
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Be Happy! DT Re'eh Mendelssohn
“Remember the month of Aviv and keep the Passover…”. In Parashat Re’eh we are given a description of the three major pilgrim festivals, Pesakh, Shavuot, and Sukkot. These are the Ḥagim. “Ḥag” is a cognate of the Arabic word word “Haj”. Just as Haj to Mecca is a requirement for the Muslem (if one can afford it), so is the Ḥag to Jerusalem if one is a Jew.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/be-happy
Posted on: 2017/08/11 - 2:39pm
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Hagar: The Immigrant Worker
Many, many years ago in a distant land a woman named Sarah was married to Abraham. Sarah was not able to bear children. She was distressed and often wondered how she could increase her standing in the community and keep the wealth she and her husband had acquired in their family, both of which depended on having children. One day she realized the answer was right there before her eyes in the form of her domestic help, the young immigrant woman from Egypt named Hagar. Sarah knew that Hagar needed the job at her house and would do whatever it took to keep it.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/sermon/hagar-immigrant-worker
Posted on: 2017/08/15 - 4:06pm
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Welcoming Strangers, Welcoming Angels
B’shem Hashem elohei yisrael
Miyimini Michael u’mismoli gavriel
Umilfanai uriel um’akhorai refael
V’al roshi, v’al roshi, shekhinat el.In the name of God, the God of Israel
To my right is Michael, to my left is Gavriel
In front of me Uriel, and behind me Rafael
And on my mind, and over me, Shekhinat El—From traditional bedtime Shema, with my loose translation.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/welcoming-strangers-welcoming-angels
Posted on: 2017/08/16 - 2:24pm
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Addressing Race as a Jewish Community
Yom Kippur is a time when we confess our wrongdoings collectively, and is therefore an opportune moment in the Jewish calendar to reflect on how we can do teshuvah for the ways in which we have failed, communally and individually, to address the issue of racism.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/sermon/addressing-race-jewish-community
Posted on: 2017/08/16 - 3:08pm
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Turning Memory Into Empathy: The Torah's Ethical Charge
One of the Torah’s central projects is to turn memory into empathy and moral responsibility. Appealing to our experience of defenselessness in Egypt, the Torah seeks to transform us into people who see those who are vulnerable and exposed rather than looking past them.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/turning-memory-empathy-torahs-ethical-charge
Posted on: 2017/08/16 - 4:05pm
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Melekh Ha-Olem DT Shoftim Eron
Each time we pronounce a blessing, we are making a political statement. Within the introduction to every blessing are the words which declare that our Eternal God is melekh ha-olam, Sovereign of the Universe. Every time we express our gratitude for the opportunities and experiences life offers us, we also affirm our loyalty to God as our sovereign and acknowledge our citizenship in the Divine One’s dominion. In Hebrew this is called kabbalat ol malchut shamayim, accepting the yoke of the kingdom of heaven.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/melekh-ha-olam-sovereign-all
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 11:44am
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Justice, Justice - DT Shoftim Kligler
This week’s Parsha, Shoftim, begins with this famous declaration:
Tzedek, tzedek tirdof / צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף
Justice, justice thou shalt pursue.
Deuteronomy 16:20
This is one of the central declarations of the Torah, echoed in many other instructions. For example:
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/justice-justice
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 11:59am
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Returning Lost Objects - DT Ki Tetzey SCR
When we are lucky, there are unexpected moments in life that suddenly present us with the opportunity to find out who we really are. I recall one such moment during my time as a rabbi in the Los Angeles area. It involved then-22-year-old Ascension Franco Gonzales, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who came to this country from Hidalgo with one goal in mind: to send back enough money to build a two-story cinder-block house for his parents.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/out-sight-not-out-mind
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 1:12pm
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It Just Isn't So! DT Eron Ki Tetzey
There comes a point in the life of all faithful Jews when we face the fact that what the Torah says, just isn’t so. This does not occur when we see the differences between the ancient understanding of the origins and structures of the physical world and contemporary scientific knowledge. The Torah is not a science text book, but uses the knowledge of its time to illustrate the various ways in which God, the Creator, interacts with creation.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/it-just-isnt-so
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 1:15pm
