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"Hearing" The "Voice" of God - DT Yitro
What does it mean to “hear” the commanding “voice” of God? A key word in this week's portion suggests that it is not necessarily all that clear. Moreover, one particularly trenchant verse in the haftarah reinforces the problem with understanding revelation (which I am equating with the notion of hearing the commanding voice of God).
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/hearing-voice-god
Posted on: 2017/02/10 - 3:29pm
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The Well of Tradition and Miriam's Well - DT Hukat
One of our people's greatest strengths is using our tradition as a wellspring to renew our heritage as we pass it down from generation to generation. As Jews we have a living relationship with our past. Jewish history, Jewish traditions, and Jewish memories are not placed in museums and libraries for scholars to research. They are part of our people's daily lives. When we study our sacred texts, retell our stories, celebrate our successes and mourn our losses, we seek to make deep personal connections to our people's heritage.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/well-tradition-and-miriams-well
Posted on: 2017/01/31 - 3:50pm
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Living the Good Life - DT Ekev
Ah! Living the good life! The words conjure up villas on the Mediterranean, fancy cars, gourmet meals, fashionable clothes, consorting with the well-to-do.
On the other hand, living the good life is the fundamental question that religions try to answer. There are myriad answers, and over the millennia Judaism has managed to give many of them.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/living-good-life
Posted on: 2017/01/31 - 3:27pm
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Do You Want To Be A Millionaire DT Terumah
For most people the answer appears obvious. “Of course,” they would answer, “who wouldn't?” Prosperity is a wonderful blessing. We all want to live well. We pray that our children will never lack the things they need and will be able to enjoy at least some of what they want. At the beginning of each Jewish year, we wish each other health and happiness, blessing and wealth, but we also know that wealth is not enough for a good life.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/do-you-want-be-millionaire
Posted on: 2017/01/31 - 2:46pm
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Why Moses Did Not Become A Priest - DT Tetzaveh
This week's parashah, Tetzaveh, begins with God commanding Moses “And as for you, you shall instruct the Israelites to bring you pure olive oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling the Eternal Lamp (Exodus 27:20).” At first glance it does not appear that there is anything unusual or extraordinary about this verse. It is simply God giving Moses another instruction concerning the Mishkan (Tabernacle), just as God instructed him last week on how he was to build it.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/why-moses-did-not-become-priest
Posted on: 2017/01/31 - 2:37pm
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Moses Died With A Promised Land: DT Simchat Torah
Why was Moses barred from entering the promised land? It upsets our sense of fairness. There must be a reason for this disentitlement, for how else to explain why the great leader, the one who brought his people from Mitzraim to the ecstasy of Sinai and maintained their sense of purpose through the desert to the very border of the Land could only gaze at it and never enter. Is this the reward for one who had sacrificed power and privilege for the complaints and burdens of a stiff-necked people, who endured forty years with them?
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/moses-died-promised-land
Posted on: 2017/01/30 - 7:36pm
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Prophets and Sages - Vayigash DT Eron
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 made way for God's healing presence and loving power in the choices we made and the paths we followed. The prophet fortifies us with the gift of hope. The sage strengthens us with the gift of meaning.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/prophets-and-sages
Posted on: 2017/01/30 - 7:25pm
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Shemot DT Lewis Eron
One of the sad ironies of leadership is that leaders frequently come to believe the lies they tell and then make “reasoned” decisions based on those lies, often with disastrous results. As rulers of all sorts trick us by manipulating with such powerful emotions, such as our fear of strangers and our worry for our security, they, too, are tricked. They come to believe their own tales, get entangled in their lies. Terrible things happen, suffering increases, and policies built on lies lead, all too often, to disgrace, dishonor and defeat.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/trapped-our-own-lies
Posted on: 2017/01/11 - 5:15pm
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DT Va'era Steven Carr Reuben
Names are very important. They have a power all their own. There are names that inspired revolutions and overturned entire civilizations. There are names that have struck terror into the hearts of all who heard them. And of course there are many who claim that the sweetest sound that a human being ever hears is the sound of his or her own name.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/naming-divine
Posted on: 2017/01/11 - 4:39pm
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DT Vaykhi Steven Carr Reuben
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 mother hadn’t spoken to her brother in years, and her father hadn’t spoken to her sister in years, and neither the father nor the mother (both divorced now) had spoken to each other for years either.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/courage-and-forgiveness
Posted on: 2017/01/11 - 4:25pm
