Text

Torah Commentaries

◄ Bereishit / Genesis ►

Bereishit

"Darkness" or "The Book of Dexter (4:7)"  

Noach

No More Floods, No More Excuses (TOI)

Unity Without Understanding (Medium)

Noach: Good Enough? (Medium)

Noach: Being Creators (TOI)

It Will be Good (TOI)

 Are We What We Need?

Lech Lecha

With Fire in Our Eyes, We Will Fight for Our Family (Medium)

It Begins (Again) With Us (Times of Israel)

Go Forth (Medium) 

Breaking Patterns, Building Paths: Lech Lecha on the Eve of an American Election (Medium)

Can One Land Support a Family? TOI

The Uncertain Woods of Faith HuffPo

Wholeness and Sacrifice HuffPo

A beautiful, fragile world Medium

Ready

Abraham and the Idols

Vayera

Seeing Each Other (Medium)

The Quality of Sodom

Which Fire?

The Akeidah Post 9/11

Chayei Sarah

The Chutzpah of Eliezer (Medium)

The Power of Showing Up (TOI)

Jewish Dignity in a Contested World (Medium)

Always Kindness. Always. (Medium)

The Blessed Burden (TOI)

Twilight and Uncertainty (Medium)

Isaac's Prayer

Toldot

Pain and Birth (Medium)

To Reach Beyond Finite Blessing (TOI)

Bound and Blessed (Again) (TOI)

Toldot: Showing Up (In)Authentically for Blessing (Medium)

Vayetze

Leah's Hidden Blessing (MJL)

Sleep. Rest. Dream. (Medium)

The Nature of Tears (TOI)

Holy Tears – BRING THEM HOME NOW (TOI)

Vayeitzei: Rest, Love, and the Beloved Community (Medium)

Ascending Angels (Among) Us (Medium)

Holding Even God Accountable (TOI)

Vayishlach

Wiser by the Wound (Medium)

VaYishlach: To Prevail (TOI)

Bring Them Home NOW: A Call to Unity from the Heart of Vayishlach (TOI)

Power and Responsibility (Medium)

What Is Your Name? (Medium)

Holding on Until Dawn (Medium)

Vayeshev

Small Moments That Change Everything (TOI)

Repairing the Heart of Family (Medium)

10 Years After Sandy Hook: A Jewish Reflection (Medium)

The Threat of Serenity (HuffPo)

Miketz

Remembering Our Dreams

Awakening to Light: Lessons from Miketz and Chanukah (Medium)

Finding Kindness (Miketz/Channukah) (Medium)

Vayigash

Stepping into the Breach (TOI)

The Power of Vulnerability and the Cry for Connection  (Medium)

The Possible Blessing of Encounter (TOI)

Closer, Come Closer (Medium)

Broken Words

The Holiness of the Whole Truth (Medium)

Vayechi

Abundant Love: The Wisdom of Jacob (MJL)

Love as the Ultimate Inheritance (TOI)

When Love Wins (Medium)

The Courage to Revisit: Finding Gratitude in the Depths (Medium)

◄ Shemot / Exodus ►

Shemot

The Power of Memory and the Choice to Remember (Medium)

Struggling with Holiness and Power (Medium)

Bring Them Home NOW: Shemot’s Wisdom for Today (Medium)

Must it be Armageddon? (TOI)

A World Without Children's Voices

Salvation without a Name

Va'era

Diving for Hidden Treasure (HuffPo)

Seeing the Everyday as Miraculous (video, Jan. 21, 2023)

Holding Joy, Bearing Witness, and the Infinite Divine (Medium)

The Birth of History, the Birth of Hope (Medium)

Liberation in the Midst of Struggle — L’Chaim! (Medium)

Gaza and the Nile (TOI)

A World of Chesed

Born Again 

Two Roots

Bo

Braiding Dignity in the Darkness (TOI)

The Fragility and Responsibility of Freedom (Medium)

A Legacy of Compassion (Medium)

Plagues of Liberation  (Medium)

 

Beshallach

The Sea Before Us: Claiming Our Place in History  (Medium)

Carrying Our Promises: Memory, Redemption, and the Journey Forward (Medium)

Turning (video)

Yitro

Defeating Pharoah’s Descendants (Medium)

Life Itself is Resistance (TOI)

There Was a Moment: My Wife's Torah (Medium)

Wisdom Before Revelation: The Leadership of Yitro (Medium)

Exodus and Relational Authority

Why I Fight

The Necessity of Windows

Is Sculpture Idolatry?

Mishpatim

The Tears of Generations: The Burdens of History (Medium)

The Work Must Continue (Medium)

 
Terumah

Tetzave
Always For and Sometimes Within (TOI)

Ki Tissa

● Plaquesville

● The Wisdom of Chovav

Vayak'hel-Pekudei

To Shake Ourselves into Awareness (Medium)

The Value of Things

The Necessity of the Whole

Pekudei

Why is Moses Kept Out of the Tabernacle? (MJL)

◄ Vayikra / Leviticus ►

VaYikra

The Sacrificial Call (TOI)

Tzav

Sacrifice (Medium)

Shemini

Tazria/Metzora
Human Boundaries and Inclusion  (Medium)

Tazria-Metzora’s Post-COVID Message: Be One Camp (TOI)

Body and Soul (Tazria/Metzora) (Medium)

Acharei Mot/Kedoshim

Don’t wait. Share love. Today. (Medium)

Intimacy [video]

Intense Lessons from the Nova Exhibition: Learning to Dance Again (Times of Israel)

Emor

The Pursuit of Purity (MyJewishLearning)

Driving to Sul on Shabbat & Holiness (TOI)

Behar/Bechukotai

Becoming Faithful Ancestors (Bechukotai) (Medium)

Cosmic Ripples (Bechukotai) (Medium)

● The Absence of Jerusalem

◄ Bemidbar / Numbers ►

Bemidbar

After the Wilderness: A Reflection on the COVID-19 Pandemic (Medium)

Counting (Medium)

A Journey of Love and Resilience (Medium)

Counting the Uncountable (Medium)

Pierced by Names (Medium)

When the Desert Sings (video)x

Naso
Personal Status and Jewish Leadership
Journeying

Beha'alotecha
Yearning for Home

Shelach Lekha
Destiny and Choice

Courage and Pride (Medium)
The Power of a Glance

Korach
Not for the Sake of Heaven (JTS)

Independence Day: Relearning the Purpose of Freedom (Medium)

The Morning After a Rebellion (TOI)
Humble Power (MJL)
Lessons on Effective Ethical Leadership (Medium)

Korach's Rebellion: The Illusion of Holiness (TOI)

Trust and Care
Trust

Chukkat

Leadership, Legacy, and the Power of Self-Reflection (Medium)

Generational Transition & Miriam’s Legacy (TOI)
The Mutual Vulnerability of Friendship
It's About Family

Balak

Finding Blessings Amidst Curses (TOI)

Love Beyond the Tribe (Medium)

Eyes Wide Open (Medium)

Pinchas

A Broken Peace (TOI)

When Faith Grows (Medium)

Mattot/Massei

On the Edge: Commitment and Unity - And Pride (Medium)

◄ Devarim / Deuteronomy ►

Devarim

The Call to be Strong and Kind (Medium)

Va'Etchanan

Tears of Heaven, Strength on Earth: Our Call to Act (Medium)

Accountability and Comfort (Shabbat Nachamu) (Medium)

Jewish Riverdance?

Eikev

A Sacred Triad: Listening, Honoring, and Doing (TOI)

The Consequences of Listening (Medium)

Healthy Love (TOI)

Lift Up Your Eyes!

Where Truth Awaits

The Perils of Prosperity (Medium)

Not Tomorrow. Not Later. Now. (Medium)

The Greatest Thing in the World is to Do Something Good for Someone Else (Medium)

Re'eh

How Things Should Be (Medium)

The Call to Choose Blessing in a Broken World (Medium)

Seeing Blessing (video)

Shoftim
Justice Amidst Freedom’s Allure (TOI)
Justice and Accountability (Medium)

Ki Tetze

Confronting Troubling Texts (Medium)

Warriors of Heart (Medium)

Guardrails of Care (Times of Israel) 

Amalek and Egypt: A Tale of Two Hates (Medium)

Ki Tavo

Gratitude for the Journey (TOI)

Incomplete Histories, Unfinished Prayers: Finding God in the Ordinary (Medium)

God's Atonement

We Don't Have the Words

An Intention

Nitzavim/Vayelech
The Power of Today (TOI)
We and They Are Enough (Medium)
Things, Hidden and Revealed

The Counterbalance of the Holidays (Medium)
Moses' Final Teaching: Owning Our Own Future (Medium)
Claim Life. Today. (Medium)

Fierce Love: The Response to Our Prayers (Medium)
Marked by Dots, Guided by Crowns (TOI)

Ha'azinu

VeZot HaBracha

I'm so sad Moses had to die [#poem]
● Crying for Moses: Preparing for Yom Kippur. And Life.

Waiting 

Commentaries on Jewish Texts/Holidays

Psalms: 

Psalm 1  ||  Psalm 23:4 (video) (text) ||  Psalm 30 (video 1) (video 2)  ||  Psalm 136 (video)

Holidays: 

Inside Edition Series: Rosh HaShannah || Yom Kippur || Channukah || Purim 

Sukkot: Feel Something, 

Purim: "Victory" (2024) ||  

Passover: Haiku Haggadah

Tisha Be'Av: Watching Comedy (Sort of) 

Prayers:

Kaddish

Shema (with UJA, as part of the WORLDWIDE SHEMA 3.21.24)

Mishnah:

Berachot 2:2

Avot 2:3, 2:4

Talmud: 

Megillah 2a 

Nefesh haChayim: 

Intro || 1:1,2 || 1:3 || 1:4  (video) || 1:4