Divrei Torah - Guests/Members

These talks were delivered by members and guests on Shabbat and holidays.

Other talks by members, including some High Holyday talks, are available in Members’ Writings (members only).

The Gifts We Bring
February 9, 2019
Terumah
The Rev’d. Gretchen Sanders Grimshaw
Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, West Newton , MA

Exodus 25.1-19

25The Lord said to Moses: 2Tell the Israelites to take for me an offering; from all whose hearts prompt them to give you shall receive the offering for me. 3This is the offering that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4blue, purple, and crimson yarns...Read more...

5779

Being Ivrim.pdf

Some of you know that this August I went to the Arizona/Mexico border as part of Faith Floods the Desert, a gathering of clergy and faith leaders from around the country to support and participate in the work of an organization called No More Deaths. They are a humanitarian organization that provides water and other lifesaving aid for migrants crossing the desert. Over the past year, their volunteers have...Read more...

5779

On Yom Kippur, Dorshei Tzedek members and poets Ben Newman, Josette Akresh-Gonzales, and Jo Radner explored the Avodah service, a part of the traditional Yom Kippur liturgy, to find their own meaning of Yom Kippur. They shared original poems- beautiful, powerful, relatable and diverse- to invite us to reflect on our own experiences of the day. You can read their poetry at the links below.

The Trumpet Player
by...Read more...

5779

Violent Death Violent Birth.pdf

Violent Death, Violent Birth

D’var Torah on Sh’mot, Exodus 1:1 – 6:1: Israel in Egypt, the beginning of their exodus and the story of Moses

Dedicated to Ruth Bruckner, my mother-in-law—her yahrzeit coincides this year with the date of her death on New Year’s Eve, 1969

Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner
29 December 2018

In last...Read more...

“When a person departs from the world, all their deeds come and present themselves to him one by one, saying: “This is what you did on day X. Do you believe it?” The person responds: “Yes, I do.” The deed then says: “Sign!” — and the person signs. Then the person vindicates God’s judgment, saying: “You judge me correctly.”

This ancient midrash from the sifre, a rabbinic commentary on the book of Devarim,...Read more...

5778

D’var Torah B'ha'alotkha 2018.pdf

Summertime brings us every year in our cycle of Torah readings to a difficult place called in Hebrew “midbar” which I’ll translate as ‘wilderness.’ The entire book of the Torah read in synagogue through these lovely months called reassuringly the book of Numbers in English, has a more ominous name in Hebrew- sefer b’midbar- the book in the wilderness. Playing on that name,...Read more...

5775

So That I may Dwell among Them.pdf

Where does God Live?

I never thought that I would be delivering a d’var Torah, with so much of a focus on God, since “God language” makes me uncomfortable. But, when Matilda asked me if I would deliver a d’var Torah and told me the possible dates, I said to myself, “Hmm I’ll give myself a few days to research the parshiot for those dates and come up with a...Read more...

5774

Vayikra.pdf

Living in Two Worlds: The Legacy of Vayikra

Deborah Waber

Shabbat Vayikra (March 16, 2013)

This week, we began reading the book of Vayikra, or Leviticus. Although sometimes characterized as the “priestly instruction manual,” it also contains ritual commands for the laity, including dietary and...Read more...

5774

History and Memories d'var Torah.pdf

History and Memories:  Past and Present

As an historian, and especially as a Jewish historian, I have often wrestled with the dialogue between history and memory.  For perhaps in no religious tradition are memory and history more interwoven than in Judaism.  When God...Read more...

Parshat Va'era 5774

Va'era

Background: God has finally heeded the cries of the Israelites and calls Moses to go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out to a land flowing with milk and honey.

Moses is the reluctant advocate but teams up with Aaron, and after God tells Moses the script of how God is going to direct the action, we see the play unfold.

Shmot...Read more...

Feb 1, 2014/5774

PDF version

Picture us, the Israelites, at the foot of the mountain. The smell of smoke lingers in the air. The trembling of the mountain still has us trembling. We have received the 10 commandments. Here we are, saying yes to Adonai, yes to agreeing to live by the Torah and to teach our children the Torah. Our first instruction is we must remember our past and have compassion for the stranger, for others. We,...Read more...

5773

VA-YETSE: (And He Went Forth)

Linda Yael Schiller

Davar Torah

11/24/12

VA-YETSE:

 (And He Went Forth)

Marsha Norman tells us that  “dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you”, and the Talmud...Read more...

Pesach 5772

Reconstructing Passover, by Rabbi Mordechai Liebling

Shabbat shalom, it is an honor, a privilege and a pleasure for me to be here; a wonderful occasion to celebrate. This is Shabbat Hachodesh and our extra torah reading is from Exodus, the initial commandment and description for observing Passover. The rabbi’s inserted this reading to remind us to prepare for the holiday. Today I am suggesting some...Read more...

5771

Vayyetze

In this week’s parsha, Jacob starts out on a journey. This is not just a geographic journey, but one that begins his transformation from deceitful young man to revered patriarch of the Children of Israel. Before I share with you what I have learned during this journey with Jacob, let me first review the action that takes place between Jacob’s departure from Beer Sheba and his leave taking of Laban many years...Read more...

5771

Process Theology and the story of Bilam and his Donkey

Process Theology and the story of Bilam and his Donkey

Stan Fleischman

June 26, 2010

Parshah Balak is about a talking donkey and its owner, the non-Israelite prophet Bilam, who utters the words “How Fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings, O Israel” which made it into the Jewish liturgy, and which we read at the very...Read more...

5771

S'phirat Omer 2010.pdf

I am in awe of the spring. For some reason it seems more miraculous this year. I’ve already bonded with my garden, sinking my hands deep into the soil, raking the dirt to wake it up. I uprooted a dying shrub and planted a lilac sapling that my neighbor gave me. I think it worked, it’s actually starting to bud. Each day our devoted perennials, the irises, the lilies, the tulips, they’re all...Read more...

5770

noach - susan nitkinl.pdf

“Adonai remembered Noach and all the beasts and all the animals that were with him in the ark, and Adonai caused a spirit to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, and the rain from heaven was restrained. The waters then receded from upon the earth, receding continuously, and the waters diminished at the end of a...Read more...

December, 2009/5770

mamas dvar

I began thinking of this Torah portion two years ago, or so, when we decided that this would be the date of my daughter Nellie’s bat mitzvah. The date for her birthday weekend was taken, so we thought, why not pick a cool portion and, heck, get a Hallel service to boot? And the cake possibilities for Vayeshev were just too good to pass up.

Until about three months ago, I was...Read more...

Tim Gunn meets the Prophet Elijah

April 3, 2010 

Read more...

5769

Vayikra

I. Introduction

Today we started reading the third book of the Torah, called Vayikra. This is also the name of the first parsha in this book. The name derives from the first Hebrew word in the parsha “And He called” – referring to Adonai calling out to Moses from the tent of Meeting (Mishkan).

Vayikra is commonly known by its Greek name, Leviticus, so called because it contains the...Read more...

5769

D'var Tazria/Metzora

You gotta love Leviticus. Bodily fluids, pus, sores, rashes, discoloration, fungus, ah the list goes on. I was lucky enough to select April 25 to offer a d’var torah. This year, as in most non-leap years, it’s a double header, not just one parsha but two, two wonderful parshot, Tazria and Metzora, that describe everything you wanted to know about skin affliction and more. Challenging, yes. And I...Read more...

Burning bush? What burning bush? 

“An angel of the lord appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush. He gazed, and there was a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. Moses said ‘I must...Read more...

5767

Korach

As we inexorably segue into the 2008 Presidential Election Campaign, we become increasingly confronted by professional spinmeisters and the candidates themselves offering “spins” to cast in the best light their statements, misstatements, and contradictory voting records.

Thinking about Korach’s rebellion in the context of today’s political jockeying does not seem irrelevant to me. Simply put,...Read more...

D'var Torah on Parashat Vayeishev -- Bat Torah of Cindy Rivka Marshall:

16 December, 2006/5766

Experiences in the Pit

OK – so, some of you are probably thinking: she doesn’t look 13! What is this woman doing? Well, as some of you may know, a Jewish person becomes a Bat or Bar Mitzvah when they turn 13, no matter whether or not they have a ritual to mark it. I did not have a ritual when I turned 13. I was raised...Read more...

5765

dvar - scapegoat.pdf

It may seem strange that the parsha right before Pesach deals, in large part, with instructions to the High Priest about how to celebrate Yom Kippur, which is about six months away. However, we should keep in mind that both holidays are New Years celebrations: Passover commemorates our exodus from Egypt and celebrates our birth as a nation, while Yom Kippur, the day Moses descended from Mount Sinai...Read more...

5764

Parsha Ki Tisa – March 13

God’s Thirteen Attributes of Mercy

[First, let me start with a summary of this week’s parsha.]

At the heart of this week’s parsha is the story of the Golden Calf. The Israelites, fearing that Moses (who they credit with their liberation from Egypt, rather than an invisible God) will not return from his ascent of Mount Sinai, create a Golden Calf in the desert, and...Read more...

Jacob and Esau

Parsha Toldot

The opening section of Parsha Toldot (Genesis 25:19-34) tells the story of the birth of Jacob and Esau and the circumstances surrounding Esau’s well-known decision to spurn his birthright...Read more...