Friday February 18, 2022 – י״ז אַדָר א׳ תשפ״ב Imagine for a moment that you are an Israeli couple who wants to get married but not through the Chief Rabbinate. Now imagine that instead of hopping a plane to Cyprus or waiting for a visa to clear to the U.S. for a long-overdue trip – […]
Friday February 11, 2022 – י׳ אַדָר א׳ תשפ״ב וְאַתָּ֞ה תְּצַוֶּ֣ה ׀ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל וְיִקְח֨וּ אֵלֶ֜יךָ שֶׁ֣מֶן זַ֥יִת זָ֛ךְ כָּתִ֖ית לַמָּא֑וֹר לְהַעֲלֹ֥ת נֵ֖ר תָּמִֽיד׃ (שמות כז:כא) “You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.” (Exodus 27:21) Anyone who grew up going to synagogue, or […]
Friday February 4, 2022 – ג׳ אַדָר א׳ תשפ״ב “כל מי שאפשר למחות לאנשי ביתו ולא מיחה נתפס על אנשי ביתו באנשי עירו נתפס על אנשי עירו בכל העולם כולו נתפס על כל העולם כולו אמר רב פפא והני דבי ריש גלותא נתפסו על כולי עלמא (שבת נ”ד ע”ב) “Anyone who had the capability to […]
Friday January 28, 2022 – כ״ו שְׁבָט תשפ״ב Parshat Mishpatim – פרשת משפטים When the dust settled, the fire and brimstone subsided, and the pyrotechnics, thunderous booms, and shofar blasts all faded away, the children of Israel stood by with a quiet “Uh, so now what?” kind of a look. Moses assured them not to […]
דברי הספד לאליעזר שביד ז”ל הרב יהוידע עמיר Eulogy for Eliezer Schweid, by Rabbi Yehoyada Amir 20.1.2022 י”ח שבט, תשפ”ב An era of life has been completed. Almost eighty years of creativity have come to a close. This is not only a day of mourning. It is also time to celebrate the life that is completed, […]
Friday January 21, 2022 – י״ט שְׁבָט תשפ״ב Parashat Yitro – פרשת יתרו – Exodus 18:1-20:23 – שמות יח:א – כ:כג We were all at Sinai. We were all there, young, and old, every Jew throughout time. So hints the Midrash, based on verses from Deuteronomy[1], that every Jew – including anyone who has […]
January 14, 2021 – י״ב שְׁבָט תשפ״ב As the leadership of the Reform Movement in North America, ARZENU – The international Reform Zionist Organization and its Israeli representatives to the Zionist National Institutions, including IMPJ Chair Yair Lootsteen, we are concerned about this week’s events in the Negev stemming from Keren Kayemet LeYisrael – Jewish […]
Friday January 14, 2022 – י״ב שְׁבָט תשפ״ב By Dr. Adar Cohen How should one feel after being liberated from tyranny and oppression? How should a nation feel in that situation? Throughout human history, we know of quite a few cases of peoples who endured many years of tyranny, terror, oppression, humiliation, and fear, and […]
Friday January 9, 2021 – ה׳ שְׁבָט תשפ״ב It seems that over this past week there are very few people left unscathed by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus. Positive cases are, yet again, on the rise in unprecedented percentages. In-person gatherings are being canceled, travel stymied, and more and […]
Friday, December 24, 2021 – כ׳ טֵבֵת תשפ״ב Over the next several weeks, we will be exploring central concepts of Jewish life, Jewish Peoplehood, connection to Israel, and more. We will examine how we, as Reform Jews, approach and understand these concepts as presented in the Book of Exodus, which we begin to read this […]
