Tag: Shavuot
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On the Other Side of Sinai
Shavuot is now behind us. The multi-dimensional holiday is simultaneously about revelation of Torah at Mt. Sinai, a harvest festival of abundant gratitude and bringing first fruits when the Temple stood in Jerusalem and a time when we pay particular attention to the needs and lives of the poor, the…
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We All Were At Sinai: The Transformative Power of Inclusive Torah
Why inclusiveness is crucial to Torah and Judaism. A talk given on May 29, 2025 for Laasok: the Liberal Bet Midrash in advance of Shavuot.
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Bamidbar 5781
This week, we begin the fourth book of the Torah, Sefer Bamidbar. In Hebrew, bamidbar means wilderness or desert. In English, the title Numbers derives from the multiple censuses taken throughout the book. Bamidbar is a much more apt title for the journey that we will be taking these next…
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Bamidbar 5780
Parashat Bamidbar, which Jews the world over just completed, is chiefly concerned with an extensive census of military-aged men and a meticulous description of the manners by which each tribe camped and traveled. The parsha opens the fourth book of the Torah, known in English as Numbers owing to the…
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Behar 5780
This week marks the tenth Shabbat since I have been in shul, davening with a minyan. Each Shabbat morning as I arise, put on my tallit and prepare to pray the morning or Shacharit service, I cannot but feel the absence of friends, the silence without melodious harmonization, and the…
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Our Covenant Includes All: Thoughts on Deuteronomy 29
Our chapter is largely concerned with HaShem telling the Children of Israel what will befall them if they stray from the covenant which, it is emphasized, includes everyone, those who are there on that day and those who are not. If the Children of Israel uphold our covenant with HaShem…
Rabbi Lauren Tuchman 