Corporate Torah

Shabbat Beha’alotcha Dvar Torah – An Instrument for all Seasons In this week's portion, we encounter a curious Mitzvah to create two silver trumpets. Once the Israelites reached the Promised Land, these were to serve as a national alarm. In times of war or severe distress, the sounding of these trumpets was meant to awaken the people, uniting them to cry out in prayer and seek salvation. When crisis strikes, we may hesitate to engage in our Judaism. If our "trumpets" have gathered dust—if we’ve lost touch with our spiritual selves and community —we might feel we have lost the right to suddenly call out. Yet, this Mitzvah teaches us the opposite. In moments of vulnerability, it remains both our absolute privilege and our duty to sound the alarm. We need not be ashamed of how long we have been silent. Following this experience, in the very next verse, the Torah commands us to bring out these exact same trumpets in times of profound joy, during our festivals and days...

Shavuot Dvar Torah Shavuot is well known for the famous custom of eating dairy foods. Cheesecake, blintzes, and other “milchig” dishes have become part of the atmosphere of the holiday. Many explanations are given for this custom. One, quoted by the Mishnah Berurah, is that when the Jewish people first received the Torah at Mount Sinai, everything was suddenly new. They had just learned the laws of keeping kosher, and preparing kosher meat involved many detailed and complex laws. Since they did not yet know how to keep all those laws in practice, they chose to eat simple dairy foods instead. On Shavuot, we do not merely remember the giving of the Torah — we try to relive it. That is why we stay up learning Torah through the night. In the morning we hear the Ten Commandments read in a majestic melody that recreates the awe of Sinai. And even our dairy meals become part of that experience — almost as if we too are encountering Torah for the very first time – without yet knowledg...

Shabbat Bamidbar Dvar Torah - Celebrating the individualism within the collective This week’s portion opens up with a chronicle of the encampment as the Israelites started their journey through the desert. We learn how everyone was organized in one encampment encircling the Tabernacle with the Holy Arc and the tablets at its center, but that this was split into banners, tribes, and families. This organization formed the model of the Jewish people for centuries and indeed today. At our core is the Torah and its timeless values. We are all encamped around it, albeit from different directions and under different banners. Ashkenazim, Sefardim, Yeminites and others. Mystics and rationalists. Doers and thinkers. These differences are not a hazard, but a cause for celebration - everyone under their own camp and banner (c.f. Num 1:52). Together, we all bring our individual way, skills, and characteristics to the unity of the Jewish People. Shabbat Shalom!

Shabbat Behar-Bechukotai Dvar Torah – Lending with justice and humility In this week’s portion, the Torah offers a blueprint for social justice and preserving human dignity. The text describes the tragic downward spiral of someone facing financial ruin: first selling their land, then taking out desperate loans to survive, and finally, out of sheer necessity, selling themselves as a servant. At every step of this painful descent, the Torah commands the community to intervene and stop the freefall. Family members are told to help buy back the land. The community is obligated to provide interest-free loans. And if someone falls so deeply into poverty that they must become a servant, their master is commanded to rehabilitate them. Yet, the Torah also understands human nature. When commanding us to lend money without interest, it adds a reminder to "fear G-d." Classic commentators explain that it is easy to rationalize charging interest—after all, it makes basic financial sense. I...

Shabbat Emor Dvar Torah – Playing Our Part In Emor, the Torah describes the mitzvah of the four species on Sukkot (etrog, lulav, hadas, and arava). Interestingly, it adds one key word: " lachem "—for you—indicating that each of us needs our own set. That’s a bit surprising. We don’t each need our own shofar, and we can share a sukkah. So why is this mitzvah different? Our sages explain that the four species represent different personas within the Jewish People. The mitzvah is only complete when they’re all held together—just as the Jewish People are only complete when we all come together. " Lachem " – the requirement for each and every one of us to personally engage in the mitzvah reminds us that the Jewish People are dependent on every one of us. Unity doesn’t mean sameness—it’s built from individuals who each bring something unique. Being part of something bigger doesn’t replace our individual role—it depends on it. For the whole to be complete, each of us has ...