Corporate Torah

Shabbat Bereishit Dvar Torah – In the Image of G-d This week marks the beginning of the annual cycle of Torah reading. Once again we start from the beginning where the Torah recounts the esoteric story of creation. Amid the sweeping narrative of the universe coming into being, the Torah makes a fascinating declaration that mankind is created B’tzelem Elokim —"in the image of G-d." It is an inspiring idea, but also a mysterious one. Since we believe that Hashem has no physical body or form, what does it mean to be created in the "image" of G-d? Our classical commentators struggled with this question. Some, such as Sforno and Rashbam, suggested that the Hebrew word Elohim here refers to powerful beings like angels or judges. Another great commentator, Nachmanides, explains that this reflects the fundamental dialectic of mankind who is on the one hand rooted in the physical earth, yet animated by a heavenly soul. However, Rashi, the classic 11th-century comm...

October 7th Divrei Zikaron In Jewish tradition, the Talmud introduces a concept known as chazaka -  the idea that once an event or action occurs three times, it is considered an established pattern, and a reliably enduring reality. While rooted in Jewish law, it is also psychologically intuitive: after three times, things often settle into a routine. This year marks our chazaka year of commemorating October 7th. For the third time, we will pause in silence at 6:29 AM to remember the morning that changed our lives forever. Yet this year, the day feels different. With every hostage finally home, we are experiencing an important shift, beginning the difficult, necessary transition from actively living and enduring October 7th to collectively remembering it. Remembrance is woven into the very fabric of Jewish identity. Among the earliest commandments given to the Jewish people was to remember our liberation from slavery in Egypt and pass the story down through generations. We ar...

Hoshanna Rabba Dvar Torah Following Rosh Hashanna and Yom Kippur – the days of judgement and atonement, the Jewish People collectively come into the new year with a clean slate ready for new beginnings. Quickly, we transition from the solemnity of the High Holidays to the joy of Sukkot. Whereas on Yom Kippur we raise ourselves upwards as close as we can to G-d, on Sukkot we work in the opposite direction, building a Sukkah where Hashem can come close to us (see Sukkah 11b). Our prayers reflect this as well, with the centerpiece of Sukkot being the daily Hoshanot , literally calling out to Hashem to come and save us, culminating with Hoshanna Rabba, where we pray for rain – or in modern terms the welfare of our economy and livelihoods. I heard an idea once that ten days after Yom Kippur, Hoshanna Rabba is a “check-in” from Hashem to see how we’re doing. As we transition from reaching heavenwards towards bringing Hashem into our daily lives, there’s a risk that we might fall back ...

Sukkot Dvar Torah – Putting our Mitzvoth in Action One of the special Mitzvoth of Sukkot is taking the Four Species – the Lulav, Etrog, Hadas, and Arava. While they are all beautiful in their own right, the Etrog (citron) above all possess a truly unnatural splendor and the optimal way of performing the Mitzvah is to pick out the most beautiful etrog we can find, ideally grown to a stately shape, free of any scratches or bruises. After exerting considerable resources procuring a beautiful esrog, we don’t keep it on a shelf but put it to use holding and waving it together with the other species as we recite the Hallel (prayer of thanksgiving) in the synagogue. Naturally, during its usage the etrog starts to accumulate some bruises. With the oxidation of its outer skin there are even some brown spots similar to blemishes which would invalidate an etrog for use in the first place! The 18th century Halachist Rabbi Moshe Sofer (the Chatam Sofer) offers a fascinating observation. Since these...

Yom Kippur Dvar Torah - Living up to Ourselves with Renewed Strength Yom Kippur Eve starts at fever pitch with the dramatic Kol Nidrei service. Once we’ve taken in the majesty of the cantor’s melody, if we pause on the words, it makes you wonder. Why do we start Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year with a legalistic ritual of annulling personal promises we made to Hashem? In the formal sense, it’s not even a prayer but a declaration (see Nedarim 23a and Tosafot ad loc) In his 1947 Kol Nidrei address to his congregation, my grandfather Rabbi Akiba Predmesky proposed that Kol Nidrei “is a confession of the great weaknesses of human beings. It is an admission that our life is but one long chain of hafarat nedarim, of broken promises. What we may be reluctant to confess, Kol Nidrei does for us” Kol Nidrei is an admission that we have not lived up to our own standards. Even things that we ourselves have promised, never mind what is asked of us, have not been fulfilled. It is this powerfu...

Shabbat Haazinu/Shuva Dvar Torah – A Leadership of Blessing This week’s potion features Moses’ parting song to the people before his passing. It is not an upbeat melody nor a heartwarming kumbaya. The song Moses shares is a prophecy of the hardships to come for the Jewish people, culminating in pyrrhic redemption. As Moses concludes his song and urges his people to keep faithful to the Torah, G-d speaks to him and tells him that “on this very day” he shall ascend Mount Nebo and die there. The classic commentator Rashi, notes that “on this very day” is used to indicate divine determinism in the face of human objection across three incidents in the Torah. Noah entered the Arc despite the objections of his generation, the Israelites moved in Exodus from Egypt despite their taskmasters last second objections, and finally, despite the desperate pleas of the people, the very Moses who had led them through the split sea, brought the tablets from Sinai, and oversaw all manner of miracles, tri...