This week’s Torah portion, the first parashah of the fifth book, Devarim – literally “words,” but often translated as “Deuteronomy” – serves as a background …
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d'Var Torah
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8/4/22
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Years ago, I was at a party at the home of some friends. Several of us were sitting on a couch as their five-year-old child was playing noisily with some toys by our feet. The person next to me told …
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d'Var Torah
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6/30/22
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Moish and Sara were clearing the old clothes from their closets.
“Hey, look what I found in the pocket of one of your suits!” Sara called out, holding a claim ticket in her …
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d'Var Torah
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6/2/22
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My wife, our two daughters and I acquired a new family member in January: we finally took the reentry plunge into dog ownership by welcoming Rilla, an Australian labradoodle, into our home.
The …
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d'Var Torah
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5/6/22
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Two years ago, a couple hours before Passover started, I cried for the first time about the pandemic.
My husband and I had planned to have our families come in from out of state, to share food and …
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d'Var Torah
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4/1/22
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In her recent book “Burnout – The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle,” researcher Emily Nagoski focuses on the physiological manifestations of chronic stress in the body and the …
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d'Var Torah
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3/6/22
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Our sages teach MiSheNichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha (Ta’anit 29a), “when the month of Adar begins, one increases rejoicing.”
It may seem counterintuitive to say this when, …
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d'Var Torah
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2/6/22
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As a young teen, I remember asking my teachers why the Jewish people needed to be enslaved in Egypt for hundreds of years. Now, as our cycle of Torah readings has us once again focusing on Egypt, the …
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d'Var Torah
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1/10/22
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During religious school a few Sundays ago, I challenged my sixth- and seventh-grade students to identify the central idea of Hanukkah in as few words as possible.
As you can imagine, some …
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d'Var Torah
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12/4/21
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In this week’s Torah portion, Rebecca innovates a familiar mode of communication.
Pregnant with twins who will come to personify sibling rivalry, Rebecca moans as they struggle in her …
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d'Var Torah
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11/7/21
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