Torah with Rabbi Rudin: Check out Rabbi Rudin's Hebrew and Torah classes!
08/11/2020 02:29:47 PM
The Ten Reasons why we Sound the Shofar: Video Series with Rabbi Rudin!
09/21/2022 01:02:03 PM
Want to make Rosh HaShana a deeper spiritual experience? Let the Shofar Guide You!!
Chapter One: Creating the Sound of Renewal and Return
Chapter Two: Ten Calls...Read more...
Apples and Honey and So Much More! Celebrating Rosh HaShana and Setting an Example
09/13/2022 02:56:39 PM
The Instructions
09/05/2022 07:01:12 PM
All of These Words of this Torah shall be in your heart…
-Deuteronomy 6
Read more... Elul: The King is in the Field
08/23/2022 12:30:58 PM
The image of the High Holidays is that G-d's Presence is more revealed than at any other time. The theology: is G-d immanent (close) or transcendent (distant), can an omnipresent G-d be "more present" at one time or place than any other etc. doesn't really come up. ...Read more...
Parshat Ekev- Check It!
08/15/2022 03:47:44 PM
Parshat Ekev can be called "the Parsha of the Little Things". The so-called minor Mitzvas that we tend to overlook or even ignore. This D'var is dedicated to them... l'chaim to the small things- by which we live.
I see it all the time. ...Read more...
Nachamu:What is Grief? What is Comfort?
08/09/2022 06:08:48 PM
When we grieve, we traditionally tear our garments. Why?
Jacob, Job, King David, the Judeans at the walls facing the...Read more...
Read more... The Three Weeks Begin...
07/18/2022 02:11:49 PM
The Jewish calendar is the photo album of our history, beliefs, doctrines and rituals. Go through the Jewish year and you've pretty much got a picture of what we're all about.
Take the next three weeks for example. These are where we store our most painful...Read more...
A Prayer for the 17th of Tammuz
07/11/2022 12:48:21 PM
For all that we are a people of memory, we don't venerate the past. Instead we live our history through the here and now by remembering and focusing on how ancient lessons can help move us forward.
This Sunday we commemorate the 17th of Tammuz which begins the "Between the Straits", the 3 Weeks leading up to the Black Fast Day, Tisha B'Av. Why do we need to relive the dark days when our Temple was destroyed, we...Read more...
July Fourth and the Seventeenth of Tammuz A Warning from an Ancient People
07/05/2022 11:46:12 PM
Dedicated l’ilui...Read more...
In Tribute: Temple HaTikvah - a Legacy of Welcome
06/27/2022 08:13:09 AM
This week's D'var is dedicated to Temple HaTikvah, the shul that made me, whose farewell gala last night both broke my heart and filled me with new hope and inspiration. The holy sparks created by this amazing community will continue to inspire through the ongoing Jewish connection and community-building of the generations of beautiful Yidden who carry and live the truths of this holy Kehilla. We welcome those families who...Read more...
The Mitzvah of Tzitzit: Fringe Benefits
06/22/2022 10:43:32 AM
Adonai said to Moses: Speak to the Israelite people and tell them to make fringes on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, placing within the fringes a cord of royal blue. When you see the fringes, you will remember all of HaShem's Mitzvot to do them and you will...Read more...
Parshat B'Ha'alotecha: Stop Kvetching. No, really.
06/12/2022 04:19:50 PM
Negativity, especially negative language, has literally brought on disaster. In this week's parsha, what begins as an unspecified complaint about the trek to the Promised Land- despite the clouds of glory that shelter the nation- devolves into a ruckus about the heavenly Manna which nourishes the people and tastes...Read more...
The Battles of Summer
06/08/2022 12:51:30 PM
The Jewish holiday cycle has ended with the last morsel of cheesecake on Shavuot. Now, we get to have some fun in the sun... relaxation, recreation...
Yes, but....
Is it just me or is "yes, but" what Yiddishkeit (Judaism) says...Read more...
Read more... Climbing Sinai: Preparing for Shavuot
05/15/2022 05:49:33 PM
Coming in this year on June 4th, the two-day festival (one day in Israel) really wraps it up....or does it?
Shavuot, falling Seven Weeks to the day after Passover, connects Freedom to Freedom.
Freedom in the Passover sense means freedom from. From what? From...Read more...
Lag BaOmer- Up in Flames?
05/09/2022 03:26:43 PM
Since the Middle Ages, the Jewish School Year has concluded with a hike into the woods and bonfires into the night. Lag BaOmer certainly has religious and mystical overtones: it commemorates how Jewish learning went on despite the Roman decree of death to anyone...Read more...
Shalom in the Home- and in Israel! Happy Israel Independence Day!
05/01/2022 09:44:56 PM
I had the great privilege of subbing in our religious school this Sunday and wanted to share how a discussion about Israel became a deeper discussion about family harmony and peace.
The students were asked to plan an itinerary for a trip to Israel; but a trip like no...Read more...
The Omer Challenge: Mission of Transformation!
04/26/2022 12:21:29 PM
The Omer and Self-Improvement go together like thunder and lightning! Each day is another spiritual opportunity for growth. Take a look at the below table and with just one small spiritual challenge each day you'll be amazed!
Omer: Days...Read more...How Shall I be a Jew? Let Me Count the Ways: Guide to Sefirat HaOmer
04/19/2022 08:04:17 PM
There are seven weeks between the freedom we won in Egypt, given by G-d, and the freedom we achieved at Sinai, receiving the Torah.
This sacred history isn't a bit of...Read more...
Passover- The Two Ways out of Slavery
04/13/2022 01:03:57 PM
Every year we are told to see ourselves as being freed from Egypt. The Baal Shem Tov said that the minute we stop leaving Egypt, we are back there again- that is how pernicious and "sticky" slavery is.
The way out is, according to the Torah, to head out to the...Read more...
Pesach? Really? Already? No way!
04/03/2022 10:02:35 AM
Dear Adath Shalom Mishpocho, shalom!
Pesach? Really? Already? No way!
This must have been what it was like back in...Read more...
Shabbat HaChodesh: The Dark of the Moon
03/27/2022 03:49:47 PM
The very first Mitzvah given to the Jewish people might be surprising. It wasn't to be fruitful and multiply -- that was the blessing given to Adam and Eve. It wasn't to be holy or to be sure to do Mitzvot. It was in fact to start our own...Read more...
The Four Special Shabbatot
03/22/2022 09:12:18 PM
This month of Adar is the final month of the Hebrew year ushering in the springtime month of Nisan, the month of rebirth and liberation, the month of Passover. Rosh HaShana may be the birthday of the world but Nisan is the first month of the year.
But...Read more...
When all Lights Went Out... Drasha for Purim
03/15/2022 11:20:51 PM
When the Messiah comes, says the Talmud, and all the crooked paths are made straight and the worm of hate in the heart of humanity has been excised at last, all of the festivals will be abolished. No more Passover or Yom Kippur. No more Shavuot or Chanukah. Why? ...Read more...
Hard Wired for Error D'var Torah for Vayikra
03/08/2022 07:55:02 PM
A goodly portion of the third book of the Torah is devoted to the ritual aspects of basically...Read more...