On Wednesday, January 15th 2025, a group of Cub Scouts from Pack 28/Den 3 (Dunstable MA) visited Beth Abraham to learn about Judaism as part of the “reverence” requirement. Ryan McLane, a parent of a Cub Scout and the den-leader had arranged this visit with Sarit Tsor, TBA’s Director of Education and Engagement. The group Continue Reading »
I shared this D’var Torah on Shabbat morning, December 14, 2024, about a week and a half before Chanukkah. Muhammed Asefi is a physician from Afghanistan, who is an artist-in-residence this year at Arizona State University. Dr. Asefi, before he was a medical doctor, wanted more than anything to be a painter. So he did Continue Reading »
In chapter 23 of Bereshit Sarah dies and in order to bury her, Avraham makes his first purchase of land. Burial is such an important mitzvah, and it’s important that a mitzvah becomes the context for the first purchase recorded in the Torah. What does this teach us about a Jewish ethic of ownership? Avraham Continue Reading »
For the entire YouTube playlist from #1, click here. To read them instead, click here (there is some other material interspersed!). It’s impossible to talk about Jewish ethics and the book of Bereshit without addressing the story of the binding of Isaac, Akedat Yitzchak or simply the Akedah (found in Genesis 22:1-19). Avraham hears a Continue Reading »
This was my Dvar Torah last Shabbat, November 9, the first Shabbat after Election Day 2024. First I want to say that the operation of a democracy is awe-inspiring. To experience a day when 300-million-plus people bring something of moral significance to a crescendo all at once. To contemplate what goes into that, philosophically and Continue Reading »
Here is my current draft of a D’var Torah for this coming Shabbat, when we read Parashat Noach and in particular the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. The story of the Tower of Babel teaches that diversity is both a tikkun and a curse. A tikkun, a fix for some problem of humanity, Continue Reading »
Image of superhero designed by Freepik This series of short teachings about Jewish ethics is mostly about the “what”, the principles of action. But that can’t be disentangled from moral psychology, which is the inner experience of trying to do the right thing. Torah discusses moral psychology as well as moral principles. As the year Continue Reading »
This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Bereshit 5785 (October 26, 2025), the start of the new Torah reading cycle. Here’s a short video that does some of this from a similar angle. Some of the best cookbooks are mostly not recipes. Each dish is the occasion for a story – of someone special in Continue Reading »
Yossi Aptalon z”l Before we recite the Mourners’ Kaddish every week, we hear a list of names of people who have died in the past year. When the first Yahrzeit passes, the name is removed from the list. The name Yossi Aptalon has been on the list since October, 2023. His name has been the Continue Reading »
Welcome to the first in a series of short weekly teachings about Jewish ethics, jumping off from the parasha, the Torah portion. The first chapter of the Torah is about the power of speech and the ethics of speech. God creates everything through speech. On the first day, God simply says y’hi or, let there Continue Reading »