Tag: God

On Relationships with God and Other Human Beings

Ilana Sandberg (JTS RS '24) explores parashat Ki Tisa and speaks on relationships with God and other human beings.

Ilana Sandberg February 29, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

The Torah of Disorienting Moments

Talia Kaplan (JTS RS '24) explores parashat Mishpatim and the Torah of disorienting moments, reflecting on her rabbinical school experience.

Rabbi Talia Kaplan February 7, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

Binding Love and Loss

Amalya Volz (JTS RS '24) explores Parashat Yitro through the binding of love and loss and the people of Israel's relationship with God.

Amalya Volz February 1, 2024 JTS Senior Sermon Learning

How to Forgive (Kol Nidrei)

When the time of Yom Kippur is upon us, we talk a lot about forgiveness. Saying "sorry" is easy—how do we forgive?

Rabbi Sarah Freidson November 5, 2023 High Holidays Holidays

Netzach and Hod (Rosh Hashanah)

Rabbi Friedson explains the middot—soul traits—of netzach and hod and relates the required tenacity and glory to this time of year.

Rabbi Sarah Freidson November 5, 2023 High Holidays Holidays

The Faceless Nemesis

Having just experienced the most intimate time of the year, reflecting on our actions, we celebrate Sukkot and see a faceless nemesis.

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva June 12, 2023 Parashat V'zot Haberacha Haftarah Parashat V'zot Haberachah

Swaddled By God

On the festival of Sukkot, we are commanded to dwell in temporary huts so as to remember the Israelites swaddled by God.

Ilana Kurshan, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva June 12, 2023 Parashat V'zot Haberachah Parashat V'zot Haberachah Dvar Torah

The Big Bad Wolf

Our haftarah, is the final of the seven haftarot of consolation. Humans question God, just as Red Riding Hood questions the Big Bad Wolf.

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva June 9, 2023 Parashat Nitzavim Parashat Nitzavim Haftarah

The Boiling Point

In these weeks leading up to Tisha B’av, we read a passage of Jeremiah, overflowing with water imagery and see the boiling point.

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva May 30, 2023 Parashat Masei Parashat Masei Haftarah

The Interplay of Routine and Intention: Keva and Kavanah

Our prayers are almost always a mixture of both keva (oft-recited text) and kavanah (deeper layers of meaning).

Rabbi Dr. Karen Reiss Medwed, The Observant Life (Book) May 16, 2023 Every Day Prayer

Creating a Sacred Physical Space

Halakhah demands that we invoke God’s name in prayer only in settings that are worthy of the sacred enterprise of prayer.

Rabbi Dr. Karen Reiss Medwed, The Observant Life (Book) May 16, 2023 Every Day Prayer

Connecting with God Through Prayer

We hear from God through our participation in liturgical prayer, and also through the study of religious texts.

Rabbi Dr. Karen Reiss Medwed, The Observant Life (Book) May 15, 2023 Every Day Prayer

Jewish Customs Showing Care for People who are Ill

Visiting the sick is counted as one of the mitzvot that is rewarded both in this world and also in the World to Come.

Rabbi Carl Astor, The Observant Life (Book) May 10, 2023 Health Illness

Humanity: The Incurable Illness

The haftarah for Bechukotai is from the book of Jeremiah and discusses two words, Eikev and Enosh, and what these words mean.

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva April 28, 2023 Parashat Bechukotai Parashat Bechukotai Haftarah

One Mouth Per Person

The dangers of inappropriate speech are connected to the parashah, Metzora, the person stricken with leprosy.

Ilana Kurshan, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva April 16, 2023 Parashat Metzora Parashat Metzora Dvar Torah

Far From the Tree

Tazria takes its name from conception and childbirth. Ilana Kurshan connects this to bearing fruit, both literally and metaphorically.

Ilana Kurshan, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva March 29, 2023 Parashat Tazria Parashat Tazria Dvar Torah

On Shame

Connected Parashat Shemini's Haftarah, in Ezekiel, Bex Stern Rosenblatt explores the intersection of shame, guilt, and embarrassment.

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva March 26, 2023 Parashat Shemini Parashat Shemini Haftarah

Unwanted Offerings

This week's haftarah explores human sacrifice. While the Tanakh seems to be mixed about it, God may command human sacrifice in this haftarah.

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva March 19, 2023 Parashat Tzav Parashat Tzav Haftarah

How to Comfort Mourners During Shivah

What do I do when I go to a shivah? Remember that conversation should be about the deceased, not the mourners or the visitors.

Rabbi Carl Astor, The Observant Life (Book) February 26, 2023 Death and Dying Lifecycles

Hopping Between Two Branches

This week's Haftarah parallels the parashah's discussion on God. The Israelites face more attractive gods but return to God, in the end.

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva February 22, 2023 Parashat Ki Tisa Parashat Ki Tisa Haftarah

Study Guide: A Cosmic National Sign

This week's study guide explores the relationship between God and the Israelites, in the Israelites keeping the Sabbath for God.

Vered Hollander-Goldfarb, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva February 22, 2023 Parashat Ki Tisa Parashat Ki Tisa Study Guide

Encountering the Shema: 7 Questions

Rabbi Mordecai Miller reflects on the Shema with 7 questions: Throughout my life, I’ve tried to understand what this sentence really means.

Rabbi Mordecai Miller January 25, 2023 Every Day Liturgy

Mostly Dead is Slightly Alive

As we read the stories of Jacob, it is worthwhile to pay attention to the interplay between hope and God as the redeemer us from ...

Bex Stern Rosenblatt, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva November 27, 2022 Parashat Vayetzei Parashat Vayetzei Haftarah

A Trail of Crumpled Papers on the Floor

We learn in Parashat Noach: God comes to appreciate, the problem was not creating human beings, but having unrealistic expectations of them.

Ilana Kurshan, Fuchsberg Jerusalem Center — Conservative Yeshiva October 24, 2022 Parashat Noach Parashat Noach Dvar Torah

Shemini Atzeret: Chilling with God

Shemini Atzeret is a holiday that has left Jews puzzled for generations, but it's really about our intimate relationship with God.

Emily Jaeger September 23, 2022 High Holidays Holidays

T’fillah/Prayer: A Mitzvah to Take a “Time Out”

T'fillah, Jewish prayer, is rooted in self-judgment, reflection, and connecting to something greater than ourselves.

The Observant Life (Book), Rabbi Dr. Karen Reiss Medwed June 29, 2022 Prayer Understanding Prayer

Your Tween Doesn’t Want a B-Mitzvah? That’s OK.

By empowering children to own this decision, we’re helping them to develop into young adults, and isn’t that what a B-Mitzvah is all about?

Dana Sharon Winer June 20, 2022 B-Mitzvah Lifecycles