Depending on how many people regularly attend your synagogue, you may be called to the Torah once a month, once a year or somewhere in between. This is in addition to Simchas Torah, when an aliyah is given to all…
Tag: DRosenbach
Yom Kippur 2012: Maintaining Focus
We begin the prayer services for Yom Kippur with one of the strangest announcements:
Rosh Hashana 2012: “Olam HaHafuch”
In Judaism, names are seen as very significant. This is the reason why things are often given multiple names: each name represents a distinct yet complementary aspect of the entity.
Elul: 50 Shades of Black
I know you, you’re that new guy in shul, praying slowly and intently line by line. But I will give you no respect, ’cause your hat’s just not as black as mine.
Dvar Torah Ki Seitzei: Hanging Out with God
This week’s parsha opens with perhaps the most famous trifecta of storylines — the captive woman, the two wives and the wayward son (Deuteronomy 21:10) — that, according to the teachings of the Akivan school of thought, tie into one…
Dvar Torah Chukas: Unrevealed Revelation
Someone approached me to tell me how nice of a piece I had written about this week’s parsha, and I responded that I hadn’t written anything yet! But when they told me that they had thoroughly enjoyed my tie in…
Dvar Torah Beha’aloscha: reVisions
The Menorah plays a central role in the opening verses of this week’s parsha and the Akivan/Ishmaelian divide plays a central role in understanding the popular midrashic literature touched upon by Rashi and the other primary commentators.
Dvar Torah Emor: Moses and the Blasphemer
The Akivan view purports that the entire Torah was given to Moses on Sinai — general principles along with all of the particulars — but this appears to come into conflict with the closing segment of this week’s parsha.
Dvar Torah Acharei-Kedoshim: Putting Abominations Back into Perspective
Linda Malcor has both a Master’s and a PhD in folklore and mythology, which seems fitting, seeing how easily her surname could have come straight from Harry Potter.
Dvar Torah Tazria-Metzora: Inclusion Criteria
The notion of there being ten commandments — that is, the Ten Commandments — permeates Judeo-Christian religious philosophy, despite the fact that the Old Testament is, for the most part, full of many more directives.
Dvar Torah Shmini: A Hair’s Breadth’s Perspective on Wrongdoing
Imagine the most awesome and splendid of occasions accompanied by the most fabulous and incredible fanfare and it would approximate the scene that was when Moses had nearly completed the week-long introductory period of the Mishkan (Tabernacle).
Passover 2012: A Personal Encounter with the Rasha
Immediately before we begin the Yom Kippur Eve Kol Nidrei prayer, a short paragraph is recited by the chazzan that ends with the following: “anu matirin l’hispallel im ha’arvanim” — “we sanction prayer with the transgressors”
Dvar Torah Vayikra: The Fundamental Rift
There often lies within each parsha the potential for a disagreement between the Akivan and Ishmaelian perspectives, and although it may appear as a tangled mess of discrete points of dissension, in truth, there is a virtual fault line the…
Dvar Torah Ki Sisa: A Divine Peep Show
We could talk for months about this week’s parsha, and I might just have to write for FrumSatire for another 10 years to give myself enough Ki Sisa’s to cover each of these topics.
Dvar Torah Tetzave: Divine Dwelling
I was really excited by talk of a flat-tax because it would be so much easier to work with than what we have now. Who wants to figure out if it’s better to itemize one’s deductions or not by drawing…
Dvar Torah Va’era: Moses’ Contribution
Although the Five Books of Moses is only about three thousand words longer than Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, it enjoys relative immensity in its role as Judaism’s scripture because attempts are made to take note of nearly all…
Rosh Hashana 2011: Heads and Tails
We are taught that we eat the head of a fish so as to enter the year on a positive note, rather than a tail, which would suggest a year of inferior quality. How is this different from sticking pins…
Dvar Torah Pinchas: Warning (Spoilers)
What exactly did Moses receive on Sinai? Some, like R’ Akiva, advance a maximalist approach and claim that Moses received everything, while others, like R’ Ishmael, advance a minimalist approach and assert that Moses received merely general categories of the…
Dvar Torah Shlach: Remember to Remember to Remember…
At the conclusion of this week’s parsha, we find the third and final paragraph of the Shema Yisroel prayer, and although Jews are bidden to recite it twice daily, like most prayers, unfortunately, the tendency is to say it without as much…
Dvar Torah Naso: Hearing Voices
This week’s parsha concludes with a statement about Moses’ communicatory habits with God — apparently, after the construction (or at least the dedication) of the Tabernacle, the vast majority of communication would occur only at the Tabernacle.
Dvar Torah Bamidbar: Idealism vs. Realism
A few weeks ago, I discussed the Torah’s exclusion of those with particular physical deformities from Temple service, proposing the notion that the divine approach to humans (via the Torah) can be explained as sometimes conforming to one of idealism,…
Dvar Torah Emor: Establishing a Reputation
As a result of my father’s mild cerebral palsy, he suffers from a moderately atrophied right hand and walks with a somewhat disharmonius gait. Had we been of the priestly caste, my father would have been ineligible for Temple service…
Dvar Torah Kedoshim II: Jewish Time
A particular distinction of Judaism is the towering role that time plays — for instance, everyone knows that the schmorg is removed precisely one hour after it is put out, and that keeps most people more or less on time.