Bo תשפג A Confirmation for the Oral Torah The commandment to wear tefillin is written four times in the Torah. Indeed, each paragraph of the Torah containing that command constitutes the “script” that a scribe writes on parchment, which he then…
There are zoos, and there are animal parks. Zoos are built in large metropolitan areas, animal parks rise up in the deep country. Zoos have concrete pathways, food courts, and train rides, animal parks have dirt paths, food trucks, and…
Parshat Vaera תשפג When Hashem appeared to Moshe at the burning bush, and Moshe responded that the people would not believe that Hashem had really appeared to him, Hashem gave Moshe three miracles to perform to convince the people. The first…
Shemot תשפג This coming Shabbat we begin reading the second book of the Torah, Sefer Shemot, the book of Exodus. The רמב"ן (Ramban) Nachmanides, calls this second book ספר הגאולה - “The Book of Redemption.” Despite Moshe and Aharon receiving most of the attention (along with Hashem!) for freeing…
I used to think that the entire California was one big meeting ground for urbane, progressive sophisticates, the type that ate braised youngberry frites, used venti as a vocabulary word, or listened to world fusion music while drinking organic wheatgrass martinis. While…
Thursday Lunch and Learn | Rabbi Leiby Burnham
Parshat Vayechi תשפ"ג This week’s portion is the portion of blessings. In it, our forefather Yaakov bestowed blessings upon Yosef’s two sons, Ephriam and Menashe, and on all of his own sons, the 12 Tribes of Israel. It is striking how…
Thursday Lunch and Learn | Rabbi Leiby Burnham
Sandra never knew freedom. She was born in captivity into a group of people that treated her like an animal, keeping her in a cage, and feeding her not much more than bottles of milk and vegetable scraps. Being caged…