TEMPLE TALK | MAY 24
05/29/2024 04:19:42 PM
Did you ever have a week where it felt like everything was leading to basically the same conversation or the same point? Well, this week was like that for me. I got the opportunity to start reading yet another new book (I’m now in the middle, ok just finished the first chapter, of about 5 books at the same time), and once again a theme emerged. Values in conflict or at least in need of balance.
Rabbi Donniel...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | MARCH 15
03/21/2024 02:56:18 PM
This week's Torah portion Pekudei closes the final chapters of Exodus, with the conclusion of the building of the Mishkan, when all the instructions have been followed Torah says:
When Moses had finished the work, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | MARCH 1
03/07/2024 04:14:23 PM
This week we will be reading from parashat Ki Tisa. In it we find the famous story of the ‘incident’ with the egel Zahav, the golden calf. With that in mind, in preparation for tonight I rewatched the depiction of this scene in Cecil B. DeMille’s Biblical Epic, The 10 Commandments.
It begins with some Israelites bringing forth the golden calf on a pedestal. While this happens, they are surrounded by dancing with...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | FEBRuARY 9
02/16/2024 10:38:22 AM
In this week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, we find a mishmash of mitzvot. Of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) found in the Torah, 53 of them can be found in the Torah. The laws cover a gamut of subjects from those regarding slaves to damages, loans, rumors, and the three Pilgrimage Festivals (Sukkot, Passover and Shavu’ot).
However, perhaps one of the most relevant for us today is “When individuals fight, and one of them...Read more...
TEMPLE TALK | JANUARY 19
01/25/2024 01:45:57 PM
I am sure as for many of you, whenever I think of the story of the Exodus, I immediately think of Cecil B. DeMille’s 10 Commandments. As a random aside, the 1956 version with Charlton Heston was actually the second version DeMille made. His original version was a 1923 silent picture which contained both a version of the Exodus story and a modern study of two brothers' views of the 10 Commandments.
I...Read more...