Mar
1
March, 1st 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: Throughout Vayakhel and Pekudai, the two Parshiyot which describe the construction of the Mishkan we are told again, and again, and again that each piece was…
Feb
23
February, 23rd 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: Ein Yaakov, a collection of Aggadic material compiled by Rabbi Jacob ben Solomon ibn Habib (Spain and Salonika, 1460–1516), records the following rabbinic discussion:…
Feb
16
February, 16th 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: The following is a Dvar Torah that my son, Rabbi Noam Stein, wrote for his school several years ago. Many people, certainly many adolescent students, experience an…
Feb
9
February, 9th 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: The conclusion of this week’s Parasha is somewhat difficult to understand. God commands Moshe to “ascend to Hashem.” Moshe gathers the people and tells them “all the…
Feb
2
February, 2nd 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: The Gemara in Massechet Shabbat (88a) offers a very puzzling interpretation of what at first glance seems to be a rather simple statement about Ma’amad Har Sinai.…
Jan
12
January, 12th 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: Something rather strange happens very near the beginning of this week’s Parasha. As we all remember from last week’s Torah reading, Moshe’s initial approach to Pharaoh…
Jan
5
January, 5th 2024
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: Two weeks ago, reflecting on Yehuda’s vigorous defense of his brother Binyamin when it seemed that he was about to be enslaved in Egypt, I wrote about Yehuda’s sense of…
Dec
29
December, 29th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: Many of us bless our children each Friday night with the traditional ישמך אלוקים כאפרים וכמנשה, the words which Yaakov used to bless his grandsons and which he…
Dec
21
December, 21st 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: Parashat Vayigash begins with a continuation of the conversation between Yehuda and Yosef after Yosef’s chalice had been found in Binyamin’s saddlebag. Yehuda…
Dec
15
December, 15th 2023
Dear Hebrew Academy Community: During the coming weeks we will read the last three parshiyot of Sefer Breishit which conclude the Torah’s account of the lives of our patriarchs and matriarchs. Many…