vayishlach: fear
sholem aleichem, Fear wants to control us. As the pasuk says וַיִּירָא יַעֲקֹב מְאֹד וַיֵּצֶר לוֹYaakov was very afraid, and it created straits for him Fear...
vayetzei: being known
sholem aleichem, Yaakov sleeps, and dreams, and: וַיִּיקַ֣ץ יַעֲקֹב֮ מִשְּׁנָתוֹ֒ וַיֹּ֕אמֶר אָכֵן֙ יֵ֣שׁ יְהֹוָ֔ה בַּמָּק֖וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְאָנֹכִ֖י לֹ֥א...
toldos: enmity
sholem aleichem, there’s a thought i’ve returned to a few times over the past year, of someone born in gaza around the same time i was born in the US. of...
chayei sarah: a palm of merit
sholem aleichem, a couple quick announcements before the dvar:(1) preorders are live for tatir tz’rurah: an antizionist, traditional-egalitarian siddur for...
vayera: simple chesed
sholem aleichem, last week, i wrote every day we can choose to learn, to serve, to act with loving-kindness. that’s very nice, past-ada, but how exactly do...
lech lcha: this world
sholem aleichem, when we have fallen down, the Place remember us. because there is loving-kindness in the world. our torah portion this week has a verse of a...
noach: birthright
sholem aleichem, i love learning things from the “boring” parts of torah: וַיּ֥וֹלֶד נֹ֖חַ שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה בָנִ֑ים אֶת־שֵׁ֖ם אֶת־חָ֥ם וְאֶת־יָֽפֶתnoach begot...
bereshis
sholem aleichem, let’s start the book again, yeah? בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ the masoretes broke this verse into two...
shavuos
sholem aleichem and chag shavuos sameach, friends. it’s been a while! i had to take some time off from writing while i moved to a new city and started a new...
doing hope
sholem aleichem, this shabbos — shabbos chol hamoed pesach — we’ll read a section of torah including shemos 34:6-7 (loosely referencing Everett Fox’s...
pesach: dayenu and A15
sholem aleichem, today is april 15th, tax day in the united states, and the day of the A15 Economic Blockades for Palestine i thought i would take this...
tzav: heart in my mouth
sholem aleichem, vayikra and tzav both lay out the laws of the sacrifice of shalom ("peace", "wellbeing", "repayment"). this is a sacrifice you might offer...
pekudei: we are human
sholem aleichem, our parsha, and the entirety of sefer shemos, ends with the following psukim: וּבְהֵעָל֤וֹת הֶֽעָנָן֙ מֵעַ֣ל הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן יִסְע֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י...
terumah: moving with god
sholem aleichem, א I didn't grow up going to shul, really. People often assume I did. A well-meaning shul-goer the other week explained to me that, since I...
Mishpatim
Sholem aleichem, [CW: discussion of slavery, abortion rights, and genocide (in particular, current events in Gaza)] Mishpatim is one of the most jarring...
Beshalach: apartheid-free Burlington
A statement on the recent Burlington City Council meeting, as a member of the greater-Burlington Jewish community: In the Torah portion read by the Jewish...
Infinitely Broken Shards
The Baal Shem Tov once visited the Noam Elimelech in a dream. They stood on a high mountain, taller than any mountain on earth. The Noam Elimelech cried out...
three texts
sholem aleichem. i don't have many coherent thoughts right now, but i want to share three texts that have been on my heart lately. first, from noach in the...
emor and online class announcement!
sholem aleixem! i've been out of touch for a bit....but i've been cooking up something very special. but before we get to that, a word from this week's...
announcing: revolutionary reading group
sholem aleichem, apologies for bothering your inbox sans drash, but two things: if you are looking for hot etz hi takes on parshas tazria, metzora, or...