Messages from July 2022

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Matot-Masei (Numbers 30-36)What do You Protect?

July 29, 2022
Numbers
Masei, Matot

You shall designate cities for yourselves, cities of refuge shall they be for you, and a murderer shall flee there—one who takes a life unintentionally. (Numbers 35:11) Involuntary manslaughter is something we take seriously. If an axe head becomes dislodged and kills an innocent bystander, the chopper/killer must quickly escape to one of the three cities of refuge […]

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Pinchas (Numbers 25:10-30:1) Adapting and Thriving in a New World

July 22, 2022
Numbers
Pinchas

These days, we all find ourselves living in a new and different world. It was just this past Purim that we sat together in shul, next to one another, listening to the reading of the Megilla and sat in close physical proximity to our friends, and the phrase “social distancing” was not part of our vocabulary. We felt secure […]

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Balak (Numbers 22:2-25-9)

July 15, 2022
Numbers
Balak

Does Education Make You a Moral Person? The past century, the bloodiest in all of human history, should have lain to rest two of the most cherished theories about humanity postulated by the Enlightenment and Secular Humanism. One was the idea that all moral questions, all issues of right and wrong, good and evil, were […]

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Chukas (Numbers 19:1-22:1)

July 8, 2022
Numbers
Chukat

Rabbi O’s Weekly Parsha: Chukas (Numbers 19:1-22:1) How to Become a Peacemaker in 2 Easy Steps And the entire congregation saw that Aaron had died and they wept for Aaron 30 days–all the house of Israel. (20:29) “ALL the house of Israel” refers to both men and woman. When Moses dies the verse doesn’t mention “all the house of Israel,” […]