Special Recent Posts
Shemini: Respecting the Sanctity of Life, by Rabbi Miriam Midlarsky Lichtenfeld
April 7th, 2021
Back in my teen years, at our pre-Prom gathering at my friend’s house, I didn’t eat any of the shrimp cocktail that she had put out for us to eat. She praised my self-discipline. To me, though, this seemed natural[...]
Tzav: Hiddur Mitzvah - Are My Hands Clean? by Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem
March 23rd, 2021
We named our daughter Hadar. She was born on Shabbat of parashat Tzav which contains a small and precious passage detailing the garments with which Moshe adorns Aharon for his service at the Temple. The name Hadar shares a root[...]
Vayikra: Call Them In, by Rabbi Gila Caine
March 15th, 2021
וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר׃ “And He called to Moshe and Adonai spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying….” (Lev. 1:1) Why first call and then speak? Why not go right to speaking? Talmud suggests that in this, the[...]
Vayakel-Pekudei: Work on Your Connection by Eli Weinbach
March 9th, 2021
Rest requires work. Without putting in the prep time, we may find that a day off is spent thinking about what has yet to be done. Without planning, vacation may not be much more exciting than staying home. Extended conversation[...]
Ki Tisa: Believe in Equality and Leave the REST to G-d by Dvir Cahana
March 4th, 2021
The story beats of Parshat Ki Tisa teach us two Shmita-esque concepts. The Parsha begins with the democratized call to cooperatively erect the Mishkan, where each individual was commanded to evenly contribute a half-shekel to the project. The purpose of[...]
Purim: Truths Revealed Over The Past Year by Melissa Hoffman
February 22nd, 2021
Many of us anticipated this Purim as the approximate year-marker since our lives changed unimaginably. There’s something apt about the holiday that highlights the topsy-turvy nature of life bookending the beginning — and hopefully the beginning of the end —[...]
Terumah: Good Neighbors by Judry Subar
February 16th, 2021
Breathlessly, the first third of the Torah runs through stories of creation, accounts of love and rupture in the pre-Israelite and Israelite family, reports of slavery experienced and slavery escaped, and rules governing all sorts of circumstances. Over the course[...]
Mishpatim: We All Live Downstream by Adriane Leveen
February 9th, 2021
"We all live downstream." Those words, spoken by a member of a first nation community in the haunting film, The Condor and the Eagle, capture a simple truth we are too ready to forget. None of us will escape the[...]
Yitro: The Operating Manual by Deirdre Gabbay
February 2nd, 2021
Parshat Yitro, in the book of Exodus, contains the beginning of the story of the Revelation at Sinai. The story of Revelation begins here, but the telling unfolds in a complex, layered piece of narrative origami. The halakhic midrash of[...]
Beshalach: Redemption Song by Rabbi Isaiah Rothstein
January 29th, 2021
It is Friday evening and the sun is just about the set. The synagogue is filled with a psalm and song-filled greeting for Her Majesty, the Shabbat Queen. After six long days of toiling, working, and serving, we have finally[...]
Bo: Hyssop - The Paintbrush of Liberation, by Rabbi David Seidenberg
January 20th, 2021
In parshat Bo, the destroying angel passes over the houses of the Israelites — in Hebrew “pasach al hapetach” — sparing their firstborn, and giving the Passover holiday its name in Hebrew and English. But the angel only “knows” who[...]
Vaera: Our Plagues and Our Plans by Ann Hait and Rabbi Gabe Greenberg
January 12th, 2021
In Parshat Vaera, the action revolves around God’s command, through Moses, that Pharoah free the enslaved Israelites. Pharaoh's hard-headedness and selfishness preclude him from doing so immediately, and in response, God sends a series of plagues to Egypt. Dam, tzfarde'a,[...]
Shemot: Talking with God by SooJi Min-Maranda
January 6th, 2021
This week’s parsha, Shemot, is the same Torah portion that I read from the bima at Temple Beth Emeth in Ann Arbor, MI, thirteen-and-a-half years after officially claiming Judaism as an adult b’nai mitzvah. What a wonderful opportunity to be[...]
Vayechi: Brotherly Love by Eli Weinbach
December 30th, 2020
This week, Jacob, like his father before him, sets out to bless his progeny. The first to receive his blessings are Joseph’s sons, the brothers Ephraim and Menashe. Those who have been following since Bereshit will know that being a[...]
Vayigash: We Need Emotional Shmita Now by Rabbi Shoshana Friedman
December 23rd, 2020
Deep into the Joseph story, we come to a moment that catches my breath and makes me tear up every year. Joseph, sold to slavery long ago, stands now as the viceroy of Egypt. He has designed a system of[...]
Miketz: Run Wild by Judry Subar
December 16th, 2020
In the beginning, the world was a wild and chaotic place. While the arc of the Genesis narrative bends relentlessly toward the taming of the chaos, progress is slow. As the human species settles in for the long haul, its[...]
Vayeshev: Entitlement and Creation by Hannah Elovitz
December 10th, 2020
Our story returns to tell us, “Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan” (Gen. 37:1, JPS translation). Jacob’s father and grandfather had only ever been outsiders in the land in which[...]
Vayishlach: Rename and Renew by Rabbi Joshua Ratner
December 3rd, 2020
2020 has been a year of unbelievable struggle. Between the devastating impact of Covid-19, the profound struggle for racial equality that erupted in nation-wide protests in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, and the hyper-partisan election campaign that tore apart[...]
Vayetze: The Meaning of Seven by Aharon Ariel Lavi
November 24th, 2020
Shmita is the seventh year, following six regular years — and numbers in the Torah are not incidental, but rather a channel for meaningful ideas. The first, and most renowned, appearance of the number seven is obviously the seven days[...]
Toldot: What Will We Eat in the Seventh Year? Shmita, Lack, and Abundance by Justin Goldstein
November 17th, 2020
While the language may be a product of recent decades, the dichotomy between an “abundance mentality” and a “lack mentality” is a core human experience. The basic principles of these two concepts reflect a question of perspective; one who embodies[...]
Chayei Sarah: What does it mean to “own” land – and why is it important? by Nigel Savage
November 10th, 2020
In my twenties I bought my first apartment in London. My parents lent me £5,000 for the deposit, and I got a mortgage for the rest. It was a 2-bedroomed apartment in Golders Green. I do no disservice to my[...]
Vayeirah: The Shaping of the Land by Eliezer Weinbach
November 4th, 2020
Inherent in the concept of Shmita is an understanding that as much as we toil to shape the land, the land shapes us as well. How does it shape a person to raise children where their great-grandparents were raised? How[...]
Lech-Lecha: Environmental Refugees by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin
October 29th, 2020
This week’s parashah, Lekh Lekha (Genesis 12:1-17:27) heralds the emergence of the Jewish people. The story is inaugurated by a call from God directing Abra[ha]m to uproot himself and his family, leave his homeland, his memories, his childhood, all he[...]
Noah: In Search of Balance by Hannah Henza
October 22nd, 2020
The story of Noah is a tale that shows up in many ancient forms. But the lessons we learn from the various deluge narratives are more applicable today than perhaps ever before. As the story opens, we are told that Noah[...]
Bereishit: The Sabbatical Paradigm by Jeremy Benstein
October 14th, 2020
"And there was evening, and there was morning" (Gen. 1). Nature has rhythms. "Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Summer and winter, Day and night... " (Gen. 8). Human society too has rhythms. Or at least it did, once. Traditional societies,[...]
Moving from the Real to the Ideal - Rabbi Dov Linzer
August 18th, 2020
The Torah commands us in the laws of Shmita for the first time in Shemot 23:11: “And six years you shall sow thy land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof. But the seventh year you shall relinquish it; that[...]
The Dream of Shmita - Deirdre Gabbay
July 23rd, 2020
I have been wanting to write in response to the situation we are all in for several weeks, but each time I’ve begun, I’ve gotten confused and had to stop. There are so many facets of this time and situation[...]
Visions for Our New Land
April 4th, 2019
Thursday, April 4, 2019 | 28th Adar II, 5779 Dear All, I had asked Janna, Rebecca, and Shamu – leaders of our Adamah program – to write something for all of us, about the new land we have been able to buy[...]
Listen Ya'll! | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
September 21st, 2018
by Alex Voynow, Jewish Farm School Parshat Haazinu [NOTE: Applications for the next JOFEE Fellowship cohort are open now through October 5! Apply today!] In Ha’azinu, Moses sees the Israelites for who they are: humans, scarred by 40 years of impatient wandering and in[...]
Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
August 17th, 2018
by Jared Kaminsky, Shoresh Parshat Shoftim The parsha of the week is Shoftim, which means Judges. As Moses nears the end of his life, he wants to ensure there is a system of governance in society. Shoftim gives detailed ordinances on many topics[...]
Reflections on Kindness | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
August 3rd, 2018
by Brenden Jackson, Amir with Shalom Community Farm Houston Parshat Eikev In Parshat Eikev, Moses calls upon his people to reflect on their past in order to remember and obtain the future that was promised to them. As they prepare to enter[...]
Fear and Donkeys | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
June 28th, 2018
by Henry Schmidt, Shalom Institute Parshat Balak I thought Balak was a story about a donkey. That is to say, when I sat down to write this blog post, I expected to write about the talking donkey we’ll soon meet. Understandably, a talking[...]
Korach: Disruptive Visionary or Disgruntled Rabble-Rouser? | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
June 14th, 2018
by Eliezer Weinbach, Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Hazon Parshat Korach וַיֵּרְדוּ הֵם וְכָל-אֲשֶׁר לָהֶם, חַיִּים--שְׁאֹלָה And they and all their belongings went down, alive, into Sheol Numbers 16:33 I was traveling once, and my tour guide, a wizened Arab, asked me if I wanted[...]
Sabbaticals, shmita, post-sabbatical...
October 19th, 2017
by Nigel Savage October 19, 2017 | 29 Tishrei 5778 Dear All, This week is the start of the rest of our lives the first week after the end of the Jewish holidays, and my first week back at work after my sabbatical.[...]
Walking Behind Kindness: Parashat Naso | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
June 9th, 2017
by Jaclyn Kellner - Coastal Roots Farm; Encinitas, CA “I’d like to go to the fields and glean among the ears of grain behind someone who may show me kindness.” This statement, from Ruth to Naomi in the Book of Ruth, holds[...]
Prayer in Action: Upholding our Covenant for a Brighter Future | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
November 23rd, 2016
by Daniella Aboody, Wilderness Torah, Berkeley, CA Parashat Chayyei Sarah Editor’s Note: Welcome to D’varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog! Most weeks throughout the year, you’ll be hearing from the JOFEE Fellows: reflections on their experiences, successful programs they’ve planned and implemented,[...]
Grappling with the Ark of Responsibility | D'varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog
November 3rd, 2016
by Bailey Lininger, Tamarack Camps, Bloomfield Hills, MI Parashat Noach Editor’s Note: Welcome to D’varim HaMakom: The JOFEE Fellows Blog! Most weeks throughout the year, you’ll be hearing from the JOFEE Fellows: reflections on their experiences, successful programs they’ve planned and implemented,[...]
Emerging from an Organizational Shmita
September 2nd, 2015
By Nati Passow 11 months ago, I posted a piece on the Jewish Farm School website about how we were choosing to embrace Shmita as an organization. You can read the entire piece here, but the final paragraph sums up the gist. We[...]
Shmita, like Shechina, Goes Global: Reflections from a Hammock on This Shmita Year
July 30th, 2015
By Amichai Lau-Lavie A year ago I was laying in a hammock on a Brazilian beach, planning a year’s worth of Shmita study and action that will rebrand this ancient sustainability practice rooted in the Land of Israel for new digital[...]
From Shmita to Hak’hel: Assembling on October 4
July 3rd, 2015
By Rabbi Arthur Waskow In the last several years, many societies and cultures have been stirred by the sense of a great planetary crisis caused by human action to overwork the earth -- – the burning of fossil fuels scorching our global ecosystem, the[...]