In Numbers 11:4, the Torah offers us a startling and deeply human moment. The asafsuf (the mixed multitude traveling with Israel, often translated in English as the “rabble” or “riffraff”) gave in to their cravings, crying out: "Who will feed us meat?" Despite having witnessed mira…
In this week's Torah portion, Naso, the longest single parasha in the entire Torah, we encounter another of the Torah's seemingly puzzling choices. As the Mishkan (Tabernacle) is dedicated, leaders of each of the twelve tribes bring a collection of identical gifts: products of silver and gol…
This Shavuot, as we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Sinai, the foundational moment of Jewish identity, Jewish law, and the Jewish covenant with Gd, the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples is proud to share that our community is not only observing this holiday in our local community, rat…
The Book of, and the name of this week’s Torah portion, Bamidbar opens not with a grand proclamation but with a census, a precise, methodical counting of the Israelite people in the wilderness. Yet embedded in that counting is something far more evocative than a headcount. Gd commands that…
This week we read a double portion, Behar-Bechukotai, and tucked within its verses is one of the Torah's most breathtaking and honest conversations between Gd and the Jewish people. In Bechukotai, Gd lays out a remarkable two-path proposition: walk in My ways, fulfill your obligations to one…
