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PARSHA POSTS: LECH LECHA

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Oct 29, 2026, 4:25 PM

Don’t Wait to Be Asked

Helping an old man cross the road, going beyond ourselves for someone else

Parshas Vayeira | A Lesson in Seeing Beyond Ourselves There is something interesting about the way Avraham welcomed his guests in this week's Torah portion, Vayeira. He didn't wait for them to knock on his door or approach him asking...

Richard Diamond

Oct 26, 2026, 11:58 PM

The Torah Was Written for Someone

Image by Gemini

Understanding the Purpose of the Torah as a Book with a Targeted Audience The Torah is not a free-floating sacred text addressed to everyone and no one. It is a book with a purpose, an intended audience, and a built-in...

Oct 26, 2026, 5:50 PM

Avraham’s Moral Standards, and Ours

Adapted from a sermon originally delivered at Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun in New York City on October 24, 2026 Avraham Avinu was the man who discovered that there is one God. What is the meaning of the fact that there is...

Andy Blumenthal

Oct 25, 2026, 3:31 AM

Go Forth. Take the Porcelain Bird.

Every morning, I walk into the lobby of my building, a beautiful, modern complex with hundreds of units, and check the common table. It has become my daily ritual, like checking the weather, except more surprising. Yesterday: a stack of...

Hande Gençünal

Oct 24, 2026, 11:34 PM

Above the Stars

The first words spoken to Avram are not a direction. They are a list of departures. Lech lecha me'artzecha umimoladetecha umibeit avicha. Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's house. There is something strange about...

Richard Diamond

Oct 24, 2026, 9:10 AM

The Middle East – The Lid and the Fault Lines

image by Gemini

Most of the states of the Middle East are coercive arrangements laid over communities that share no common political project and have little reason to trust one another. They hold together while the coercive center holds, and they divide...

Oct 24, 2026, 12:09 AM

What Are We Making Normal?

Early voting has begun. Once again, we are being called upon to exercise our civic right and responsibility and choose our elected officials, from our local municipalities to the national stage. We can debate property taxes, homestead exemptions, development, and...

Alexander Seinfeld

Oct 23, 2026, 5:40 PM

What’s Your Jewish Journey?

Here's a great conversation starter with almost any Jewish person: What's your Jewish journey? (Try asking that at your table...you might be surprised at some of the answers.) I have asked countless people that question and while every story is unique, over...

Michael J. Lawrence

Oct 23, 2026, 2:26 PM

The Impact of Aliyah, Then Like Now

My great-great-grandparents Yehoshua and Esther Zabludovsky made Aliyah from Zabludow (now in Poland) to Jerusalem in 1889. My great-grandfather Yosef Kaluzna came from Zhmerynka (now Ukraine) via Manchester, England in 1913 and settled in the Galilee. There, Yosef met Mina Zabludovsky...

Oct 23, 2026, 9:40 AM

Isn’t it Ironic?

Lech. Go. Lech-Lecha. Go forth. Isn’t it a little ironic that this is the Torah portion of the week: Parashat Lech-Lecha? “Go forth from your land, your birthplace, and your father’s house…” No, I don’t follow the weekly Torah readings. I am not...

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