May 11, 2021 | Blogging from the Bimah
The beginning of Parshat Tazria/Metzora begins with an inequality: when a woman gives birth to a son she is טמאה a word I think no translation does justice to (generally “impure” or “unclean”) with him for 7 days until his brit milah and then she remains טמאה, for an...
Mar 17, 2021 | Blogging from the Bimah
Masorti is honored to share Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove’s eloquent and passionate sermon in response to the recent Israeli Supreme Court decision on Conservative/Masorti and Reform conversions in Israel and its impact on the relationship between Israel and the...
Sep 10, 2020 | Blogging from the Bimah
Rabbi Carl M. Perkins, of Temple Aliyah in Needham, Massachusetts, was inspired to record a video tribute to the Masorti Movement in Israel. Rabbi Perkins reflects on a trip to Israel in 2019 where he was invited to give a D’var Torah at the Kotel. Where at...
Jul 27, 2020 | Blogging from the Bimah
The fourth chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes begins as follows: “I further observed all the oppression that goes on under the sun: the tears of the oppressed, with none to comfort them.” The ancient sages asked: Who are these oppressors of whom the...
Feb 27, 2020 | Blogging from the Bimah
As Jewish Disabilities Awareness & Inclusion Month wraps up, we want to share an exceptional D’var Torah delivered by Yoni Avitan, Educational Director at the NOAM Youth Movement and the Shaliach to USY (United Synagogue Youth). He was invited to speak at...
Dec 5, 2019 | Blogging from the Bimah
In his evocative D’var Torah, Aklilu Dunlap, Masorti board member and new Bar Mitzvah “boy,”connects Parashat Toldat, the story of Rebecca, Isaac and Esau, to the rights, or lack of rights, of women at that time and to this day in Orthodox and...
