As graduation season invites us to reflect on what lies ahead, this week’s Torah portion reminds us that while uncertainty is inevitable, we can choose curiosity, courage, and faith over fear. Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history. Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple Website: wbtla.org Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple Instagram: wilshireboulevardtemple

As summer begins and new adventures lie ahead, this week’s Torah portion reminds us that growth often requires leaving behind what is familiar and embracing the possibilities that come with change. Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, custom, or history. Facebook: Wilshire Boulevard Temple Website: wbtla.org Youtube: Wilshire Boulevard Temple Instagram: wilshireboulevardtem...

The smells of barbecue and sweet Moroccan treats wafted through the air as I walked through Gan Sacher (Sacher Park) in Jerusalem in the days after Passover, during the years I was living in Israel. Thousands of people would spend the day there, commemorating Mimouna, the North African celebration that marks the end of the holiday. Most years, Mimouna is a giant public celebration in Israel. But this year is different. Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on...

Monday was a day we’ve been looking forward to for a long time: moving day. On Monday morning I sat alone in our apartment, surrounded by boxes, and breathed a deep sigh of relief. It was 10:26 AM and the movers were scheduled to arrive at 10:30 AM. Everything was done and ready just in time. And then I remembered…the mezuzot! Each week, a member of the clergy offers their personal perspective on a topic of their choice, such as the week's Torah portion, a Jewish holiday, ritual, cust...

Vayikra, the opening portion of the Book of Leviticus, discusses the first details of the sacrificial system that the priests will operate on behalf of the Jewish people. The text describes the particular sacrifices that will be offered, what is being offered, how the priests will carry out the ritual, and the reason that one makes an offering. While the system certainly seems obsolete and foreign to us today, the primary purpose of sacrifice in the ancient world was to address an issue and c...

Imagine: You are an ancient Israelite, and all you have ever known - all your recent ancestors have ever known - is oppression. You witnessed the plagues and the sea splitting and you fled for your life into the wilderness. And now, three months later, you are gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai together with your fellow Israelites. Morning dawns, thunder and lightning begin, a dark cloud descends on the mountain, the shofar is sounded, and everyone collectively trembles. You see a stack...

Ran Gvili’s funeral was a moment unique among all others, but the collective need to rise to the next chapter is a feeling familiar to the Jewish people. It is on full display in the Torah portion we read this week. At the core of Parashat Beshalach are two songs, sung not when Pharaoh first freed the people from Egypt, but after they crossed the sea and the waters closed in on the Egyptian armies that had been pursuing them. Finally, they were on the other side. Finally, after a long and tor...

Well folks, we are in the thick of it. In just the last few weeks, we have witnessed the abuse of unchecked power against a group of outsiders, the rising up of a people against a heartless dictator, the crumbling of an authoritarian regime, and a people’s chance at true freedom. 2026 is off to a bang, right? Well, not quite. While this description could be the homepage of any news publication today, this is unfortunately a tale as old as time. It is biblical time, but it has a lot to offer a...

In our Torah portion this week, Parashat Vaeira, we see an important moment for Moses to speak the truth. God has told Moses that he will be the savior of the Jewish people, the prophet directly communicating God’s words to Pharaoh to let the Israelites go and bring them back to the land of Israel. But Moses hesitates to take on the task, and he tells God that he is unable and unprepared. Moses says that he cannot possibly communicate this message because he has a speech impediment, or litera...

For thousands of years, Jewish parents and parental-figures have been saying this exact same blessing. So who were Ephraim and Menasseh, that the Torah warrants blessing our children in their names each Shabbat eve? We are living through what feels like an inflection point in the history of American Jewry. Antisemitism is sharply on the rise and the broader Jewish community is splintered, especially on Israel and Zionism. All of this raises big, existential questions: What are we suppos...