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David Lazar
By David Lazar In Parshat Hashavua

Of foxes and forests

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David Lazar
By David Lazar In Blessings

Birkat Ha’ilanot

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David Lazar
By David Lazar In Uncategorized

Parshat Trumah, 5780 – Creating Sacred Space

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Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Mishpatim, 5780

I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have made ready.…
David Lazar
David LazarFebruary 19, 2020
Parshat Hashavua

Yitro 5780: All Alone

Because we are so familiar with the story of Moses at Sinai, sometimes it’s hard for us to remember that at the top of the…
David Lazar
David LazarFebruary 11, 2020
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat B’shalah 5780

We have now reached the stage in the Exodus narrative of the Israelites actually leaving Egypt. In this Black History Month, I suggest we all…
David Lazar
David LazarFebruary 5, 2020
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Va’era, 5780 – Miracles Then and Now

With this week’s Torah portion comes the beginning of the Exodus story, including the first seven of the ten plagues. These are presented as an…
David Lazar
David LazarJanuary 21, 2020
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Sh’mot, 5780 – In Praise of Donkeys

As we return once again to the book of Exodus, we see the Israelites suffering in bondage under Pharaoh and the Egyptians. We are reminded…
David Lazar
David LazarJanuary 14, 2020
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Vayehi, 5780

Here we are, at the end of the book of Genesis, the book of our ancestral origins. Genesis tells us the very partial stories of…
David Lazar
David LazarJanuary 8, 2020
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Vayigash, 5780 – In Praise of Tending Sheep

As we near the end of our annual reading of Genesis, with Ya’akov finally getting to see his beloved son Yosef, with the brothers reunited…
David Lazar
David LazarDecember 31, 2019
Uncategorized

Maoz Tzur at Hanukkah

So many of us grew up and still sing the words of Maoz Tzur, a hymn probably written in the 13th century, at a time…
David Lazar
David LazarDecember 26, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Shabbat Hanukah 5780

You may have heard that we have multiple sources to explain why we celebrate Hanukah for eight days. The best known and most popular version,…
David Lazar
David LazarDecember 24, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Pride and Persecution – Nature or Nurture? Parshat Vayeshev 5780

I've been writing about key words in the last few portions of the Torah. This week I would like to focus upon two key motifs…
David Lazar
David LazarDecember 18, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Vayishlach

That same night he arose, and taking his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven children, he crossed the ford of the Yabbok. After…
David Lazar
David LazarDecember 11, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Vayetzei, 5773

One of our rabbinic traditions (Vayikra Rabbah 7:3) stipulates that a child’s biblical education should begin with the book of Leviticus: “Let the pure ones…
David Lazar
David LazarDecember 4, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Toldot, 5780

Yitzhak pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord responded to his plea, and his wife Rivkah…
David Lazar
David LazarNovember 27, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Hayei Sarah, 5780

  Genesis 23:2 Sarah died in Kiryat Arba - now Hevron - in the land of Canaan; And Abraham proceeded/came to mourn for Sarah and…
David Lazar
David LazarNovember 20, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Second Chances – Parshat Vayera, 5780

Last week, we saw some pretty poor behavior on the part of Sarai, Avram and even God. It was, after all, Sarai's idea to give…
David Lazar
David LazarNovember 13, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Seeing, Hearing and Speaking, Eyes, Ears and Mouths: Sarai, Avram and Hagar

This week’s Torah portion contains one of the more challenging tales of our ancestors and how we might NOT want to learn from them how…
David Lazar
David LazarNovember 6, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Confusion and Babbling – Parshat Noah

  Tucked toward the end of this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Noah, is a wonderful example of narrative artistry, the story of the tower of…
David Lazar
David LazarOctober 30, 2019
Avraham bar Ya’akov, Amsterdam, c.1700, Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv Parshat Hashavua

Adam, One and Many

As we begin again the annual cycle of reading the Torah, we are reminded that our Torah, like much of the Jewish literary tradition, speaks…
David Lazar
David LazarOctober 24, 2019
Parshat HashavuaUncategorized

Kohelet, the biblical book of Ecclesiastes

There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge…
David Lazar
David LazarOctober 16, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

Parshat Vayelech – A message from Rabbi David Lazar

We are now rapidly approaching the end of the book of Deuteronomy, Moses' second rendition of the Torah. We read about the leader’s final days,…
David Lazar
David LazarOctober 2, 2019
Parshat Hashavua

A Message from Rabbi David Lazar

In this week’s Torah portion, Nitzavim, Moses begins to sum up what it means to be a people of God: I call heaven and earth…
David Lazar
David LazarSeptember 24, 2019

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  • About
    • About Us
    • Rabbinic Services
  • Study
    • Hannah Senesh Lecture with Scott Miller
    • Classes
    • Past classes
    • Psalm Springs Podcast
    • Parshat Hashavua
  • Prayer
    • High Holidays 5783/2022
    • Prayer Services LIVE Stream
    • Prayer
    • Shabbat Music
    • Remembering our friends
  • Fixing the World
    • Social Justice
    • Interfaith Dialogue
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Hannah Senesh Lecture with Scott Miller
    • Shabbat experience with Rabbi Sam Feldman
    • Past Events
      • High Holidays 5783/2022
      • The Shofar and the Labyrinth
      • Jews Do the Blues – Sept 2022
      • High Holidays 5782 – 2021
      • Desert Blues Concert 2020
      • Interfaith Pre-Inauguration Service 2021
      • Pride Kabbalat Shabbat 2020
      • High Holidays 5781 / 2020
      • Online Shavuot Services
      • Pessah Seder 2020
      • Torah Trek Joshua Tree
      • Hanukkah Celebrations
      • Interfaith Pride Kabbalat Shabbat 2019
      • High Holidays 5781 / 2020
      • Torah Trek
      • Purim at Dead or Alive
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
  • Donate
    • Give now
    • Sponsors