Torah Portion: Parashah

Each week, we read a different section of the Torah. Sometimes we read stories about our ancestors’ journeys. Sometimes we read details about the ancient Temple or complex lists of laws. Whatever the content, the Torah portion (or parashah) is frequently the basis for discussions and sermons at Shabbat services in synagogue and throughout the week. Torah text has also been the inspiration for many contemporary songs, poems, and prayers.

Latest Rituals

Genesis 25:8

“The children of Abraham, / bowing their heads / to bury the past and join hands in grief.”

Abraham, Genesis, grief, Isaac, Ishmael, Israel

Vast desert landscape with rocky cliffs and distant hazy horizon under a pale sky.

Tsom Shovavim

A guide to a renewal and reconstruction of an obscure Jewish fasting practice called ‘Tsom Shovavim.’

exodus, fasting, Shovavim, teshuvah

Glasses of tea next to a bowl of dates on a wooden table.

Dinah’s Brothers, Tamar’s Husbands

“One more dangerous reading, and I tore my hair /in pain with the story’s daughters, Dinah and Tamar.”

family, matriarchs, torah

Ink drawing of a landscape with people, animals, and a pyramid. Sun and birds are in the sky.

Dinah’s Voice

“Your story is not over; your life is larger than this. / We’re listening.”

hostages, Israel, Jewish women, justice, women's rights

three women embracing, shot from behind, two holding sprigs of babys breath

Blessing for the Way Ahead

“And may we always draw on joy in the darkness…”

justice, kindness, lekh lekha, resilience

a landscape of gray and brown mountains

Sky and Seas

This short poem is inspired by the process of creation as told in Bereshit.

creation, Genesis, God

the sky and sea meet, birds flying in the sky

Alternate 10 Commandment Posters For Schools and Other Settings

A new interpretation of 10 universal laws.

10 Commandments, Goddess, Shekhinah

a tablet with Hebrew writing, looking like the 10 commandments

Ezekiel

“I have no people and my God makes me mourn…”

Ezekiel, God, midrash

a fiery sunset of orange and yellow

The Water Waited

“The water waited to see the animals again, / the shapes they would assume and the sounds they’d make…”

the raging waters of a flood

Miriam

“Prophecy is the glue that yokes today / with tomorrow, it is one hopeful word…”

midrash, Miriam

reflection of reeds in the Sea