by RabbiOlivier | Oct 20, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Noah Genesis 6:9 – 11:32 A World Filled with Violence Our, then, 10-year-old daughter, Amalya came home one day from the Jewish day-school she attended, with an assignment: to write a short essay about the first verses of Noah, this week’s Torah portion. This is...
by RabbiOlivier | Oct 13, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Bereshit Genesis 1:1 – 6:8 Cain & Abel: A Teaching on Generosity Abel was a Shepherd and Cain tilled the soil. And it was, after the passing of days, that Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the Eternal; and as for Abel, he too...
by RabbiOlivier | Sep 15, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Nitzavim-Vayelech Deuteronomy 29:9 – 31:30 Embracing Our Unpreparedness My heart is beating a little bit faster than usual today. No, I didn’t have one cup of coffee too many. But it just so happens that the combined Torah portions for this week are Nitzavim and...
by RabbiOlivier | Jul 21, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Mattot-Masei Numbers 30:2 – 36:13 First, Break All Your Vows Yom Kippur is fast approaching. Rabbis don’t need to look at the calendar to figure this out. We know. This is Mattot-Masei, the weekly Torah portion that is ten weeks away from Yom Kippur, and whose...
by RabbiOlivier | Jul 15, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Pinchas Numbers 25:10 – 30:1 Rabbi Moses There is a beautiful passage in this week’s Torah portion where God tells Moses to ascend a mountain and, from its peak, to gaze at the Promised Land before him. After that, God says to him, you “shall be gathered to your...
