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Tune in weekly to hear Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union For Reform Judaism, offer divrei Torah (insights into the weekly Torah portion) to help open up Jewish thought and its contemporary influence on your life.

May 29, 2017

Parashat Naso features a very famous blessing – but what does it mean for one person to bless another? Is it a power reserved for the ancient priests, or is it something that we are all capable of? What kinds of actions constitute a blessing? Listen to Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism,...


May 22, 2017

Do you know which countries have the largest population of Jewish people? What about how many Jews serve in the United States Congress? As we begin the Book of Numbers with Parashat B’midbar, Rabbi Jacobs talks us through the numbers of the Jewish people today, as Parashat B’midbar does with the Israelites wandering...


May 15, 2017

For anyone who doubts that Judaism includes social and environmental justice, this week’s commentary on the double portion of B’har-B’chukotai sings forth that we have a fundamental responsibility to care for God’s Earth, and to be attentive to the neediest among us. How does this section of the Torah ask that...


May 8, 2017

Parashat Emor lays out the sacred calendar of the Jewish people as we know it in the Torah, and there’s no one better to discuss this parashah with Rabbi Jacobs than Abigail Pogrebin, author of the book “My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew.” Pogrebin tells us about her year of studying, preparing for,...


May 1, 2017

 

It’s another two-parashah week, and this time we’re reading about love. The phrase “love the stranger” appears in the Torah 36 times. Why is this phrase written so often, and who is the stranger? Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, gives his take in this episode of On the Other Hand.