Preview Mode Links will not work in preview mode

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.

Jan 28, 2019

Parashat Mishpatim presents a full catalog of laws, rituals, observance, and obligations that guide us in living a Jewish life of moral depth and courage. But, Rabbi Rick Jacobs asks, how do we, as liberal Jews regard these laws – which of them are we obligated to observe, and how? And how do we apply these teachings...


Jan 21, 2019

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Yitro, is named for the Midianite Priest, Jethro, and depicts his first encounter with Moses in the desert. The two forge a relationship despite their different faiths and ethnicities, and Moses ends up marrying his daughter, Tziporah. Rabbi Rick Jacobs recounts theirs as well...


Jan 14, 2019

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat B’shalach, is read on Shabbat Shira, the Shabbat of Song. Music is highlighted on this particular Shabbat: In this portion, the prophetess Miriam leads the other women in playing their timbrels, and the accompanying Haftarah reading features the Song of Deborah. Rabbi Rick Jacobs...


Jan 7, 2019

In Parashat Bo, we learn about the last three of the plagues that are visited upon the Pharaoh of Egypt. Rabbi Rick Jacobs focuses on the plague of darkness, and examines how the translations of the ancient Hebrew by Robert Alter allow us to glean new meanings from this portion.