This past week, our nation watched as the Alabama senate passed, and its governor ratified, a highly restrictive law that effectively criminalizes abortion. Regardless of whether one is in favor of abortion or believes such procedures should be banned, the decision ought to stun anyone who cares about the rule of law.
Recording from Shabbat Services, May 10, 2019 D’var from Friday, May 10, 2019 – Rabbi David Kosak *If you would like to download the recording and listen later, right click on the link then click “Save as” and it will save onto your computer for later listening. Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus. Click here for an archive of past recordings
What a week. Last Saturday afternoon, I was basking in the late afternoon sun, seated on the stone wall in from of our flowering kale. What clouds were about were full of drama and dimension. It was a fitting way to recharge after the Yizkor memorial service earlier in the day. Commemorating those who are no longer with us is touching and deeply humanizing.
Recording from Shabbat Services, May 4, 2019 D’var from Saturday, May 4, 2019 – Rabbi David Kosak *If you would like to download the recording and listen later, right click on the link then click “Save as” and it will save onto your computer for later listening. Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus. Click here for an archive of past recordings
What a week. Last Saturday afternoon, I was basking in the late afternoon sun, seated on the stone wall in from of our flowering kale. What clouds were about were full of drama and dimension. It was a fitting way to recharge after the Yizkor memorial service earlier in the day. Commemorating those who are no longer with us is touching and deeply humanizing.
Recording from Shabbat Services, April 27, 2019 D’var from Saturday, April 27, 2019 – Rabbi David Kosak *If you would like to download the recording and listen later, right click on the link then click “Save as” and it will save onto your computer for later listening. Recorded and edited by Ed Kraus. Click here for an archive of past recordings
“Mitzvah goreret mitzvah” is a profound if commonplace phrase in the Jewish tradition. Literally, it means that one mitzvah, one good deed or commandment, pulls another one in its wake. While I sometimes insouciantly translate this phrase as “no good deed goes unpunished,” there’s a deeper reality at play, and one which is captured in an equally pithy statement that “skhar mitzvah mitzvah.” The reward for doing a mitzvah is either that action itself, or another mitzvah.
