According to some traditions, there are 600,000 letters in the Torah, corresponding to the number mentioned in the book of Exodus of male Israelites of fighting age who left Egypt in the time of Moses. Rabbi Menachem Nachum of Chernobyl (1730-1797) known as the Me’or Eynaim, teaches us a powerful lesson about inclusivity and Jewish unity based on this numerical connection. Each letter of the Torah corresponds to one of those Israelites and, by extension, to each Jew in the world today. As the Me’or Eynaim writes: “Therefore, each Jew is connected to one letter in the Torah. The Torah and the blessed Holy One are a complete unity, and each letter then represents the divine element in each person. It is actually the very letter which is the root of his soul. It is this letter that pours forth divine blessings and holy vital force.” Inside of each of us is an element [...]

וְאֶֽעֶשְׂךָ֙ לְג֣וֹי גָּד֔וֹל וַאֲבָ֣רֶכְךָ֔ וַאֲגַדְּלָ֖ה שְׁמֶ֑ךָ וֶהְיֵ֖ה בְּרָכָֽה׃ I will make of you a great nation!  And I will bless you and make your name great. And you shall be a blessing!  Genesis 12:2 This week’s Torah portion, Lech L’cha, includes God’s promise to Abraham—that he will not only receive blessings but that he will be a blessing. A few years ago, while studying at the Institute of Jewish Spirituality—whose director, Rabbi Josh Feigelson, will be our visiting scholar this weekend—I encountered a text about this blessing that continues to inspire me. The text is by Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum (1759–1841), known as the Yismach Moshe, who lived in Sátoraljaújhely, a small town in Hungary. Coincidentally, my beloved cousin, Menashe Davidovits (z”l), whom I have often mentioned at the Temple, grew up in that same village. Rabbi Teitelbaum teaches about the middah (value) known as Histapkut (equanimity). Equanimity is the evenness of emotions or temperament, and [...]

Every election brings results that include outcomes we desired as well as those we hadn’t hoped for. I know, having already heard from members of our community, that this is the case for many of you. Some in our congregation are celebrating, while others are in mourning—sometimes even within the same household or extended family. As a diverse community, our challenge in such moments is to find paths towards unity. Over the past year, as Am Yisrael has faced challenge after challenge, we have remained united in our love for Israel, our tradition, and one another. My prayer for all of us is that we stay committed to the value of אחדות (achdut), unity and oneness, even when we disagree on important issues. May we always give each other the benefit of the doubt, remembering that each of our fellow community members—our friends, family, and loved ones—voted their conscience, inspired [...]