My Jewish Journey
Deborah Abecassis Warshawsky, Director of Jewish Life and Learning, shares insights on lessons from the Torah, Jewish customs and traditions and inspirational thoughts for personal growth.
Parshat Vayetze – The Symbolism of the Ladder
One of the highlights of the parsha this week is the dream of Jacob, where he has a vision of angels ascending and descending a ladder. There are multiple interpretations of this dream and its purpose in shaping the future of Jacob as the father of the nation of...
United together with Am Yisrael
Kol Yisrael Areivim zeh bazeh. כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה I am writing to you today because our family is in mourning. We are crying together with our family in Israel for the loss of lives of fathers, grandfathers, husbands and friends, who were taken so cruelly...
Parshat Toldot – Praying for Someone Else
We are all feeling an enormous sense of tragedy following the events of the week. Our hearts and prayers are still focused on those families. However, like the men who returned to pray the next morning in that very same synagogue, we must move forward. In the midst of...
Parshat Chayei Sarah- The Lessons of Sarah and Peter Pan
This week’s parsha was my Bat Mitzvah parsha, (sometime in the 1970s shall we say…). As time passes and my kids get older, I reflect more on aging. I often don’t “feel” my age, and whenever I go to weddings, I still feel like a 25 year old. Right then, my kids, (and...
Parshat Vayera- “Pay it Forward”
The theme of “Chessed”, or acts of kindness, is at the core of this week’s parsha. Avraham welcomes the three strangers into his tent with and offers them a lavish meal, freshly cooked, in a way which is above and beyond what anyone would have expected. (In the end,...
Parshat Noach – Tzelem Elokim – How can I be like God?
The book of Genesis is a book that itself could be studied over an entire year and the reader would still be left with many questions. When we study the books of the Torah and perhaps the book of Genesis in particular, we need to look at the stories and ideas on both...
Parshat Noach – Healthy Rainbow Kebabs!
To remember the rainbow that God sent as a reminder that he would never again bring a flood to the world, why not try this beautiful and healthy rainbow of fruit kebabs!
Please enjoy this thoughtful introduction to the book of Genesis by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks…
Some holiday reading for Simchat Torah... Bereishit-The-Genesis-of-Justice - Rabbi Sacks
Sukkot, Shabbat and Paula Abdul – It’s all about keeping it together!
On the holiday of Sukkot, we celebrate our successful agricultural harvest with the four species. The lulav, made up of the willow, myrtle and palm branches, is taken together with the etrog. One of the many meanings ascribed in the Midrash to the four species is that...
Thoughts on Yom Kippur – The Ninth Inning – Neilah
There is something unique about the ninth inning in baseball, the fourth quarter in football, set points in tennis and the final minutes in a hockey game. Sometimes the unexpected happens during those last few minutes of the game that changes everything. It could be a...
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Rabbi Grossman's Corner
Parashat Ba-Midbar/Shavuot: Counting, accounting and recounting
This week’s parashah begins the book of Ba-Midbar, which opens with God commanding Moses to count. Take a census of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel according to their families, according to their fathers’ house, by number of the names, every male...
Parashat Emor – Counting
This weekend is Lag Ba-Omer, the 33rd day of counting from Passover to Shavuot. In our parshah this week we find the commandment to count these days: You shall count for yourselves – from the morrow of the rest day, from the day when you bring the omer of the waving...
Parashat Acharei- Mot – Kedoshim
In this week’s double parashah we find the well-know commandment “Love your neighbour as you love yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Rabbi Akiva taught that this precept is the most important rule in the Torah. In this week of commemoration and celebration - with Yom...
Parashat Tazria-Metzora – Yom Ha-Shoah
I love when my children come home eager to tell me something they learned in school that made an impression on them. I love it more when they assume they are telling me something I would have never heard before and they are eager to teach me. This past Monday we...
Parashat Shemini – Food for thought
The last thing I feel like doing the day after Passover is think about food. Again. There are so many important and meaningful messages to the holiday - about freedom and family and community, about faith and courage, traditions, history and heritage. But let’s face...
Happy Passover!
Questions are a central part of the Passover Seder. Our very youngest participants are tasked with asking the Mah Nishtana – why this night, this holiday, is different from every other night of the year. Questions help instill a love of learning and encourage the...
Parashat Vayikra – Guest blogger Akiva Shinshinit Yael Goldstone
This week's Dvar Torah is written by our Akiva Shinshinit, Yael Goldstone. Thank you Yael for sharing! Shabbat Shalom! Israel Kristal is the Guinness world record holder of being the oldest man alive. Israel was born in 1903 in Žernov. His father was drafted to the...
Parashat Va-Yakhel / Pikudei – However you can
In the weeks leading up to Passover, I hesitate sending my husband to the grocery store for me. My priority is cleaning out my pantry of hametz and purchasing only the essentials we can use and finish immediately. A request for a red pepper, a package of cheese and...
Parsha Ki Tisa – featuring guest blogger Dr. Michael Kalin
This week, we have a guest blogger, Akiva parent Dr. Michael Kalin, with an inspirational D'var Torah on Parashat Ki Tisa. Thank you Michael for sharing. Shabbat Shalom, Debbie We are all familiar with the story of the golden calf in Ki Tisa. Moshe ascends Mt....
Parashat Terumah – The home we build together…
At Akiva School we all work together to build something beautiful – a home for our children to learn, to grow and to thrive. This is the gift that we give to them - and to us - as we play a role in shaping our future through our children. I invite you all to read a...
