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Velveteen Rabbi's Torah Commentary

This page contains a link to every d'var Torah I've written since 2003.

You might also enjoy my first collection of poetry, 70 faces: Torah poems, published by Phoenicia Publishing (Montreal) in 2011. 

For commentary arising out of the later books of the Tanakh, scroll down to the bottom of the page.


BERESHIT / GENESIS

Parashat Bereshit

  • 2006: Speaking from our soft places (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Postpartum [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Likeness [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Signs [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Firmament / Tearing [Torah poem]
  • 2016: Back to the beginning
  • 2018: Eden Speaks [Torah poem]
  • 2021: Beginning [Torah poem]
  • 2021: From chaos

Parashat Noach

  • 2005: On stories and floods
  • 2006: Leaving the ark (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Integration [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Blameless [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Insights on Babel: how groupthink damages our relationship with God
  • 2013: Deep waters: a d'var Torah for parashat Noach
  • 2014: Go into the word and reveal the light
  • 2015: White light, rainbows, and the soul
  • 2016: Safe from the storm
  • 2017: The Open Invitation
  • 2022: Don't Be Like Noah

Parashat Lech-Lecha

  • 2006: Going forth into something new (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: First step [Torah poem]
  • 2010: On going forth
  • 2013: Becoming Avraham: names and transformation in Lech-Lecha
  • 2014: The One Who Sees Me
  • 2014: On boldly going: Lech Lecha and Star Trek
  • 2017: On Avram and Sarai and #MeToo
  • 2021: Go - a d'varling for Lech-Lecha
  • 2022: Journeying Inside and Out (at Builders Blog)

Parashat Vayera

  • 2006: Radical Hospitality (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008:  Silence [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Aftermath [Torah poem]
  • 2010: The Akedah Cycle [ten linked Torah poems about the binding of Isaac] 
  • 2010: The entrance to holiness
  • 2012: Sodom and Gomorrah, Hurricane Sandy, and God
  • 2013: Forgiving our ancestors: a practice for Vayera
  • 2017: Visions of Renewal: Vayera and renewing our Judaism
  • 2020: Every righteous person counts
  • 2022: To be like Avraham

Parashat Chayei Sarah

  • 2005: Chayyei Sarah: the meaning of ownership 
  • 2008: In the same key [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Departure [Torah poem] 
  • 2010: The years of my life
  • 2013: On death and land: thoughts on Chayei Sarah
  • 2013: Emulating Rebecca
  • 2014: Reaching wholeness
  • 2017: Through the (double) door: Chayyei Sarah
  • 2018: Living our Jewish values, all the days of our lives
  • 2019: Constancy and change
  • 2022: The moments in between

Parashat Toldot

  • 2006: Rivka's question, our answers (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Pulling the strings [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Birthings [Torah poem]
  • 2009: A Torah journey with Rebecca
  • 2012: The Blessing [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Why am I, and how can I integrate: questions from Toldot
  • 2013: Looking for water [Torah poem] (originally published at Palestinian Talmud)
  • 2014: If this is so, then why am I? (at Americans for Peace Now)
  • 2015: Then why am I?
  • 2016: A Blessing for Becoming
  • 2018: Rivka's Questions, And Our Own: Building Lessons from Toldot (at Builders Blog, a project of Bayit)
  • 2020: Surge capacity and old wells
  • 2021: Integrity and becoming

Parashat Vayetzei

  • 2006: Dreams, vows, and changes (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Wellsprings and dreams
  • 2008: Dream [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Hatch [Torah poem]
  • 2013: God is in this place: short thoughts on Vayetzei
  • 2015: Ladder
  • 2016: Waking Up Again (in People & The Book / The Jerusalem Report)
  • 2016: In this place
  • 2019: The earth in our hands

Parashat Vayishlach

  • 2006: Beyond binaries: Jacob and Israel (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: The meaning of the kiss
  • 2008: Encounter [Torah poem]
  • 2010: Blessing myself
  • 2012: On names and naming
  • 2012: The Face of God
  • 2013: Seeing the wrestle as a blessing
  • 2013: On the silencing of Dinah, and rape culture today
  • 2013: The nighttime wrestle
  • 2014: Alone and not alone
  • 2016: Evolving, like Pokémon (at The Wisdom Daily)
  • 2017: The people who partner with God
  • 2020: Stop and let goodness catch us
  • 2021: Wrestle and stretch
  • 2022: From Dust to Stars

Parashat Vayeshev

  • 2005: The strange soap opera of Vayeshev 
  • 2005: Vayeshev and couture
  • 2006: In dreams begin responsibility (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: In the dark [Torah poem]
  • 2012: For a reason [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Drawing (on) our dreams [Torah poem]
  • 2013: On Joseph and solitary confinement [Torah poem, written for T'ruah's Human Rights Shabbat] [pdf]
  • 2013: The other story in this week's Torah portion: Judah and Tamar
  • 2014: Joseph, falling with style
  • 2017: Joseph's Amazing Technicolor Faith (at My Jewish Learning)
  • 2018: Letting our light shine
  • 2019: On silence, and speaking out, and bringing a better world
  • 2022: From the Bottom of the Well

Parashat Miketz

  • 2006: The treasure of teshuvah (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Unrecognizable [Torah poem]
  • 2012: S'fat Emet on Chanukah and on light
  • 2012: On abundance and dreams
  • 2014: Miketz and Chanukah: letting your light shine
  • 2017: Miketz: Letting yourself dream
  • 2021: Abundance and dreams, resilience and hope: Miketz and Chanukah

Parashat Vayigash

  • 2006: And God descended (Originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Kin [Torah poem]
  • 2013: When we reveal ourselves
  • 2013: (Vayigash / Human Rights Shabbat) Making God Present: Protecting Human Rights
  • 2017: Free to be
  • 2018: Who we reveal ourselves to be
  • 2020: Choosing again

Parashat Vayechi

  • 2007: Carrying our bones (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2009: Instead of sons [Torah poem]
  • 2010: The blessings of Ephraim and Menashe
  • 2012: For a reason [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Deathbed blessings, deathbed curses
  • 2015: A blessing at bedtime
  • 2020: Angels, memory, blessing
  • 2021: The ones who come after
  • 2023: The Promise of Becoming

 

 

SHEMOT / EXODUS

Parashat Shemot

  • 2007: Opening our hearts and our eyes (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2009: Becoming [Torah poem]
  • 2010: Labor [Torah poem]
  • 2010: Seven Miriam Stories [Torah poems] - linked here because Miriam first appears in parashat Shemot, though she is not named until later in the story
  • 2012: Names, and opening our eyes
  • 2013: Choosing to be Ivrim
  • 2013: Moses, love, and light
  • 2015: Crying out, and the possibility of change
  • 2016: On peeling away what protects us from the world
  • 2017: Mission Accepted
  • 2018: Calling Us To Becoming, with Shoshanna Schechter (at Builders Blog, a project of Bayit)
  • 2020: The world is our kin: lessons from Moshe about being an upstander

Parashat Vaera

  • 2007: Plagued (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2009: Charge [Torah poem]
  • 2012: On plagues and hardened hearts
  • 2015: Va'era, freedom, and Martin Luther King
  • 2018: If we will it... (on #HolyWomenHolyLand, #MLK, and hope)
  • 2019: Listening for a new name
  • 2021: Not the end of the story
  • 2023: Our Cup Undrunk for Now (at Builders Blog, coauthored with R. David Evan Markus)
  • 2023: Opening Heart and Soul

Parashat Bo

  • 2006: Seeking compassion (originally published at Radical Torah 
  • 2007: Ready or not (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2009: Offering [Torah poem]
  • 2011: Light and Ready [Torah poems]
  • 2013: Inclusion and service
  • 2014: All of us, bringing our all
  • 2014: The Calling to Serve
  • 2016: Shoes on, shoes off: spiritual journey and Shabbat consciousness
  • 2017: With what we are to serve
  • 2017: Exile and expansiveness
  • 2018: "Come to Pharaoh," and whom we choose to serve
  • 2019: All of Us, Going Forth, On Our Doorposts, Clearing Out: 4 Building Lessons from the Ritual of 4s (at Builders Blog)
  • 2020: To Know God
  • 2022: From smallness to hope

Parashat Beshalach

  • 2006: Reading the song and singing our own (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Water from the rock (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2009: The psalm I sing [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Song for the seventh day
  • 2010: Seven Miriam Stories [Torah poems] - linked here because the Song of the Sea, whch is in this week's Torah portion, figures prominently in this series of poems
  • 2011: Enough [Torah poem]
  • 2017: My strength, balanced with God's song
  • 2019: How can we keep from singing?
  • 2021: I will sing
  • 2023: A Song For Those Coming Through the Sea (Beshalach & Refugee Shabbat)

Parashat Yitro

  • 2006: Earth and whole stones  (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: What is revealed (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2009: The Deal [Torah poem]
  • 2011: Coming Back Down [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Caring for others, caring for ourselves
  • 2013: A Special Transmission at Sinai
  • 2014: Self-care and Tu BiShvat
  • 2017: Yes we said yes we will yes
  • 2020: Community in our hands
  • 2022: One heart: reading Yitro after Colleyville

Parashat Mishpatim

  • 2006: Choosing liberation (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2009: Like a feast [Torah poem]
  • 2015: The angry ox and the Chapel Hill shootings
  • 2016: Like Sapphire
  • 2016: Be There: Mishpatim and presence
  • 2019: Right speech beneath the sapphire sky
  • 2023: (Reproductive) Justice and the Dream of Sky

Parashat Terumah

  • 2006: Weaving parashat Terumah into our lives (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: The place we build for God (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2009: The gifts [Torah poem]
  • 2011: Home [Torah poem]
  • 2012: On gifts, sanctuaries, & hearts
  • 2013: God Dwelling in Us
  • 2015: The Torah of 40
  • 2016: The space between
  • 2017: Dwelling In Us
  • 2017: Face to Face
  • 2018: God in exile, school shootings, and building the mishkan together
  • 2020: Whose heart so moves
  • 2021: The portable ark and perseverance
  • 2022: Four gifts

Parashat Tetzaveh

  • 2006: Holy garments (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Eternal light (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Vestments of beauty
  • 2009: High priest [Torah poem]
  • 2011: A sweet scent before God
  • 2011: Kedushat Levi on Aaron's clothes
  • 2019: Becoming mitzvot, bringing light
  • 2020: Engraved on our hearts
  • 2023: Absence and Presence: Tetzaveh and Shabbat Zachor

Parashat Ki Tisa

  • 2006: A mishkan in time (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: The people, the calf, and Moshe
  • 2009: Re-entry [Torah poem]
  • 2011: God's afterimage, and letting our light shine
  • 2011: The other side of the story [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Cloud of glory: a d'var Torah for chol ha-moed Sukkot
  • 2014: Shabbat, the Golden Calf, and Rest
  • 2014: A ruba'i with bonus Torah commentary
  • 2015: Inspiration
  • 2018: Choose life: what Ki Tisa teaches us about Shabbat
  • 2022: The wilderness of not knowing

Parashat Vayakhel

  • 2006: Perceiving God (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: A home for God among us (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Collaboration [Torah poem]
  • 2016: The space between
  • 2023: A Mishkan of Safety: Vayakhel-Pekudei (at Builders Blog)
  • 2023: To Be In Community: Vayakhel-Pekudei 5783

Parashat Pekudei

  • 2008: Only connect 
  • 2009: Instruction [Torah poem]
  • 2014: On sacred space and cultivating Mystery
  • 2016: Open [Torah poem]

 

VAYIKRA / LEVITICUS

Parashat Vayikra

  • 2006: Unleavened offerings of our hearts (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: The heart of things (originally published at Radical Torah.)
  • 2008: Korban [Torah poem]
  • 2011: Thinking about sacrifice
  • 2013: A sweet scent
  • 2015: Love, Leviticus, and embracing the middle
  • 2016: Collaboration with God: on Torah and bread
  • 2017: What silence conceals and reveals (at My Jewish Learning)
  • 2019: Build for loving balance: fire and water, justice and repair (at Builders Blog)
  • 2019: The details: Vayikra

Parashat Tzav

  • 2006: Priestly ordination: hearing, doing, walking (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Tzav, "Command" [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Red [Torah poem]
  • 2014: Giving thanks in the present moment
  • 2014: Torah-Talk with Shmuel Rosner (video chat about the parsha)
  • 2016: A nation of priests
  • 2018: Hametz, fire, and miracles: a d'var Torah for Shabbat HaGadol
  • 2022: Perpetual fire [Torah poem]

Parashat Shmini

  • 2006: Why innovative prayer isn't strange fire (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Holiness, wildlife, keeping awake (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Vessel [Torah poem] and Brokenness and purity
  • 2009: Clear [Torah poem]
  • 2015: From trauma to healing
  • 2016: Attuning to the Presence
  • 2018: A teaching from Torah on grief and on joy
  • 2020: In the wilderness

Parashat Tazria or Tazria-Metzora

  • 2005: Tricky Torah: taharah and tumah 
  • 2006: Meeting impurity, and being changed 
  • 2007: Health -- and connection with God 
  • 2008: Clean [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Like God [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Revisiting Tazria-Metzora, after death and after birth
  • 2015: Becoming Real: Tazria-Metzora and Being Velveteen
  • 2016: Letting your light shine
  • 2017: Healing and second chances
  • 2020: The treasures hidden in quarantine
  • 2021: Hidden treasure and what comes next
  • 2022: Tazria and What Community is For

Parashat Metzora

  • 2008: On your house [Torah poem]

  • 2014: Plagues, cleansing, and Pesach house-cleaning

  • 2016: Taking the leap: on spiritual housecleaning, the ALEPH Listening Tour, and making the Presence real

Parashat Acharei Mot and Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

  • 2004: Rereading Leviticus 18:22 
  • 2006: Ways to redeem one problematic line (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Naked [Torah poem] and Returning to Mitzrayim (part of the Torah Queeries series at Mosaic / Keshet)
  • 2009: You shall be holy [Torah poem]
  • 2010: On holy community
  • 2012: On loving our neighbors
  • 2019: Counting, listening, becoming: a d'varling for Acharei Mot and the Omer
  • 2019: Communities of safety and repair at Builders Blog
  • 2019: After the death (content warning: synagogue shootings)
  • 2020: After the deaths, holiness (content warning: pandemic)
  • 2022: After (the) death - Yizkor

Parashat Kedoshim

  • 2008: Gevurah [Torah poem]
  • 2017: Because [Torah poem] and Shabbat, renewal, and you
  • 2019: How to be holy: boundaries come first
  • 2019: Holiness lessons
  • 2022: We Live in a Society: Lessons from Kedoshim for Right Now

Parashat Emor

  • 2006: Making our offerings count (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: The bodies we are (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Shall [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Fix [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Holy [Torah poem]
  • 2017: A crack in everything
  • 2018: Perfect Bodies Are Glorified Everywhere... Even in the Torah. (at The Wisdom Daily)
  • 2019: One standard for all at Builders Blog
  • 2019: Making Time Holy

Parashat Behar

  • 2005: Land, labor, liberty 
  • 2006: The importance of tending the earth (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2007: Caretaker [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Borrowed [Torah poem]
  • 2014: Creating liberation; Shavuot; and the Jubilee
  • 2015: God, too, is lonely: a d'var Torah for Behar-Bechukotai

Parashat Bechukotai

  • In most years (e.g. non-leap-years), Behar-Bechukotai is a double portion; these are the divrei Torah written for Bechukotai in years when it was not part of Behar-Bechukotai:

  • 2008: Either/Or [Torah poem]
  • 2012: A Shabbat for the earth
  • 2014: On engraved-pathways and connective-commandments
  • 2016: The spiritual call to empty one's cup
  • 2019: Walking the Walk, with R' Bella Bogart at Builders Blog
  • 2019: The old, the new, and the holy
  • 2019: Walking in God's Paths, Everywhere We Go

 

BAMIDBAR / NUMBERS

Parashat Bamidbar

  • 2006: Portable holiness (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Ways of counting (at Jewess)
  • 2008: Census [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Head by head [Torah poem]
  • 2011: Kedushat Levi on the census as sacred study
  • 2018: Lift up your heads and know that you count
  • 2019: Making Everyone Count at Builders Blog
  • 2020: God, and community, in the space between

Parashat Naso

  • 2006: Jealous bread and bitter water (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Voice [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Nazir [Torah poem]
  • 2012: The things they carried
  • 2014: Rituals, spiritual fidelity, and turning toward God
  • 2021: Going the extra mile

Parashat Beha'alotcha

  • 2006: Offering God compassion (originally published  at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Shine [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Apart [Torah poem]
  • 2010: Seven Miriam Stories [Torah poems] - linked here because the episode where Miriam questions Moshe's primacy and is stricken with tzara'at, which appears in this week's Torah portion, gave rise to part of this poem
  • 2011: Cloud of glory 2 [Torah poem]
  • 2011: A Sermon in Poetry for parashat B'ha-alot'kha (delivered at Temple Beth El and at Temple Chai, San Antonio)
  • 2015: Eldad, Medad, and Reb Zalman's Tisch
  • 2017: Light [Torah poem]
  • 2020: In the cloud

Parashat Shlakh-lekha

  • 2006: Little picture, big picture (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Compassion and fear (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Larger Than Life [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Choose the milk and honey
  • 2013: The scouts, growth, safety, and risk
  • 2016: On the cusp of promise
  • 2019: Boundaries and forgiveness
  • 2021:  Embracing the giant grapes
  • 2022: Land of Promise: Teachings from Shlach for Right Now

Parashat Korach

  • 2006: The hubris of Korach (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Korach: fruitful tension between paradigms (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Bloom [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Fruit [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Korach, privilege, and striving for more
  • 2017: A Failed Rebellion (at My Jewish Learning)
  • 2017: The need for justice to balance love
  • 2020: Wholeness, justice, and peace - a d'varling for Pride Shabbat & Shabbat Korach

Parashat Chukat

  • 2007: Choice and change (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Red heifer [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Water from the rock [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Moshe, the overtired parent
  • 2013: The red heifer, life and death, and the story
  • 2015: Moshe and Joshua, Striking the Rock, and Change
  • 2016: The smith speaks [Torah poem]
  • 2019: Water from the living well
  • 2021: Look upon it, and be healed: vaccinations, Juneteenth, and the copper snake

Parashat Balak

  • 2006: On blessings and curses (originally published  at Radical Torah) 
  • 2007: Prophetic (comedic) speech (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Balak [Torah poem]
  • 2013: What we learn from Balaam about blessing
  • 2018: Wisdom about the refugee crisis… from a talking Biblical donkey (in The Wisdom Daily)
  • 2019: From Tents to Dwellings, at Bayit's Builders Blog
  • 2022: The Messenger We Need

Parashat Pinchas

  • 2006: Transforming violence into peace (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Gut feeling [Torah poem]
  • 2011: Kedushat Levi on the role of the spiritual leader
  • 2013: What we can learn from the daughters of Zelophechad

Parashat Matot

  • 2005: All the vows 
  • 2006: Vows and obligations (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Promises [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Spoils [Torah poem for Matot-Masei]
  • 2011: The Ishbitzer on the power of purifying the imagination
  • 2019: All our vows: on making promises, seeking justice, and taking refuge  (for Matot-Masei)
  • 2020: Wake up: change is coming (for Matot-Masei)

Parashat Masei

  • 2005: Borders and land 
  • 2008: Downside [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Redeeming the instructions to displace and destroy (for Matot-Masei)

 

DVARIM / DEUTERONOMY

Parashat Devarim

  • 2008: Travelogue [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Record [Torah poem]
  • 2014: Listening to the holy space between
  • 2019: Building Lessons from D'varim (with R' Bella Bogart at Bayit's Builders Blog)
  • 2020: Who's to Blame?
  • 2022: Who Are We? Lessons from D'varim for Now

Parashat Vaetchanan

  • 2006: Finite language, infinite truth  (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Image [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Promise [Torah poem]
  • 2022: The Mitzvah: Lessons from Va'etchanan for Now

Parashat Eikev

  • 2005: Abundance and retribution 
  • 2006: What we crave  (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Callus [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Not by bread [Torah poem]2
  • 2016: When Life Feels Like A Wilderness (published at The Wisdom Daily)
  • 2017: Eat, be satisfied, and bless
  • 2019: Plant a tree: on action, compassion, and bringing repair
  • 2020: Reading Eikev through the lens of covid-19

Parashat Re'eh

  • 2005: Thoughts on kashrut 
  • 2006: The God we know  (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Not empty-handed [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Ear [Torah poem]
  • 2012: Blessing and curse

Parashat Shoftim

  • 2006: Turning potential into reality (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Beat [Torah poem]
  • 2009: The place [Torah poem]
  • 2016: Balancing judgement with love
  • 2016: Pursue justice so that you may truly live (at T'ruah: the Rabbinic Call for Human Rights)
  • 2018: Pursue [Torah poem]
  • 2019: Pursuing justice

Parashat Ki Teitzei

  • 2006: Relationship, work, and self (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Harvest [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: How they spent their 'God of Carnage' vacation [Torah poem]
  • 2014: On right relationship with each other
  • 2016: Words we can't un-say
  • 2022: Ki Tetze: Who Do We Choose to Be?

Parashat Ki Tavo

  • 2006: Harvest blessings  (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Blessed [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Inscription [Torah poem]
  • 2013: Practices from Ki Tavo for entering a new phase of life
  • 2015: When we reach the place of promise
  • 2017: The Stranger in Our Midst: Ki Tavo and Dreamers
  • 2018: What we choose to serve
  • 2020: Blessing and cures in pandemic times

Parashat Nitzavim

  • 2006: In your mouth and in your heart (originally published at Radical Torah)
  • 2008: Secrets [Torah poem] 
  • 2009: Milk [Torah poem]
  • 2014: Returning in love

Parashat Vayeilech

  • In 2006 and 2007 and 2009 and 2014, Nitzavim-Vayeilech was a double portion, so: see Nitzavim!

  • 2008: This poem [Torah poem]
  • 2016: Be strong and open your heart
  • 2018: Revising the Poem
  • 2019: Keystones: Great for Buildings, Not for Relationships (at Builders Blog)

Parashat Ha'Azinu

  • 2006: Walking the walk (originally published at Radical Torah) 
  • 2008: Asymptote [Torah poem]
  • 2009: Recording [Torah poem]
  • 2019: Mission Statement: Listen. Remember. Connect. Build. (with R' Bella Bogart, at Builders Blog)
  • 2020: Wake Up! - a d'varling for Shabbat Shuvah

Parashat V'Zot HaBrakhah

  • 2008: Mobius [Torah poem]

 


 

The Book of Esther

2009: The end of Esther

2011: Hidden [Torah poem]

2013: Purim Pantoum [Torah poem]

 

The Book of Judges

2012: Judges Tryptich: Devorah, Jael, Yiftach's Daughter [Torah poems]

 

The Book of Ruth

2007: Returning where we've never been

2011: The handmaid's tale [Torah poem]

2012: The one who turned back [Torah poem]

 

Amos

2012:  Subterranean [Torah poem]

 

Ezra

2012: Construction [Torah poem]

 

Isaiah

2012: We find God when we bring comfort: a d'var Torah for parashat Nachamu

 

Jonah

2012: In the Belly of the Whale

2013: We are Jonah [Torah poem]

 

I Samuel

2014: The story of Chanah [poem]

 

Zechariah

2016: On being enough, the "inner accuser," and letting our light shine

Crossing-small
Crossing the Sea
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Texts to the Holy
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Open My Lips
Waiting-small
Waiting to Unfold
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