Velveteen Rabbi: Velveteen Rabbi's Torah Commentary

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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
2023: Touching Eternity

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
2023: Ready to Receive

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

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
2023: Taking Turns Holding Hope

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)
2023: The Journeys (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
2023: If We Build

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
2023: Return to Your Heart

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
2023: If We Had to Choose

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