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The Liberty Bell in Philadelphia has inspired countless visitors for generations. In the American psyche it represents much more than independence of the original thirteen colonies from Great [...]

Leviticus 22:1-2 – “And God spoke to Moses, saying: Instruct Aaron and his sons to be scrupulous about the sacred donations that the Israelite people consecrate to Me, lest they profane My [...]

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,   וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָֹ֖ה אֶל־משֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, [...]

Perhaps the most important test of a real community is how it handles differences, particularly the ones that are difficult to understand and may feel threatening. This week’s Torah portion [...]

You may have heard a joke that goes something like this: God: Do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk. (first found in Exodus 23:19) Moses: OK, God, so keep all meat food away from all dairy food? [...]

As a child, one of my favorite Jewish stories was “The Letter and the Crown” by Ted Gross, which retold a midrash called Otiot de-Rabbi Akiba (“The Letters of Rabbi Akiba”) about the [...]

Hopefully by now you know a little bit about Matan’s Dvar Torah Project. We are sharing a weekly dvar torah (word of torah) on this blog that links the parasha (torah portion) to disability [...]

No Torah portion stresses the potential of each human being’s contribution to the community more than Vayekhel. Filled with details of the desert Tabernacle’s trimmings, embellishments, and [...]

Like many people who are committed to inclusion, I like to share success stories. I like to talk about synagogues working to make their buildings more accessible or share stories about rabbis who [...]

Professor Ze’ev Maghen, chairperson of the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at Bar-Ilan University, in his book: John Lennon and the Jews (2011) imagines a scene of two lovers about to be [...]