Dvar Torah
Here you will find essays of varying lengths offered as divrei Torah for the weekly Torah portions, festivals, and special commemorative dates. The pieces are framed as a dialogue with classical sources, engage the discipline of Jewish thought (Makhshevet Yisrael), and converse with contemporary poetic texts.
Ahead of the activity week of Israeli Rabbinate, dedicated this year to the theme “Torah, Leadership, and Choice,” Rabbanit Sarah wrote about the frustrating reality of the past six months: it has simply been impossible—for both men and women—to register for the Halachic examinations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. This situation began not long […]
Sukkot falls on October 7—calendars collide. In Riverdale I shared a dvar Torah holding mixed emotions and the urgent longing for the hostages’ return.
As Moses steps down, he blesses Joshua with courage. Read in the Ten Days of Repentance, Vayelech stirs us to choose wisely—between life and death, blessing and curse.
Tracing nearness and distance—Torah not in heaven nor beyond the sea—reflecting on pain since Oct. 7 and on hope for renewal and healing.
Parashat Ki Tavo column in Times of Israel: hearts, eyes, and ears opened anew—between collective trauma and a search for light and hope as Deuteronomy and the Hebrew year draw to a close.
Biblical teachings on not ignoring suffering applied to social ostracism in schools, featuring poetry and the Kanfei Dror intervention method.
This article explores the gap between halakhic exemption of minors from mourning and their lived grief, proposing Jewish rituals for bereaved children—tragically urgent since October 7.
Dvar Torah on Parashat Re'eh 5785: Choosing between blessing and curse, Levinas' "difficult freedom," individual and collective responsibility.
Dvar Torah for Parashat Eikev 5785: On life alongside rupture, the connection between physical break and spiritual tear, and living with memory.
929’s Kabbalat Shabbat reflected on Zelophehad’s daughters, vows, memory, and a new ruling granting women halakhic exams—between fracture and hope.
Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz joined 929’s Israeli Kabbalat Shabbat with Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau and live music, sharing insights on Parashat Vayishlach and Dinah.
How do we find words when words are kidnapped? Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz on yearning for clarity amid fog, choosing to let light grow from within
Dvar Torah on Parashat Tazria 5784: On feminist reading of "purity and impurity", women's testimonies in niddah laws, and religious feminism.
On the wilderness journey as life metaphor, God's presence in the cloud, dealing with difficulties, and communal responsibility to ease others' burdens.