Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

April 29, 2026

How Jewish Law Is Made (Parashat Emor 5782)

This was my D’var Torah on Parashat Emor in 2022/5782. Our parasha describes the case of a fight between two men, and for some reason it’s worth mentioning that one of them had an Egyptian father and an Israelite mother, and the other had two Israelite parents, and in the middle of the fight the… Continue reading

Conservative Judaism, Current Affairs, Emor, Equality, Halacha, Justice, Parashat Hashavua, Torah, USA
April 29, 2026

Sterling Bans Silver For Life (Parashat Emor 5774)

This is the D’var Torah I gave for Parashat Emor in 2014/5774. How is this for a news headline from the week: “Silver Bans Sterling for Life.” That’s from NBA.com, the official website of professional basketball. Usually, “sterling” is the most refined kind of silver, but this week it’s been the opposite. Sterling is Donald… Continue reading

Civil Rights, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Emor, Ethics, History, Inclusion, Leadership, Parashat Hashavua, Torah, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth

Sports
April 24, 2026

The Name in the Holy of Holies — What the Yom Kippur Ritual Teaches About Words

This is my D’var Torah for April 25, 2026, Parashiyyot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, particularly chapters 16 and 19 of Leviticus. (If you’re reading it right away, I have to go and fix up where italics go to make it easier to read.) Imagine a world where the more important a word was, the harder it was… Continue reading

Acharei Mot, Kedoshim, Lashon Hara, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Speech Ethics, Torah, Yom Kippur
April 17, 2026

Make Me a Kohen (Tazria-Metzora 5786)

Here is the draft of my D’var Torah for April 18, 2026, Parashiyot Tazria-Metzora. Mr. Feldman comes to see the rabbi one day, and he says: Rabbi, I’d like you to make me a kohen. The rabbi says: That’s not something I can do. You either are a kohen or you’re not a kohen. Feldman… Continue reading

Ethics, Gratitude, Lashon Hara, Metzora, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Tazria, Torah
March 11, 2026

Breadman, and What Rising Bread Taught Me About Our Inflated Selves

This was my D’var Torah for Shabbat Hachodesh, the Shabbat before the beginning of the month when Pesach occurs, in 5769 (2009). It’s one of my favorites! On Shabbat Hachodesh, we read from Exodus 12 about the preparations for the original Pesach in Egypt. A couple weeks ago, our bread maker gave up the ghost. … Continue reading

Calendar, Exodus, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, Holidays, Middot, Pesach, Shabbat Hachodesh
January 28, 2026

What Is a Miracle?

This is the D’var Torah I gave on Parashat Beshalach, including the crossing of the Sea of Reeds into freedom, in 5773 (2013). One day, little Noah comes home from Religious School, and his mother asks him what he learned. Noah says: Today we were learning about how the Israelites left Egypt. His mother says: … Continue reading

Beshalach, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Exodus, Parashat Hashavua, Torah
January 14, 2026

Exodus Is the Foundation of Everything (Parashat Shmot 5786)

This was my D’var Torah on Shabbat for Parashat Shmot, January 10, 2026. It has been a week, from Iran to Venezuela to my hometown the Twin Cities. And it has also been the week of Parashat Shmot, the opening of the book of Exodus, the most important book in human history. If you have… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Books, Current Affairs, Equality, Exodus, Freedom, Holidays, Parashat Hashavua, Pesach, Shmot, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
January 6, 2026

Love Is a Form of Sweet Labor (Parashat Shmot 5779)

This was my D’var Torah for Parashat Shmot in 5779 just before New Year’s, at the turn of 2018 into 2019. I have come to love the hinge between the book of Bereshit (Genesis) and the book of Shmot (Exodus). The sense of something coiled up and about to uncoil. My rav at the Seminary,… Continue reading

Calendar, Love, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Torah
January 6, 2026

Brotherhood, Evolving (Parashat Shmot, MLK Weekend 5783/2023)

This is excerpted and adapted from a D’var Torah I gave in January 2023, when MLK Weekend began on Shabbat with Parashat Shmot, the opening reading in the book of Exodus. Here I’ve omitted the (long) opening, which is very similar to most of the other words I have posted about those opening chapters of… Continue reading

Civil Rights, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Equality, Ethics, Exodus, History, Inclusion, Justice, MLK Day, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Shmot, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
January 1, 2026

Carrying on After the Golden Age (Parashat Vayechi)

I wrote this D’var Torah in the early 2000s originally for a Jewish website called socialaction.com, whose weekly Torah teachings I helped edit and sometimes wrote. All of that content including this teaching is now at myjewishlearning.com, which you should make sure to have bookmarked for all things Jewish. This is about Parashat Vayechi, the… Continue reading

Civil Rights, Current Affairs, Parashat Hashavua, Tzedek, Vayechi, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
December 31, 2025

Across the Generations (Parashat Vayechi 5785)

This is the D’var Torah I gave for Parashat Vayechi, the last reading in Genesis, on January 11, 2025. This is an original first album of Peter, Paul and Mary from 1962. Does anyone else here have one of these? I would say if you listed the release years of the music that was played… Continue reading

Education, History, Jewish Education, Parashat Hashavua, Serach bat Asher, Torah, Vayechi, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
December 25, 2025

Not a Christian Nation, Mr. Vice President, But Yours and Mine

I published this post on Facebook on December 22. 2025, to much positive reception, so I am posting it here too. Sometime around when my family was lighting our last Chanukkah candles last night, the Vice President of the United States proclaimed in a speech at the Turning Point USA convention that the United States… Continue reading

Calendar, Chanuka, Chanukkah, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Freedom, History, Holidays, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Leadership, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult