Rabbi Seth Farber Former Maimonides School Faculty Member The  Torah ’s term for chaos is תֹּהוּ וָבֹהוּ,  tohu vavohu,  and to a certain extent, the entire thrust of the  Torah  is meant to respond to chaos—particularly the chaos created by war—by infusing the world with life and  kedusha .   Parshat Pikudei  highlights Judaism’s approach to war in a unique way. After the  Mishkan  has been erected, Moshe commands that the  aron , which contains the broken  luchot , be brought into its innermost chamber. The  aron  reflects the place of G-d’s divine presence in the Holy of Holies. In many respects the  aron , along with the  keruvim  perched upon it, recalls the Garden of Eden—a place that G-d created to respond to chaos, a place where G-d’s presence also rested. In fact, there were  keruvim  in the Garden of Eden.   Given its intense holiness, one might have expected that the  aron...

Rabbi Scott Kahn ('88) Parshat Vayakhel  describes the building of the  Mishkan , and the admirable zeal of the Children of Israel in working on and donating to the cause of creating a dwelling place for the  Shechina . Indeed, the  Midrash Tanna Devei Eliyah u metaphorically describes G-d as almost "worrying" that the Children of Israel would not donate generously to the  Mishkan , and being pleasantly surprised by their complete willingness to comply: Once Israel joyfully accepted the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and said, "All that Hashem says we will do and we will listen," the Holy One, blessed be He immediately told Moshe to tell Israel to make a Mishkan, as it says, "Speak to the Children of Israel... that they should make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell in their midst." At that time the Holy One, blessed be He said in His heart that perhaps the Children of Israel will not bring their gifts before Me, and perhaps will say regarding the On...

Rachel Levitt Klein Dratch ('90) Whenever people told me they’d be visiting Maimonides, I always urged them to find Mike Rosenberg  z”l  if they wanted to fall in love with the school… and then, with a grin, I would say that one of the things I was most proud of was that Mike had a picture of me hanging in his office. Not because of the picture, but because Mike thought I was worth celebrating. What a giant of a wonderful man who made others feel seen. I feel blessed that we had the pleasure to know him. This  d’var Torah  is for him.   I now live in Jerusalem, having made  aliyah  a year and a half ago, and while you in the States will have  Purim  on Friday, we in Jerusalem are experiencing a weird sort of four-day  Purim  season with  megillah  reading on Thursday evening,  matanot la’evyonim  on Friday,  Al Hanisim  on  Shabbat , and the  seudah  and  mishloach manot  on Sun...

Leora Taub 2024-25 Maimonides Fellow In the first few פרשיות of ספר שמות, we experience many of the most foundational events in the תורה. After leaving Egypt, בני ישראל experience  Hashem 's revelation like never before as He presents the עשרת הדברות, the ten most fundamental components of our faith. Following this, in פרשת משפטים we learn many everyday laws that are extremely important to our ability to function regularly and adjust to life outside of slavery. So it is surprising when in פרשת תרומה the  Torah  shifts to discussing the משכן and its כלים, and when in this week’s פרשת תצוה we learn about the בגדי כהונה and מזבח. While these are clearly important aspects of our ’עבודת ה, it doesn't seem integral and immediate that we must learn these details and build a temporary place for  Hashem  before entering ארץ ישראל and building a permanent בית המקדש.   Furthermore, this week is פרשת זכור which describes our  Torah  obligation to remember and...

Rabbi David Shapiro Former Maimonides Principal and Limudei Kodesh Teacher This week we begin reading the series of  parshiyot  describing the construction of the  Mishkan  and the ceremonial clothing of the  kohanim . Our  mesorah  emphasizes that each and every  pasuk  in the  Torah  has eternal relevance to our daily lives. What practical teachings are contained in these  parshiyot  that we can implement, even though we unfortunately no longer have the privilege of the  Beit HaMikdash  in our lives?   Chazal in the  Gemara , and many biblical commentators over the centuries, have suggested symbolic meanings for the individual objects used in the  Mishkan  and the  Beit HaMikdash , and for the religious ceremonies performed within them. Let us focus on one example from  Parshat Terumah  which expresses the religious philosophy of our school, and the challenge that each of us, ...

Rabbi David Ehrenkranz Upper School  Limudei Kodesh  Teacher There are different metaphors that Chazal use to describe our relationship with G-d, which can be found throughout our liturgy (e.g. father and child,  Avinu;  king and servant,  Malkeinu;  older brother and younger sister, see the  Piyut “Achot Ketana”),  but the relationship of husband and wife – which originates from the transformative event of the giving of the  Torah  in this week’s  parsha  – is uniquely precarious compared to those other relationships.   Yirmiyahu says אָכֵ֛ן בָּֽגְדָ֥ה אִשָּׁ֖ה מֵֽרֵעָ֑הּ כֵּ֣ן בְּגַדְתֶּ֥ם בִּ֛י בֵּ֥ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל נְאֻם־הֹ, “Truly, as a woman betrays her beloved, so have you betrayed Me, O house of Israel, says the L-rd.” Yet Chazal emphasize that this relationship is the one that is manifested at the time of the giving of the  Torah .   As it says in the last  Mishnah  of  Masechet Ta’anit, ...

Rabbi Mordechai Wecker Former Maimonides Principal and  Limudei Kodesh  Teacher Why do we recite  Az Yashir  in  Pesukei d’Zimrah?  The introductory  bracha  of  Baruch Sh’Amar  reads, “and with the songs of Dovid Your servant we will extol You.” Yet  Az Yashir,  which commemorates the miraculous deliverance of the Jewish people from the Egyptian army when the waters parted at the Sea of Reeds, obviously predates Dovid  HaMelech  by many centuries!   Obviously, the song of Moshe –  Az Yashir  – did not originally form part of  Pesukei d’Zimrah.  Rambam writes, “There are localities where it is customary every day to read the song of Moshe after the  bracha  of  Yishtabach.”  Again, we are faced with the question of its incorporation into  Pesukei d’Zimrah.   Nefesh HaRav adds, “The Song of the Sea, however, was obviously not composed by Dovid  HaMelech . Our ...