Building the Temple
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah: K’doshim: Loving Your Neighbor
This week in parashat K'doshim, Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, wonders: who is your neighbor? Can you love them even if they are not like you? If—and when—you do, can it change your life and even someone else’s?
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah: Emor: Justice and Balance in Modern Times
This week Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, speaks about parashat Emor and asks: how do you enact justice in modern times to make the world more balanced? And how do you elevate the receiver -- not your own self, the giver?
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah: B'har: Social Justice to the Extreme
This week Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, teaches about parashat B'har and wonders: what would social justice to the extreme look like, and did the Torah know to teach it thousands of years ago?
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah – Va-eira: What Do We Really Think About God?`
In the opening lines of this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Va-eira of the Book of Exodus, Moses meets God for the first time.
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah – Sh'mot: Putting Faith into Action
Happy 2018! In our first episode of the secular new year, Rabbi Rick Jacobs welcomes guest host and friend Reverend Frederick A. Davie, Executive Vice President of Union Theological Seminary. Together, they discuss parashat Sh’mot and our individual capacity to drive change in the world.
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah -- Bo: Fighting for Freedom
Parashat Bo features the four famous words, "let my people go,” a refrain for countless communities seeking freedom.
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Nitzavim: Why Organ Donation is Jewish
Parashat Nitzavim features the phrase “choose life,” but what does it mean to choose life? One way of choosing life is by becoming an organ donor. Rabbi Jacobs discusses why this lifesaving choice is part of his Jewish values in this episode of On the Other Hand.
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah – T'rumah: Building a Sacred Space
Parashat T'ruma describes building a mishkan, a sacred space, and the first central praying place in Jewish life. People were asked to give both their skills and their material possessions to build it, and together they created something both beautiful and portable.