Rabbi Leora

Community Torah

Oct 16, 20238 min read

Silence is not an option

Shabbat Beresheit Oh beloveds. What can I even say? It feels so hard to talk. I’m sad, and scared. I am angry and grieving. I’m...

Oct 1, 202311 min read

On Making a Makom Kavua

Yom Kippur 5784 In the city of Budapest, the Great Synagogue is on Dohany Street. It is the largest synagogue in Europe, with seats for...

Sep 20, 202310 min read

Hayom Harat Olam: Continuity, Possibility, and Creativity on a Changing Planet

Rosh Hashana 5784 The Jewish musician Eliana Light has a song for Rosh Hashana that goes like this: Hayom Hayom Harat olam Happy birthday...

Sep 19, 20219 min read

L’dor va dor: Becoming blessings to one another in multigenerational community

Yom Kippur 5782 When I was growing up, my family belonged to a Conservative synagogue in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We didn’t always feel...

Sep 10, 20218 min read

Teshuva: Healing what is broken, building toward what is whole

Rosh Hashanah 5782 Hi. (Deep breath.) Shana tova. We got here. I’m a rabbi - getting to Rosh Hashana always feels like a feat. But this...

Sep 22, 202010 min read

Sometimes it’s too much

Spiritual leadership in times of crisis This is not the drashah that I planned to give this morning. There has been so much build-up to...

Jul 30, 20207 min read

Parshat Va’etchanan, Shabbat Nachamu

I have a lot of respect for the psychological movement of the Jewish calendar, and it is an important part of my personal spiritual...

Jul 16, 20207 min read

Parshat Maasei

I got a text message this week from a young person who belongs to the congregation in Attleboro where I used to be the rabbi. She wrote,...

Jul 10, 20206 min read

On Belonging

Parashat Pinchas As many of you know, I also work as a hospice chaplain. One of the core tools in a chaplains’ toolkit is a spiritual...

Jul 1, 20203 min read

A Message from Our Rabbi

Dear Chavraya, I write those words, dear chavraya, with humility and hope. Nehar Shalom Community Synagogue has been a precious place of...