Parashat Shoftim / Elul 5785 / Aug 29
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Remembering What We Have Forgotten

As if torah wants us to know everyone forgets
You can be a moral paragon, God can lovingly respond to every single one of your texts, 
You can be the first patriarch of the entire jewish project and still it does not matter
We all forget sometimes 
We forget who we are and how needed we are by God
The question is what we do once we realize we have forgotten

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Pinchas / July 18
Rabbi Noa Kushner
צְאִי־לָךְ בְּעִקְבֵי הַצֹּאן / "Follow the tracks of the flock”: Moses, Fear and Death 

Moses' central question is no longer 
"מִי אָנֹכִי?” / “Who am I?” Or, How can all these things ever be accomplished through me? 
But rather, “What about them?”
"Who will take care of them?”
"What will happen to them after I am gone?

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Beha’alotcha / June 14
Rabbi Noa Kushner
What Needs Saving: Iran, Israel, and Us 

If it is shabbat, and there is a fire
What is the minimum amount of Torah a person would need to save
That is, what is the minimum amount of letters a person should override shabbat
That is, break shabbat to go and save?

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Emor
May 16 – On the occasion of the celebration of our new siddur with honored guests from around the world
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Return to Eden

Before there was anything
Or any one of us 
There was a garden
God created a garden 
The garden of Eden 
And it is this garden 
To which we can still return

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Beshalach / Passover Day 7 / April 19
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Not to Ruin What Was New and to Repair What Was Old

This kind of event happened to me, actually to Asher and me, to us, in Jerusalem 
It was an experience so simple and holy I am reluctant to give it words 

But I cannot start here, for in order for you to understand I have to start earlier

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Vayakhel / Mar 21
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Maybe We Should Pray

In that moment we just asked for something beyond what we knew, 
from a source, from a God, in whom we did not yet believe

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Terumah / Mar 1
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Wanted: God-in-Residence

You see, the rabbis don’t have the same sensibility as many of us today
They are not trying to sell participation in the Jewish project with pretty websites, trendy tie-ins and/or free trips

They are actually trying to discern who is ready to be a part of this "building a holy place” project
It is so serious, see, and so important
Nothing less than our collectively making room for God
For holiness in our world
That it requires some thought

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Mishpatim / Feb 21
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Losing Our Song of Songs

But if you are ready 
Without negating your own pain, 
Whatever side you think you’re on, 
I beg you, I beg us all, to consider recognizing the pain of another, the other
Not in a casual, it’s-all-the-same-pain-way, it really isn’t
Not in a way that absolves grown adults of responsibility 
Not in a distanced, American, utilitarian, check-the-box way either — 

But in a way that expands what you thought you were capable of 
A way I believe is given to us by God 

→ Click here to read + listen to the full drash

Parashat Vayechi / Jan 11
Rabbi Noa Kushner
Stealing From Yourself

We usually imagine ourselves as Joseph, the protagonist 
Talented and beloved, well accessorized and victimized — 
But it seems to me Torah wants us to see we can also be like these brothers 
Who, through force or commerce or both 
Push Joseph out of their frame of vision 
Reinforcing the idea that there is not enough love to go around 

→Click here to read + listen to the full drash