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This D’var Torah is humbly and loyally dedicated in the memory of my ROTC instructor, teacher, mentor, and most importantly, friend, Colonel Jason Lafferty (U.S. Army, Retired) who sadly died on June 23, 2025 at the age of 50 and after a sustained battle with leukemia. In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) we are told by Rabbi Yose ben Yoezer: “Let thy house be a house of meeting for the Sages and sit in the very dust of their feet, and drink in their words with thirst.” (*Pirkei Avot 1:4). Every time I spoke with COL Lafferty I learned something new from him and was a richer man for it. Zichrono Livracha- May COL Lafferty’s memory be for a blessing, and may God comfort his beloved family in this time of profound sadness and mourning. Continuity- Why America and Judaism are still here Shabbat Shalom and Happy 4th! I […]

The Art of Followership Shabbat Shalom! I hope this finds you all well. British field marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery is purported to have said, “Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.”[1] When one thinks of leaders one imagines titans of industry like Andrew Carnegie, the Dodge brothers, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, presidents like Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt (TR and FDR), Reagan, and Trump; civil rights giants like Rosa Parks, Thurgood Marshall, Mahatma Gandhi, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Martin Luther King, Jr.; monarchs like Queen Elizabeth II; world leaders like Churchill, Ben Gurion, and Golda Meir, coaches like Vince Lombardi and Bill Belichick; explorers like Lewis and Clark; and military commanders like Nelson, Patton, Bradley, Chesty Puller, Moshe Dayan, and Schwarzkopf. We are fascinated by famous leaders. We want to know and intimately understand […]

As an American family, this D’var Torah is dedicated in loving memory of US Army Staff Sgt. Saul Fabian Gonzalez, Sgt. 1st Class Emmett Wilfred Goodridge Jr., and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Dustin K. Wright who died in the service of our country and defense of our nation in recent days. As Am Yisrael, the Jewish family, this D’var Torah is devoted in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel who have been under constant attack on multiple fronts. And, as a Beth El family, this D’var Torah is humbly dedicated to the memory of Carol Lorraine Smith and Barry Katz. May God Comfort the Smith and Katz families among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. Shabbat Shalom! I pray this finds you all well. In the incredible 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams, which details the life and career of our nation’s second president, there is a dramatic scene […]

This D’var is humbly and lovingly dedicated to our brothers and sisters in Israel, and to our brave American service members stationed throughout the Middle East. May the Holy One Blessed Be He shelter and protect them, and lead them to both righteous victory and everlasting peace. Shabbat Shalom! I pray this finds you all well. I remember it like it was yesterday – I was in the ER about 20 years ago with a pretty bad case of food poisoning and needed a couple of IV’s. In the next room, there was this man, screaming, yelling, and verbally abusing the nurses. When the nurse came in, my Mom (z”l) and I asked if everything was ok. “Oh yes, everything’s fine. The patient in the next room is detoxing and this is just part of it.” I’m so proud of what Mom said next: “He might not be in a […]