Rabbi Steven Abraham

“You shall proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants” (Leviticus 25:10). If you've ever visited Philadelphia, you may have seen this verse engraved on the Liberty Bell. It's one of the few pieces of Torah that sits at the heart of American iconography. But most people have no idea that it comes from Parshat Behar, or what the surrounding context actually is. The verse comes from the laws of the Jubilee year—a once-in-a-generation reset, when land is returned to its … [Read more...]

There’s a moment in the 2000 film Keeping the Faith that lingers long after the credits roll. Rabbi Jake Schram, played by Ben Stiller, confesses to his mother that he’s in love with his childhood best friend, Anna—smart, kind, accomplished… and not Jewish. Her response isn’t loud. It’s quiet. Devastating. “Nobody wants this,” she says. Just five words. No shouting. No drama. But within that sentence lives generations of fear—fear of assimilation, of rupture, of continuity lost. “Nobody wants … [Read more...]

The emergence of Project Esther, a campaign launched by the Heritage Foundation in the wake of escalating campus protests over Israel and Gaza, demands a careful, unflinching response from those of us who live at the intersection of Jewish leadership, moral conviction, and communal responsibility. While it presents itself as a defense of Jewish students and a safeguard against antisemitism, its underlying strategies and motivations raise serious concerns—not only about the integrity of the fight … [Read more...]

Coaching isn’t just for people in crisis. In fact, many who seek it out are doing well by most measures—successful careers, functioning relationships, and stable lives. And yet, beneath the surface, something feels off. Not broken. Not catastrophic. Just quietly misaligned. Productivity is high, but purpose feels distant. There’s connection, but not intimacy. Stability, but not aliveness. This is where coaching can be most powerful. It’s not about fixing problems or offering advice. It’s … [Read more...]

People come to Shabbat morning services for all kinds of reasons—prayer, tradition, community, or just a quiet moment in a noisy week. But what happens after the service is just as important. Maybe even more so. Because the heart of Shabbat is not only found in the sanctuary—it’s in the lingering. The slowing down. The unhurried hours that follow Kiddush, when there’s nowhere to be but here, and nothing to do but be together. There is a holiness to Shabbat that most people recognize: the … [Read more...]

“Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” —Bryan Stevenson That one sentence contains more theology than most sermons. It is also one of the most urgent moral claims Judaism makes—especially now. We live in a culture that is often quicker to condemn than to restore. A single error, a wrong word, a poorly phrased joke, a tweet from 2009—these can be enough to exile a person from public space, often without conversation, without process, and without the possibility of … [Read more...]

In a world where so many are pulled to extremes—politically, emotionally, spiritually—I find myself searching for the the quiet wisdom of the middle path. Not the path of apathy or compromise, but of integration. Of balance. Of walking the road with both conviction and compassion. In the Jewish tradition, we call this derekh ha-emtsa’i—the golden mean. But it turns out we are not the only tradition to name this wisdom. Ram Dass—born Richard Alpert, once a Harvard psychologist and later a … [Read more...]

In Parashat Behar, God says something that would upend every modern real estate contract: “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is Mine; you are but strangers and sojourners with Me” (Leviticus 25:23). It’s one of the most radical lines in the Torah—and one of the most ignored. We live in a world obsessed with ownership. We speak in the language of possession: my house, my land, my money, my time. From mortgages to markets, we are trained to see value in permanence, in … [Read more...]

There is something deeply human—and deeply holy—about a boundary. We are born into limits: the first breath we take is bounded by lungs that can only hold so much air. The arc of a life, however long or brief, is marked by time we cannot extend. And yet, in our modern culture, limits are often viewed as problems to solve, obstacles to transcend, reminders of frailty rather than signals of sanctity. Parshat Emor is, on its surface, a parasha of limits. It outlines who may serve in the … [Read more...]

This week, I spent the afternoon with one of the wisest members of our community. She’s in her mid-80s now—sharp, gracious, calm—and the kind of mature that can only come from living through decades of both beauty and heartbreak. Not wise in the performative sense. Not the kind of person who dominates a room with her opinion. But wise in the way that truly matters: unflappable, rooted, generous with silence. I’m not sure I can adequately put into words how blessed I felt after sitting with … [Read more...]