UMJC

10/16/2026

Weekly Torah commentary preview:

First Things First
Parashat Noach, Genesis 6:9–11:32
By Chaim Dauermann

Parashat Noach is one of the most familiar portions of the Torah. The story of Noah and the ark transcends its religious context. It is known throughout the world. The imagery is memorable: the animals entering the ark, the floodwaters rising, the ark coming to rest, and Noah sending out birds to determine whether dry land had appeared. But in some ways, the most interesting part of Noah’s story begins after the best-known elements of the story have taken place, after the ark has come to rest and Noah steps back onto dry ground. Genesis 8 tells us that God commanded Noah to leave the ark with his family and all the animals that had been preserved with him”

Read the full text at UMJC.org/commentary

09/24/2026

Weekly Torah Commentary preview, by Rabbi Jude. The full text is available at UMJC.org/commentary.

"Sukkot: The Lord Dwells with Us
Sukkot 5787, Leviticus 22:26-23:44

Sukkot arrives each year as the last of the fall holidays, the last of the appointed times found in Leviticus chapter 23, and the last of the Shalosh Regalim, the three pilgrimage festivals. While it would be impossible to explore in depth all of the rich spiritual significance and meaning of this holiday, I hope to touch on some key points: the joy of Sukkot, the idea of Hashem dwelling with us, and how Sukkot is a fulfillment and redemption holiday. Within all of these points, we will see a picture of our Messiah Yeshua.

The Joy of Sukkot
In ancient Israel, the people were farmers whose livelihood was tied to a good harvest season. Sukkot falls at the time of the final harvest and is the season of ingathering, when you reap what you have sowed all season. We sing Psalm 118 during this time, which says, “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good!” We wave the four species – the lulav, hadas, aravah and etrog (branches of palm, myrtle and willow, plus a citron) – which symbolize the harvest and our thanksgiving and worship of the Lord. As we remember our ancestors’ harvest at this time of year, we can imagine how joyous it was for them to reap what they had sown. In fact, one of the many names for this holiday is Z’man Simchatenu – the time of our joy.

During the time of the Second Temple, there was a ritual called the water-pouring or libation ceremony. "

09/15/2026

09/10/2026

Wishing our Union congregations a Chag Sameach!

09/03/2026

Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech, Deuteronomy 29:9 – 31:30

Weekly Torah commentary by Rabbi David Tokajer

“Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech takes us to one of the Torah’s most moving moments. Israel stands on the plains of Moab, with the wilderness behind and the Promised Land ahead. Moses, who led them from Egypt, knows he will not cross the Jordan with them. And his opening words are significant: “You are standing today, all of you, before Adonai your God” (Deuteronomy 29:9).

The Hebrew word nitzavim means more than just being present. It suggests standing firmly, being established, and being set in place. Israel stands before Adonai as a covenant people.

Notice who is present: leaders, elders, officials, men, women, children, and even the strangers living among them. Everyone is included in this covenant moment. Even more, Moses says the covenant is made “not with you alone” but also “with whomever is standing here with us today before Adonai our God and with whomever is not here with us today” (Deuteronomy 29:13-14).

This means the covenant always extends beyond the current generation. We inherit a story that started before us, and we are called to pass it on to people we may never meet.”

Continue reading at UMJC.org/commentary

09/02/2026

Check out the September Newsletter, your source for upcoming events, congregational reports, and more.
https://mailchi.mp/umjc/septembernewsletter

08/31/2026

We've got an exciting lineup of upcoming events, including the West Region Gathering outside of LA. For the full list and registration details, see https://mailchi.mp/umjc/upcomingevents2026

08/27/2026

This week's Torah portion is Parashat Ki Tavo, from Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8. The commentary is by Rabbi Ira Brawer and the full text can be viewed at umjc.org.

"There’s an ancient story that the Romans required bridge builders to stand underneath their completed bridges when the supporting scaffolding was removed. The reason is obvious—it was an incentive for them to show that they had done the job correctly, that they had “skin in the game.” Otherwise there would be some consequences for them.

It is clear that God has a lot of skin in the game in the story of our people. Follow the story from Abraham, through the slavery in Egypt, to the exodus, to the rebellion and wandering in the desert, to the moment Moses is recounting the covenant to the next generation in Parashat Ki Tavo. God’s design to restore mankind is taking a major step forward, and Israel is the key player in the “game” as this new generation is getting ready to enter the land. Over and over, starting with Exodus 1, we read of God’s desire for Israel, from recognizing their identity as his “firstborn son,” “treasured possession,” and their calling as a “light to the nations” and “kingdom of priests.”

In this week’s parasha, we read about a re-affirmation of the covenant, which was first given by Hashem to the previous generation at Sinai, and is now restated by Moses to this next generation getting ready to enter the Land. The idea of covenant was familiar to the ancient world, where two parties entered into an agreement to do certain things for mutual benefit, not just in words, but in actions..."

08/25/2026

Check out our August newsletter, your resource for upcoming Union events, congregational updates, notes from Union executive director Deborah Pardo-Kaplan, and more.

https://tinyurl.com/59dmj7r9

08/20/2026

This week’s Torah commentary is from Parashat Ki Tetse, Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19, written by Matt Absolon.

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her. (Deuteronomy 21:10–14)
This week’s portion opens with a legal code regarding the treatment of prisoners of war that can seem remote from life today, until we set it against the catalogue of wartime horrors compiled over the past century. Read against that record, the distance collapses.

To students of war, we recognize that sexual violence against women is not an unfortunate byproduct of war, but a deliberate tactic perpetuated against civilian populations for the purposes of terror and subjugation. Imperial Japan’s atrocities in China, N**i Germany’s tyranny of Europe, Russian conduct in Ukraine, and October 7 2023, stand as recent entries in a far longer list. In the light of contemporary and historical record, the awful truth is that this conduct is not an aberration from the norms of warfare . . . it is the norm. What is unusual, historically, is restraint. Torah’s ethic stands in stark relief against that.‍ ‍”

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