Rabbi Natasha Mann

This D'var Torah was given to Herzl-Ner Tamid Synagogue, WA, for Parasha Sh'mot 5778, by Rabbinic Intern Natasha Mann. Go Ahead and Change the World My mother recently finished watching the second season of The Blue Planet. If you’re not familiar with The Blue Planet, it is a British nature documentary on marine life. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and also breathtakingly depressing, especially when the focus shifts to the impact humans are having on the ocean and its life. My mother was almost in tears as she described a scene where a parent albatross confused a plastic toothpick for food, and took it back to feed to her baby. The albatross then held her baby as the baby died. This particular scene had a big impact on my mother, and as a result, she has become more dedicated to avoiding purchasing or using single-use plastic products which cannot be recycled. A part of this has meant that she no longer uses the plastic cutlery in her workplace, and instead brings h

This short D'var Torah was given to Herzl-Ner Tamid Synagogue, WA, by Rabbinic Intern Natasha Mann. Keva, Kavanah, and the Paradox of Prayer There is a classic argument in Jewish law and values which has its roots in the least seemingly-contentious verse I can think of. The root is this verse: ‘And Avraham got up in the morning’. You might think, ‘What could possibly be contentious about this verse?’ Well. Let it never be said that Jews cannot find places for tension in the seemingly-innocuous. The rabbis read this verse as Avraham getting up in the morning to pray. This verse is therefore where the rabbis read the obligation to daven Sha h arit, to say our morning prayers. There’s another verse for Yitz h ak to prove Min h a, and another for Ya’akov to prove Ma’ariv. We are sitting here tonight, doing the set prayers at the set time, because the rabbis read Ya’akov as praying in the evening. And not only do we have specific times to say specific texts, but we even have