Rabbi Jason Klein was born in New York City and mostly grew up Montclair, NJ before returning to the City for college at Columbia, where he majored in religion focusing on Orthodox Christianity. After receiving rabbinic ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2002, he became the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Emeth on the South Shore of Long Island. He completed seven years of service as Executive Director with Hillel at UMBC (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) before coming to the Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan (JCP Downtown) where he has been for nearly five years, currently serving as JCP’s rabbi and the director for JCP’s Center for Jewish Life. He recently finished serving for two years as President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association. He lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
This week’s Torah portion – Parashat Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16) – features the people of Israel being led out of Egypt by pillars of cloud and fire, the dramatic parting of the Red Sea, the song of Miriam, the bread from heaven, Moses hitting the rock, and Israel’s war with Amalek. Our discussion focuses on the fearful moment the people of Israel experience when the Egyptian army are closing in on them and on the deep effect this moment has on their liberation process.
Previous Torah Talks on this parsha:
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