Our guest this week is Rabbi Gil Steinlauf, Senior Rabbi of Temple Adas Israel in Washington, DC. Prior to joining Adas Israel in 2008, Rabbi Steinlauf had been the Rabbi of Temple Israel in New Jersey since 2001. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University (1991), studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, received an M.H.L. from the University of Judaism in 1994, and received Rabbinic ordination as well as an M.A. from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York in 1998. Rabbi Steinlauf was also the assistant Rabbi at Congregation Tifereth Israel in Columbus, Ohio. Currently, Rabbi Steinlauf is on the boards of the Washington Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. He also sits on the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He is an alumnus of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, and a member of the Center for Jewish Learning and Leadership’s Rabbis Without Borders program. Many of Rabbi Steinlauf's sermons and essays can be found on his blog 'Dover Emet.
This week's Torah Portion- Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) – continues giving us the instructions concerning the tabernacle, focusing on the role of the priesthood. Our discussion examines the intriguingly detailed description of the lavish garments worn by the priests and the idea of emphasizing something so seemingly superficial.
