Ohev Sholom Congregation

04/26/2026

Acharei Mot Kedoshim 5786

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10Ldt7w5-FxCbSDiIWGe22B60mxr5L6b-MQafLslO9kg/edit?usp=sharing

04/19/2026

"Although I remain largely disinterested in math, I am very interested in technology, and recently I am frequently drawn into conversations about what AI can and can’t do, and which human tasks it could take over. The original computers were considered to be counting machines. ENIAC, which is the name of the first programmable computer, built in 1945, stands for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. While large language models famously struggle to count the number of objects in an image or letters in a word, it is trivial to program it to recite or generate a number every day for 49 days - in fact, AI is still, despite the technological progress that has been made, a kind of counting machine, assigning numerical value to texts and objects. On the face of it, there’s a lot of work to be done to humanize the counting process and make it meaningful.

Rav Soloveitchik, writing about Sefirat HaOmer, inspired by Kant’s understanding of the act of counting, writes that “at any position that you find yourself while counting, you have to be aware of two things: the preceding position, and those that follow.” So when we count sixteen, as we did last night just FYI, we are aware of the days that preceded, and the days that will follow.

In other words, Rav Soloveitchik says, counting is the synthesis of memory and anticipation. We remember what came before, and we’re looking forward to what might come next. It isn’t the act of a counting machine, which just mechanically adds one number to another, but cannot remember or see ahead to what might come next."

- Rabbanit Sara Wolkenfeld

Tazria Metzora 5786: Counting as Human Technology

Link to full drasha in first comment

04/14/2026

03/02/2026

אור לארבעה עשר לְחֹ֥דֶשׁ שְׁנֵים־עָשָׂ֖ר הוּא־חֹ֥דֶשׁ אֲדָֽר תשפ׳׳ו Dear Ohev Sholom, This morning I read the updates to the Purim schedule from “Beit Knesset HaRamban” in South Jerusalem, one of the shuls my family attended when we liv...

01/18/2026

Va'era 5786: Fervor without Fundamentalism

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VMiD34MNRB3j7KTM4896JKHx69viJz1gkzXClRNoNa4/edit?usp=sharing

01/04/2026

VaYehi 5786: The Crybaby and the King

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LkruSulkhOw-ixoZRE-LlZ1IAmAhW2qL2l7ryS6zFPs/edit?usp=sharing

01/04/2026

Please join us this coming Shabbat!

12/27/2025

VaYigash 5786: Protective Presence

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u3Q6qQ9L82AF3qcvzKCoin95fQcPvZslfnY1QsUaiyc/edit?usp=sharing

12/21/2025

Miketz 5786: When Were We Commanded?

(Link in first comment).

12/07/2025

https://rabbidavidwolkenfeld.com/2025/12/06/vayishlach-5786-specialists-without-spirit-sensualists-without-heart/

Miracles are embarrassing. At least that’s what Maimonides believed. A perfect God would create the world correctly the first time without needing to go back and intervene. With this starting point…

12/01/2025

VaYetzei 5786: Gratitude & Ambition

Rabbi David Wolkenfeld Ohev Sholom Congregation Parashat VaYetzei 5786 Gratitude & Ambition There is something absurd about the American “holiday season” for an observant Jew. What is so hard about hosting a Thanksgiving meal? You can turn your oven on and off and cook on Thanksgiving. You can ....