The Sabbath: First Or Last Day?
The Sabbath is a full dress rehearsal for an ideal society that has not yet come to pass-but will
Abortion: The Debate Continues
One passage in this week’s sedrah shows how differences in interpretation can lead to, or flow from, profound differences in culture. Ironically, the subject concerned – abortion – remains deeply contentious to this day.
Free Worship
What is the difference between philosophy and the political vision at the heart of Tanach? The answer lies in their different understandings of time.
Making Space
For two thousand years in the absence of a Temple its place was taken by the synagogue. Why, if the Torah is timeless, does it devote such space to what was essentially a time-bound structure? The answer is deep and life-transforming,
The Tabernacle’s Lesson
The story of the Creation of the World is told with the utmost brevity: a mere 34 verses. Why take some 15 times as long to tell the story of the Sanctuary?
To The Third And Fourth Generations
If we parents fail to honor responsibilities then society’s children will pay the price for our sins
Understanding Sacrifice
What was sacrifice in Judaism and why does it remain important, at least as an idea, even today?
The Objective Basis For Morality
Recently, an entirely new scientific basis has been given to morality from two surprising directions: neo-Darwinism and the branch of mathematics known as Games theory. As we will see, the discovery is intimately related to the story of Noah and the covenant made between G-d and humanity after the Flood.
Closeness And Distance
For perhaps the first time in his life, Judah came close to his brother Joseph. The irony is, of course, that he did not know it was Joseph.
The Hidden Spirituality Of Tzitzit
There's no obligation TO wear tzitzit; opting to wear them symbolizes free acceptance of the mitzvot
Why Civilizations Die
Judaism survives due to Divine Providence and the foresight of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai who resisted cognitive breakdown, created solutions for tomorrow's problems, who did not seek refuge in the irrational, and who quietly built the Jewish future.
The Proper Use Of Power
This week's parshah inspired the Jubilee 2000 initiative leading to debt cancellation of $34 biilion
The Home We Build Together
So long as every crisis was dealt with by Moses and miracles, the Israelite default response was complaint.
Babel, Then And Now
The Babel story is the 2nd in a 4-act drama that's unmistakably a connecting thread of Bereishit
The Cry On Yom Kippur
When we cry from the heart, someone listens; When we cry on Yom Kippur, God hears us.
Yom Kippur Thoughts
Yom Kipper, the Day of Atonement, is the supreme moment of Jewish time, a day of fasting and prayer, introspection and self-judgment. At no...
Looking Up
A fundamental principle of leadership is being taught here.
The Space We Create For G-d
Like Shabbat points to something beyond time, the people Israel points to something beyond history
We Are What We Do Not Own
Parshat Behar deals with a problem that is as acute today as it was 33 centuries ago: The inevitable inequalities that arise in every free market economy teaching us to ask not, “what can I gain?” but “what can I give?”
Torah As A Marriage Contract
On the face of it, the connections between the sedrah and haftarah of Bamidbar are slender. The first has to do with demography. Bamidbar begins with a census of the people. The haftarah begins with Hosea’s vision of a time when “the number of the children of Israel will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or numbered.” There was a time when the Israelites could be counted; the day will come when they will be countless. That is one contrast between the future and the past.
The Universality Of Sukkot
Sukkot's the only festival sharing the pilgrimage cycle & part of Tishrei sequence-hence, double JOY
When The “I” Is Silent
More than prayer changes G-d, it changes us. It lets us see, feel, and know that “G-d is in this place.” That is why, and where, Jacob, established Ma’ariv, the evening prayer.
The Tabernacle’s Lesson
Parshat Terumah begins the seismic shift from the intense drama of the Exodus, with its wonders and epic events, to the detailed narrative of how the Israelites constructed the Mishkan--the Tabernacle. The Nation begins building its HOME.
The Spiritual Child
Moses prepares the Israelites for freedom by discussing-children, several times in the parsha
Closeness And Distance
What do porcupines do in winter? asked Schopenhauer. If they come too close to one another, they injure each other. If they stay too far apart, they freeze. Life, for porcupines, is a delicate balance between closeness and distance. It is hard to get it right and dangerous to get it wrong. And so it is for us.