A Portable Home

With the synagogue, "Judaism created one of the greatest revolutions in the history of religion"

Brothers: A Drama In Five Acts

For once Moses, the hero, the leader, the liberator, the lawgiver, is off-stage in the only instance where the name of Moses is not mentioned at all in any parsha since the first parsha of the book of Shemot. Instead our focus is on his elder brother Aaron. The story of Aaron and Moses, the fifth act in the biblical drama of brotherhood, is where, finally, fraternity reaches the heights

The Sin Offering

Why should unintentional sins require atonement? What guilt exists when requisite intent is lacking?

Answering The Call

Noah fails the test of collective responsibility. He is a man of virtue in an age of vice, but he makes no impact on his contemporaries.

Civil Disobedience

The first recorded instance of civil disobedience is the story of Shifra and Puah, defying Pharaoh

Tzara’at And The Power Of Shame

According to the Sages’ interpretation, the law of tzara’at constitutes one of the rare instances in the Torah of punishment by shame rather than guilt.

We Are What We Remember

We are what we remember, and the first-fruits declaration was a way of ensuring that Jews would never forget.

Education: the Key to Success

Moses did not speak about today or tomorrow. He spoke about the distant future.

The Angel Who Did Not Know He Was An Angel

I know of no comparable passage in the Torah: three verses dedicated to an apparently trivial, eminently forgettable detail of someone having to ask directions from a stranger. Who was this unnamed man? And what conceivable message does the episode hold for future generations, for us?

A Religion Of Holy Words

The Sages say, it's as bad as all three cardinal sins together – idol worship, bloodshed, and illicit sexual relations. Whoever speaks with an evil tongue, they say, is as if he denied G-d. Why are mere words treated with such seriousness in Judaism?

On Being A Jewish Parent

The most influential man who ever lived, does not appear on any list I have seen of the hundred most influential men in history. He ruled no empire, commanded no army, His name, of course, is Abraham

The Far Horizon

Moses’ insight was profound. He knew that you cannot change the world by externalities alone, by monumental architecture, or armies and empires, or the use of force and power.

The Sin Offering

Why should unintentional sins require atonement at all? What guilt is involved? Had the offender known he would not have done what he did. Why then does he have to undergo a process of atonement?

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 Power Of Ruach

What happens at the sea is poetic justice of the most exquisite kind. The powerful are now powerless, while the powerless have made their way to freedom.

Spying On The Land – Or Touring?

They were about to enter a land they had not seen. They had no idea what they were fighting for.

On Being A Jewish Parent

What then does the Torah say about Abraham? The answer is unexpected and very moving. Abraham was chosen simply to be a father.

A Nation Of Leaders

Israel can learn practical politics from a Midianite but it must learn the limits of politics from G-d Himself.

A People That Dwells Alone

Where then does Jewish singularity emerge? The clue lies in the precise wording of Bilaam’s blessing: “Behold it is a  people  that dwells alone.”

Not Beyond The Sea

When you cannot see Him, it is because you are looking in the wrong direction. When He seems absent, He is there just behind you, but you have to turn to meet Him. Do not treat Him like a stranger. He loves you. He believes in you.

Vision and Details: Parshat Mishpatim

So the Torah is a unique combination of nomos and narrative, history and law, the formative experiences of a nation and the way that nation sought to live its collective life so as never to forget the lessons it learned along the way. It brings together vision and detail in a way that has never been surpassed.

The Gift Of Giving

So long as Moses was in their midst, the people knew that he communicated with G-d, and G-d with him, and therefore G-d was accessible, close. But when he was absent for nearly six weeks, they panicked.

The World’s Oldest Man

Abraham and Holocaust survivors shared the commitment to first building the future and only then allowing themselves to remember the past. That is what Abraham did in this week’s parsha.

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.

How Leaders Fail

There are times when you need someone with the courage to stand against the crowd, others when you need a peacemaker.

Not Reckoned Among The Nations

Tanach is perhaps the least self-congratulatory national literature in history. Jews chose to record for history their faults, not their virtues.

How To Praise And How Not To Praise

Lena told the families with whom she was working that every day they must notice each member of the family doing something right, and say so – specifically, positively and thankfully.

The Spirituality Of Song

As music connects note to note, so faith connects episode to episode, life to life, age to age in a timeless melody that breaks into time.

The Virtues Of Judaism

Who am I? What are the most important things in my life? What do I want to be remembered for? If, as a purely...

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