Changing And Growing: Judah Sets The Standard
t was not Joseph but Judah who conferred his identity on the people; Judah who became the ancestor of Israel’s greatest king, David; Judah from whom the messiah will be born. Why Judah and not Joseph? The answer undoubtedly lies in the beginning of Parshat Vayigash,
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.
Dwelling Alone And Beating The Odds
All agree that Jews ARE different. How? Why? The Bible's answer is surprising and profound.
The Parameters Of Justice
Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers -- how is that compatible with the idea that children may suffer for the sins of their parents?
Reconciliation vs. Vengeance
Judaism is less a philosophical system than a field of tensions – between universalism and particularism, for example, or exile and redemption, priests and prophets, cyclical and linear time, and so on.
The Spiritual Child
Moses prepares the Israelites for freedom by discussing-children, several times in the parsha
Justice And Compassion
Shakespeare is expressing the medieval stereotype of Christian mercy (Portia) as against Jewish justice (Shylock).
Making Love Last
A key to help unlock the entire project outlined by Moses in Sefer Devarim, the final book of the Torah, from a most unlikely source...
The Supernatural Miracle
In September 2010, BBC, Reuters and other news agencies reported on a sensational scientific discovery. Researchers at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado showed through computer simulation how the division of the Red Sea might have taken place.
To The Third And Fourth Generations
If we parents fail to honor responsibilities then society’s children will pay the price for our sins
The Almighty’s Supreme Call to Man
Could we understand the history of Israel without its prehistory, the stories of Abraham and Sarah and their children?
Pursuing Justice
Judaism is a religion of love but also a religion of justice, for without justice, love corrupts.
A Sense Of History
The setting: Jerusalem some twenty centuries ago. The occasion: bringing first fruits to the Temple. Here is the scene as the Mishnah describes it.[1] Throughout Israel, villagers would gather in the nearest of 24 regional centres. There, overnight, they would sleep in the open air. The next morning, the leader would summon the people with words from the book of Jeremiah (31:5): “Arise and let us go up to Zion, to the House of the Lord our God.”
The Covenants Of Fate And Destiny
Sadly, we're no longer an edah; We've fissured and fractured: Orthodox & Reform; religious & secular
Greatness And Humility
Greatness is humility. This idea – counter-intuitive, unexpected, life-changing – is one of the great contributions of the Torah to Western civilization and found in the words of Moses in this week's sedra
The Space Between Us
Abraham was acting on both occasions--the banishment of Ishmael and the sacrifice of Isaac--against his emotions, his paternal instincts. What is the Torah telling us about the nature of fatherhood?
Restoring Order and Maintaining Peace
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you fail. Such is life.
Followership
The very act of learning in rabbinic Judaism is conceived as active debate, a kind of gladiatorial contest of the mind.
Civil Disobedience
The first recorded instance of civil disobedience is the story of Shifra and Puah, defying Pharaoh
The Politics Of Freedom
Having set out the broad principles of the covenant, Moses now turns to the details, which extend over many chapters and several parshiyot. The long review of the laws that will govern Israel in its land begin and end with Moses posing a momentous choice.
The Limits Of Love
The opening three laws of this parsha- a captive woman taken in war, the law about the rights of the firstborn, and the “stubborn and rebellious son” – are all about dysfunctions within the family.
Fear Or Distress?
Jacob and Esau are about to meet again after a separation of 22 years. It is a fraught encounter. Once, Esau had sworn to kill Jacob as revenge for what he saw as the theft of his blessing. Will he do so now, or has time healed the wound? Jacob sends messengers to let his brother know he is coming. They return, saying that Esau is coming to meet Jacob with a force of 400 men. We then read: “Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed” (Genesis 32:8).
The Closeness Of God
The paradox of Jewish spirituality: No religion holds God higher, but none feels Him closer
The Continuity Of Death And Life
In the Torah, law and narrative are intertwined for the very profound reason that G-d’s law is not arbitrary. It speaks to the human condition, arising out of human history.
The Two Journeys
In Bamidbar, the fledgling Jewish nation is ready to move on. This time they are looking forward, not back. They are thinking not of the danger they are fleeing from but of the destination they are traveling toward, the Promised Land.
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