Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Naso: The Place of the Displaced, the Replaced and the Misplaced
Three laws seemingly unconnected and out of place: theft from a convert; sotah; and nazir. Why are they here, in Parshat naso?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Behar-Bechukotai: The Final Step to Holiness
Behar is primarily about ways to prevent Jews from descending into cycles of poverty; Bechukotai reinforces the laws of Vayikra by spelling out the consequences of following or not following the laws
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Kedoshim: The Ten Commandments’ New Spin
With the 10 Commandments, G-d is described as the One who took the Jews out of Egypt. In Parshat Kedoshim, He is described simply as being "holy." Both phrases set the tone for the list that follows.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Shemini: The Price of Holiness
The Meshech Chochmah states that had Israel not sinned with the golden calf, God would not have punished Aharon’s sons so severely.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Shmini: When Intelligence is Not Enough
In commenting on the story of Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s two sons who died while presenting a fire offering to God, Rashi does something...
Redeeming Relevance: Pesach’s Missing Eighth Day
Appreciate that Pesach is NOT meant to end on the seventh day, but at Shavuot. With that in mind, we need to work harder to accept making the days of sefirat ha-omer into days akin to chol ha-moed
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayikra: Ownership, Chametz and the Sacrificial Conundrum
There is likely some connection between the prohibition of chametz on the altar and the chametz which is more likely on our minds as we rid our homes of this most challenging foodstuff.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayakhel: A Surprise Leader
From the beginning of the building project, the financial and physical contribution of all Jews was sought. There was a need to show that the Torah’s tabernacle was where all Jews stand equal before God
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ki Tissa: Prayer and the Jewish Mission
Paradoxically, the sin of the calf ended up strengthening Moshe and the Jewish people with a new consciousness.
Redeeming Relevance: The Torah’s Atomic Weapon
Man is attracted to the short cut that the supernatural road provides; there is a place for the supernatural in God’s world. It is tucked away under lock and key not for us to use.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Teruma: Lessons from Oz and the Voice of God
In fact, loudness and brightness are not intrinsically Godly at all. On the contrary, the truer place to find God is in the still-small voices all around us.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Mishpatim: Can an Angel Be Wrong?
Towards the end of this week’s parsha, God speaks about a malach that he will send in front of the Jewish people but it is not clear what He is referring to. We will consider one understanding
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Yitro: Good Failures and Bad Failures
No one is surprised that the Torah wasn’t given immediately after the Jews left Egypt, even though it was the first logical time for such an event to happen. But why not earlier or later on the trek?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Beshalach: The Sin of Nostalgia
The role that God played towards the Jews in the desert was not far removed from that of a parent. While they were on the desert, He provided them with the challenges that would allow them to mature
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Bo: How Do You Translate First Born?
When Moshe is told about the plague of the first born (4:22-23), God gives an explanation, something we do not see with any of the other plagues. Yet is it actually middah keneged middah?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vaera: Wasn’t Moshe a Prophet?
Moshe complained to God that even though he would have the best human understanding of the Divine will, he had difficulty bringing it down to regular people. That role-"turgaman/navi"-Aharon filled
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Shemot: Of Faith and Flexibility
While Moshe may have eventually become even greater than the avos, we must always strive for the faith of his predecessors and for the inner flexibility that such true faith brings with it.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Veyechi: The Subversive Forefather and his Conformist Son
Ya’akov decides to prioritize the younger son, Ephraim, over the older Menashe
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayigash: Yosef‘s Invitation in to Exile
Yosef wanting to see his father Yakov again is understandable. Perhaps Yosef could not have left Egypt to do so. But did Yosef’s desire to see him justify making his father leave Israel for Egypt?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Miketz: Yosef’s Descent
We generally assume that Yosef, as a victim of cruelty and not its perpetrator, had nothing to regret. Yet a careful reading shows he had a significant role in creating the tension with his brothers
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayeshev: The Rhymes and Rhythms of Biblical History
How could Ya’akov make the same 'mistake' as his father, to favor one child over another after all the troubles that plagued him resulting from Yitzchak favoring Esav?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayishlach: Who Buried Rivkah?
The actual tale of Rivkah and Esav is of a mother who continued to care and love a delinquent child who became a problematic adult, proving she will always be his mother and he will always be her son.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayetzeh: Catch the Bull by the Horns… or get Gored
Like Rivkah before them, neither Rachel nor Leah created the situation that was about to have extraordinary influence on the rest of their lives and, ultimately, on the lives of countless others
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Toldot: The Uncertainty of Parenthood
On the one hand, we see that Rivkah was right about Ya’akov’s potential. On the other hand, we will never be sure who was right about Esav.
Redeeming Relevance: Chaye Sarah: What Happened to Yitzchak?
Yitzchak, did not go to Be’er Lechai Ro’ee to pray or meditate. Rather he was on a mission, and that mission was to return Hagar to Avraham in marriage.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayeira: No Questions Asked
Isn't it surprising that Avraham who prayed for Sodom's salvation did not protest God commanding him to kill his own son? For the Netziv, this was actually exactly what God wanted from Avraham. Why?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Lech Lecha: Avoiding Too Much Virtue
While we read of tests of Avraham, it is clear that Sarah endured tests of her own. According to Ramban, she failed her test in her treatment of Hagar
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Noach: Of Facts and Narratives: Postmodernism and the Ohr HaChaim
The Torah itself presents parallel narratives of the same stories, thereby showing that the same events can truthfully be constructed in more than one way.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Bereshit: Why Can’t a Man be More Like a Woman?
Though a woman helps her partner and remains his equal, she nurtures and thereby becomes a man's superior. Paradoxically, therefore, woman may be just a bit closer to the image of God than man.
Redeeming Relevance: Zot HaBeraKha: A Grave Apart
It was not enough for Moshe to die by himself, however; his separation from family and nation had to be total, even after his death. And so his burial spot would need to be hidden from all.
