Tag: redeeming
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.
Redeeming Relevance: A Bittersweet Song You Better Remember: Parshas Ha’azinu & Jewish Destiny
God’s foremost desire is to conduct a relationship with the Jewish people built on love and commitment. The song of Ha’azinu reassures us that the relationship will never die.
Redeeming Relevance: Moving On and the Sins of Omission
As we approach Yom Kippur, it is time for us to think creatively, the willingness to chart a new path, about what we can do better.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ki Tavo: Amalek, Bikkurim and Ma’aser
Many commentators sense a significance to the placement of the bikkurim declaration, at the beginning of this week’s pasha, right after the injunction to destroy Amalek. What is the connection?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ki Tetzhe: Yehoshua the Conqueror
Battling Amalek presents an important warning to any Jewish military leader that there is a need to maintain a basic respect for what it means to be human, even when dealing with mortal enemies.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Reeh: The Taste for Blood and the Imperative of Relevance
Is the Torah to be read exactly as the Jews who received it would have, or, is it actually to be read in a contemporary way that can't possibly be the same as those who first received the Torah?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ekev: Shema and all that Jazz
A musical perspective on Parshat Ekev...
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ve’etchanan: Why These Ten?
Understanding why these Ten Statements were chosen-as opposed to others omitted-could well lead us to a greater grasp of the essence of this venerable text.
The Book of Speech; Redeeming Relevance on Parshat Devarim
An obstacle to understanding Devarim is thinking of it as a book. Devarim literally means “[spoken] words” and should therefore be primarily considered in its 'orality'
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Matot: Menashe — The Odd Man Out
Why did Moshe include part of Menashe together with Gad and Reuven in the Transjordanian settlement?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Pinchas: Midian, Moab and Yisrael
The fact it was specifically Midianite and Moabite women involved with Jewish men {Moshe and men involved with Ba'al Peor) shows that an existential bond existed between these nations and Israel.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Balak: The Perspective of Prophecy
Bilaam not only doesn't appear to be great, he seems to be base as well as foolish (outsmarted by his own donkey!). So how can the midrash claim he was really at least as great a prophet as Moshe?