Redeeming Relevance: What’s with the Blood on the Doorposts?
It seems very likely that when the Jews put the blood on the doorposts, it was meant as a strong statement of protest against Egypt and about the holiness of life. In other words, whereas the Egyptians made even human life a commodity, the Jews were bidden to sanctify the essence of life even in animals.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Shemot: To Help is Noble, to Give a Sign is Divine
We are sorely lacking signs from God today. They are lacking, since our courage and resourcefulness often end when we have no indication of what God wants from us. This is the tragic situation of God’s hiding Himself
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayigash: How Many Daughters did Ya’akov Have?
Earlier commentators may well have still shuddered in awe when they thought of Ya’akov’s daughters – how could it be that they would exist and that we would not know about them?
Redeeming Relevance: It’s Not Always the Thought that Counts
Given Reuven's less-than-altruistic motivations, the Torah could have given us a much more negative spin on what occurred. But it doesn’t. That is because the bottom line is that Reuven did the right thing. And that is what the Torah cares about the most.
Redeeming Relevance: When a Brother is Not
Understanding relationships leading to understanding the parsha
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Chayei Sarah: Avraham’s Canaanite Wife
Avraham showed himself to be a mentor for all peoples that God created. If he had previously kept his distance, he would now go to the other extreme of marrying a Canaanite woman, and fathering and raising her children.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Lech Lecha: Listening to Voices
Listening to your biblical partner's voice
Why God “Protects” the Tree of Life
Why is the status or identity of this seemingly central tree not mentioned before Adam sinned. Was it permitted at that time or forbidden?
Redeeming Relevance: Rosh Hashanah: What was Avraham Supposed to do for an Encore?
No matter how hard we work on ourselves, we can never be totally prepared for the challenges ahead. And that is actually a good thing. Not only would life be less interesting, but a great deal of its meaning would otherwise be taken away. As Rebbe Nachman said, “If you are not a better person tomorrow than you are today, what need have you for a tomorrow?”
Redeeming Relevance: Ki Tetzeh: Remember Not to Keep People Waiting
Since not saying lashon hara is easier said than done, here is something to help you: Just remember what happened to Miriam!”
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Re’eh: Spilling Blood and Spilling Water
In view of the seeming sanctity that the Torah imparts to blood, why would it tell us to spill animal blood indiscriminately?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ve’etchanan: Why You Don’t Need to Worship Idols (and Might Have...
The delicate balance of the Jews place in the world: The impact of interacting with other cultures
Reading Between the Lines
The Torah knows that we are likely to understand the journey in the desert as essentially one long trip. And so it tries to make us stop and realize that there were actually two journeys and not just one. The first ended with the death of Aharon; the second began with resistance from the Canaanite king
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Chukat: How to Make Peace
History repeats itself: Israel extends the hand of peace to a neighbor and is rebuffed
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Shelach: A Very, Very Good Land
The paradoxical truth of a very, very good land--Israel.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Bhaalotekha
Constitutional democracy is a better form of spiritual government than either anarchy or totalitarianism. G-d wanted intellectual diversity and as close to universal accountability as possible.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Nasso: The Sin of the Suspicious Husband
Parshat Nasso and the issue of the sotah and coming face-to-face with our own responsibility and not just throw it on others.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Bechukotai: What is Your Net Worth?
Hoe the Torah establishes the value of the individual--and how that ensures humility.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Metzora: Flesh
That man is more than flesh is obvious to the Torah, but the Torah’s task is to make it obvious to man.
Redeeming Relevance: The Art of Seeing God When We Don’t
The retelling of the exodus at Pesach is meant to deepen our faith; and the excerpt from the Mishnah towards the beginning of the Haggadah presents a model for how to do that. It teaches us to follow the example of R. Elazar
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vayikra: Happy Sins
Obviously, sin and happy are not words that go together well. But, says Rabbi Yochanan, when people admit to and atone for their sins, that is cause for happiness.
Redeeming Relevance: Did Moshe Decide to Break the Tablets?
Paradoxically, with Moshe’s desperate act, something positive happened. When the people realized what Moshe was responding to, it shook them to their foundations.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Terumah: Pythagoras and the Menorah
Seven is possibly the most significant number in Jewish Thought.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Yitro: Is That What I Said?
The art--and history--of Jewish communication.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Bo: When the Lights GO OFF
How did the Jews find grace in the eyes of the Egyptians, receiving gifts from their Egyptian neighbors as they left, when they were perceived as the source of all the plagues and destruction?
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