Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Vaera
Moshe viewed his speech impediment as part of his core identity and his intrinsic human imperfection
Was Moshe a Success or a Failure?
How might Moshe looked back upon his life? Ironically, the man unsurpassed in so many ways may actually have seen himself as a failure. Yet that is certainly the impression one gets from reading through most of this book.
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 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?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Tzav: The Temple’s Sophistication and the Chumrot of Pesach
Although there is a strong basis for our propensity to be more stringent on Pesach than we are during the rest of the year, we should not turn that into a blanket attitude in which stringency is always followed, regardless of the other values at stake
Parshat Eikev: Can the Torah Exaggerate?
NEVER lose sight of the gol
Redeeming Relevance: The Righteous Men of Sodom
The greatest impact of an individual is generally felt when he acts as part of the larger community.
Redeeming Relevance in the Weekly Parsha: Bo
Pesach is called "zikaron," a Biblical term used describing an object eliciting a certain memory
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Chukat: How to Make Peace
History repeats itself: Israel extends the hand of peace to a neighbor and is rebuffed
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 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 in Parshat Korach
Korach demonstrates how "charisma" can lead to a breakdown in the legitimate forms of leadership
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; V’Zot HaBracha: Moshe’s Blessings and his Successful Failure
Yet in spite of Moshe’s best intentions, it is obvious that his blessings – as we have portrayed them – had little effect on the Jews once they reached the Land of Israel.
Redeeming Relevance: The Mistake of Moshe’s Life
There are two more positive lessons that can be learned. The first is to always second-guess ourselves. The second lesson is that no matter how devastating events may be, we must muster the courage and strength to keep going.
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 Pinchas: The Yehoshua Moshe Did Not Know
Moshe was not able to see that Yehoshua was fit for the job. On some level, this seems strange considering their long-standing relationship.
The Torah’s Insists Uganda is for the Ugandans
The Land of Israel being the ideal homeland of the Jews is that it is the only one. It is ideal, and nowhere else
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: The Loneliest Jew and the Universal Torah
Tzipporah is largely invisible & almost entirely silent, we hear her only when she rebukes Moshe
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
Redeeming Relevance: Moshe’s Speech to Jews Living Today
While Moshe saw all the Jews as one whole, it was the ones in front of him who served as the representatives for all those who had lived and would live in the future.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Noach: Do We Really Understand why Murder is Wrong?
If so, why was Noah commanded not to murder (and, likely, other old commandments) as well? Apparently, there was something not yet completely intuitive, and that was the sanctity of life.
The Symbolism of Incompleteness and its Truth
The measure of things...
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Shoftim: Self-Knowledge is not Self-Understanding
One might think that there's nothing we understand better in the world than ourselves--after all, we spend every waking minute with ourselves. But is this self-understanding really the case?
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ki Tavo
The bikkurim declaration praises Gd & distills the Egyptian experience down to its spiritual essence
Redeeming Relevance on the Weekly Torah Portion: BaMidbar
From Bemidbar on and in Nevi’im, the nation is viewed primarily by its component parts, the tribes
Avraham’s Empty Altars and the Need to be Selfish
The benefits of sacrificing-but not TOO much
Redeeming Relevance: The Mother’s Sin Offering and God’s Need for Darkness
The ethics of each new birth represents a microcosm of that debate. We have good reason to hope that the education and upbringing we provide our children will ensure that they bring more good to the world than evil. But there is not a single one of us who can bring up even the best of our children to never do evil. And given that this is the case, giving birth is also an act of responsibility for the evil that one thereby adds to the world.
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Re’eh: How to See God in the World
Whether in its variation or in its norms, the world around us provides countless ways to see God. But that will only happen to someone who is looking for them. In other words if we really want to see God, we must also seek God.