We’re No Abraham
Is it easy to make a moral choice? Moshe, our teacher, tells us that it is, at least in principle: "See that I have placed before you today 'blessing' and 'curse'. The blessing, if you will listen to the Commandments of HaShem your G-d which I have commanded you...
Wisdom in the Skies
In the Talmud, the Sages tell us to study the skies, or more specifically the calculations of the calendar: "says Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmeini in the name of Rebbe Yochanon: from where do we know that it is a Mitzvah to calculate the seasons and the months? For it says,...
Coming off the Back Bench
The Torah portion of Dvarim, beginning the last of the 5 books of Moses, is universally read on the Sabbath proceeding the Ninth of Av, when we commemorate the destruction of both Temples and other tragedies throughout Jewish history. Each week's reading is divided...
Why Do We Need Window Shades?
What Do you Live For?
The Talmud, at the end of the first tractate, Brachos, learns a fascinating lesson from the verse: "This is the Torah [the law]: when a person dies in a tent...†[19:14] This verse speaks about impurity that attaches to everything in the same building as someone who...
Learning from the Spies
Our Torah reading relates the tragic story of the Spies, sent to travel through the Land of Canaan in advance of its conquest by the People of Israel. “Send men for yourself, and they will spy out the Land of Canaan, which I give to the Children of Israel, one man...
The Importance of Good Company
This week, we witness Moshe throwing up his hands in despair. Moshe, Moshe Rabbeinu, our master teacher, he who transmitted the entire Torah directly from G-d to the Jewish People, has had it with the Jews. He's done. "And Moshe said to Hashem, 'why have You done such...
Our Moral Compass
Recent stories illustrate the need for a moral compass, guidance to find correct behavior. Current events have given me new insight into how urgently we need the Torah to lead us in every area of our lives. In an opinion piece appearing today, a writer in the Jewish...
Where Effort Really Counts
In this week's reading, we learn about the commandment of Shmittah, the Sabbatical of the Land. The Torah says: “Six years shall you sow your field, and six years shall you prune your vineyards, and gather its produce. But in the seventh year, it will be a Holy...
Love Thy Offensive Neighbor
We hear people speaking a great deal about "love your neighbor as yourself," but not so much about the words which come before them. The full verse reads: "Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against the children of your nation, and love your neighbor as...
Self Preservation
In this week's Torah reading, the double portion of Tazria-Metzorah, most of our attention is directed to the phenomenon of Tzara'as, a spiritual blemish. People erroneously compare it to leprosy... but clothing and buildings don't become leprous. The Talmud (Ehrchin...
Always New
For seven days and nights, Aharon and his sons sat at the entrance to the Tabernacle, as they were commanded to do. Then the eighth day arrived, the first day of Nissan, a year after leaving Egypt, and it was time to bring the first offerings to G-d. Aharon first...
