Meeting the King
In an ideal world, our leaders would be qualified, competent, and benevolent. If we could find such a person, we certainly would want him or her to rule for life, providing for our common needs, protecting us from danger, and helping us to flourish. Now imagine living...
Slave or Servant?
Contrary to what you might think, the Torah does not permit slavery. The “Avadim” are not property, without rights or human dignity, because the Torah does not allow one person to treat another as no better than an animal.
The Judge in His Locker
In this week's reading, we find two passages that do not seem to belong together. The Torah begins this week with a commandment to set up a justice system, with both courts and judges to make rulings, and police to enforce them. It speaks of the importance of true and...
True Vision
The reading this week begins, "See I have placed before you today the blessing and the curse" [Deut. 11:26]. This is said in the singular form, rather than plural, and the Ba'al HaTurim explains that this statement, "see," was made to each and every individual. Each...
The Promise
Parshas VaEschanan, on the Jewish calendar, is read following the 9th of Av, the Day of Mourning over the destruction. It begins the "seven Sabbaths of consolation," during which the Haftorah readings, from the prophets, promise that a bright future lies ahead. We...
Anti-Semitism Remembrance Day
If we think about it, it should amaze us that there are people who insist we must always remember the Holocaust -- even for generations to come, long after the last survivors are lost to us -- who are nowhere to be found on the Ninth of Av, when we remember the long...
