Words Not Spoken . . . Words Not Heard
Words are powerful. In Genesis, chapter one, God creates through words: “God said, ‘Let there be light!’—and there was light. . . . God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters,’. . . . God now said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image,’ ” (Genesis 1:3, 6, 26).
B'chukotai for Tweens
How do we achieve lives full of blessing? Discuss this portion with the tweens in your life.
The Challenge of Righteousness
The wording of the verse gives rise to this debate. The text states that “Noah was a righteous man,” but immediately follows with the phrase “in his generation, he was above reproach. . . ” All of us, including the ancient Rabbis, are left to wonder if Noah is exceptional or not, if his righteousness would be universally righteous or simply righteous in his time.
Fateful Words Can Have Fatal Consequences
The Jewish people's turbulent saga of disillusionment with liberation takes a new and momentarily promising turn this Shabbat, with a foray into the land of Canaan by twelve scouts.
Yom Rishon shel Rosh HaShanah for Tweens
Do you know about the binding of Isaac? Find out more in this edition of Torah for Tweens.
On Passover, Hope Springs Eternal
Only in Israel are there kosher-for-Passover buns at McDonald's. Only in Israel do non-Kosher restaurants offer you a choice of bread and/or matzah.
Between Winds of Fear and the Gift of Rains
The last parashah of the Book of Leviticus offers a kind of coda to this Torat Kohanim, " Torah of the priests." One might say that it draws to an inauspicious close, very different from the other books of our Bible.
Just Like Me, They Long(ed) to Be Close to You
In this week's double parashah, Acharei Mot/K'doshim, there's a one-sentence reference to the mortal sin of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, who brought "alien fire" into the Mishkan, which we read about in Parashat Sh'mini two weeks ago (see Leviticus 10:1-7).