Finding Wholeheartedness in Your Life
In Parashat Noach, Noah is called an, ish tzaddik tamim, a “blameless” or “wholehearted person in his age.” But biblical commentators criticize his conduct, saying he lacked compassion for his fellow man and that he committed incest. What, then, is the meaning of the word tamim?
Judah: Our Overlooked Patriarch
Among the prominent themes of the Book of Genesis are sibling rivalry, the supplanting of the firstborn by a younger brother, and difficult family dynamics in general. The pattern is repeated with Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, and Esau and Jacob.
Love Is the Key
The Medium and the Message
Last week, after getting a glimpse of the Promised Land, but finding out that he would not enter it, Moses began his farewell address. What does he choose for his parting words? A story . . . the story of the lives of many of his listeners. Why does he tell it? Didn't they know their own story?
The Divine Kiss
V'zot Hab'rachah, the concluding parashah of the Torah, is centered around the death of Moshe Rabbenu, Moses our Teacher. Generations of Bible readers have wondered about the stated reason why Moses was prohibited from entering the Promised Land.
Ethics versus Ritual
One of the great modern teachers of Judaism, Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, zichrono livrachah,urged Reform Jews to ritualize the ethical and ethicize the ritual. Rabbi Wolf's point was that Jewish tradition does not differentiate between ethical and ritual law.
Don't Let the Fire Go Out!
The first seven chapters of the Book of Leviticus can be perceived as an operations manual. It contains specific instructions to the priests on how to conduct sacrifices in ancient times.
Identity and Ethics: Knowing Who and Whose You Are
If someone tells you that Judaism is X or Y, you should never believe them. Judaism is such a complex civilization — it is made up of religion and culture, language and land, and a particular kind of peoplehood. ... The Israelites’ preparations both to enter the Land and to create an ideal society are central motifs of Deuteronomy, and a particular focus of the extensive Parashat R’eih.
A Time for Building Up
Each year on Sukkot, we read these famous words of Ecclesiastes (Kohelet): “A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven. …a time for tearing down and a time for building up.” (Kohelet 3:1,3). To speak of building during a holiday dedicated to erecting a temporary structure seems fitting. And yet, the order the ideas in this verse is at odds with our Sukkot experience. Surely, “a time for building up and a time for tearing down” would align more closely with sequence of the holiday. So why this order? And what exactly are “we tearing down and building up”?
Thinking before Speaking
People should think before they speak. This is common sense, you might say, but judging from the number of miscommunications and painful verbal exchanges that occur each day, this sense is not so common-even for Mosheh and Aharon in this week's parashah, Chukat.