We are now marking Yom Ha-shoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, and soon we will bless the new month of ’Iyyar, which includes Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror — both of them days replete with pain and collective trauma. For years I have experienced discomfort regarding the way in which these days […]
Parashat Vayikra deals with the terms and conditions of sacrifices. In Lev. 4:22 we read: Asher nasi yeḥeta … — This section of the laws of the purification offering (ḥattat) stands out from the rest. The language employed here for the instance of a chieftain (nasi) committing a sin that requires bringing a ḥattat is […]
Shabak Samech’s 2000 hit single Nofel v’kam / “Fall and Get Up” begins with a citation from the Haggadah, “In every generation one must see themselves as if they left Egypt,” with this core message echoing throughout this modern midrash of a song. The chorus of the song describes the Jewish condition: The road is […]
“Mordechai learned of the matter and told it to Esther and she told the King in Mordechai’s name” [Megillat Esther 2:22] Twice in Megillat Esther, Mordechai becomes aware of critical information, as he sits outside the palace gates, in the streets of the city. He passes that information on to Esther, who chooses to believe […]
Rabbi Hillel Skolnik is the President of MERCAZ USA … Purim, Zionism, and Israel: Vote MERCAZ (Slate 17) today!
A Shabbat prayer says If our mouths were filled with song like the expanse of the sea … we could not thank you enough, Gd, for the good that you have done for us and for our ancestors. After 2,000 years of suffering the cruelty of our enemies, how have these words continued to be […]
In Terumah, we read about the house that God asks the people of Israel to build so that the Shekhinah may dwell among them. The structure is beautiful yet practical. Although there will be a principal contractor, the entire nation is invited to participate — especially by contributing from their own possessions. We should learn […]
Not in the Heavens by Hamutal Bar-Yosef Not in the heavens, Not far away, Goodness blew like wind. Is it not very close? Is it not here? Is its flame not in your hand, whispering to perform it now? Goodness blows like the wind — not up in the heavens, writes Hamutal Bar-Yosef, playing on […]
In the Torah reading Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law advises him to appoint judges to meet the people’s needs for justice. This precedes the giving of the Torah itself. A functioning legal system is a prerequisite for any just, decent, human society. It is no coincidence that this requirement appeared as one of the seven Noahide laws […]
“When Pharaoh sent the people off …” With the plagues past, the blood dried, the matzah baked and packed, the people are leaving Egypt. But no celebration ensues. There would be no straight road to Canaan, only carping and complaining and delay. Even behind pillars of cloud and fire, the Israelites were unprepared for the […]