Pursuing Justice … During War Anyone who has become engaged to a woman but not yet married her, or who has built a house but not yet moved into it, or who has planted a vineyard but not yet harvested even the first grapes, or even anyone too timid to fight — all of these […]
Tikkun Ha’adam – Fixing Ourselves As we enter a 40-day period of introspection that culminates with Yom Kippur, we should look inward towards our soul, before we try to fix the world, our country and our families. Rav Yitz Greenberg describes this process as tikkun haadam, the fixing of ourselves. This process is based on […]
The Meaning of Affliction: Our Footprints in the Sand Our path right now is not an easy one, and no light is yet visible on the horizon. Is there a point, a purpose to all the pain and misery? Is there a meaning to this war, to the horrific losses? In this week’s Torah portion, […]
At Camp, In Ukraine … (Not) Striving for “Normal” I am in Ukraine, in a village where there was once a great Hassidic community that was entirely destroyed during World War I. One hundred sixty-fix Jewish children are coming here for a summer camp, children who are fleeing from all over Ukraine for two weeks […]
We Are The Indigenous People … We are now approaching the end of “the three weeks” during which we refrain from joy in remembrance of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The mourning reaches its climax on Tisha B’av itself, when we read the book of Eikhah and Kinnot (Elegies) while seated on the […]
A Compelling Call … “Your brothers will go to war, and you will sit here?” ~ Numbers 32:6 Moses cries out to those who wish to settle on the far side of the Jordan River. This cry is not a rhetorical question – it is a compelling call to future generations. Moses presents a stark […]
The Three Weeks: Extremism in Israeli society Pinchas ben Elazar confronts us with a profound question about extremism in Israeli society today. His zealous act saved the people from divine wrath and even earned him a covenant of peace — it seems the Torah wants us to learn from him. Yet today we know that […]
“Lo, a people that rises like a lion, leaps up like the king of beasts.” (Num. 23:24) Commenting on the verse that provided the official name (Operation Rising Lion) for the recent war with Iran, which appears in this week’s Torah portion, Rashi offers two explanations. By way of midrash, he states “When they rise […]
Recent weekly Torah portions, among them Shelaḥlekh and Koraḥ, are often read as a collection of tales of sins, of spies, and of Koraḥ and his followers. It would be worthwhile to read those passages from another angle, as stories of the development of the Israelites from a nation in servitude to a people seeking […]
A Word on the War: Thoughts from Rabbi Yoav Ende Since October 7th, we’ve been living in a state of rupture — torn between grief, anger, urgency, and determination. While we’re still deep in it, the escalation with Iran marks a turning point that can’t be ignored. For decades, Iran has made its goal clear: […]