From Memorial to Remembrance, Day to Day, Between Zachor and Yizkor I wonder. What do I remember? What will we recall? The Midrash (Sifra, Behukotai) says: “How, then, do I fulfill ‘Remember’? – That you utter it with your mouth.” Repeat with your mouth – alter with your mouth. “Alter”, make “other” – make an […]
These and These We read in the Babylonian Talmud: “For three years the House of Shammai and the House of Hillel debated [a matter of ritual purity]. These said, “The law is according to our position,” and these said, “The law is according to our position.” A divine voice came and said, “These and these […]
An Antidote to Fear Parashat Vayyikra begins with the words “And He called to Moses …” Rashi defines the verb vayyikra, “He called,” as a term of affection, closeness, and love. This call is heard from within the mishkan, the traveling Tabernacle, a place built after the great crisis of the golden calf, perhaps as […]
“A time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:8 Why a time for war now? A long history binds Jews and Persians together: from Cyrus, who Isaiah called “the Lord’s anointed,” to the days of the Amoraim and the Geonim. Modern Iran and Israel have no inherent reason to fight: they share no […]
Between Fate and Destiny The book of Esther turns fate into destiny. The pur, the cast lot, along with powerful forces influence our lives. There is so much of which we have no control. What will be? We do not know. However, there are moments when, if we are present and feel God’s presence within […]
We Are the Instrument Where God Dwells Whoever experiences the weekly parashah as the beating heart of the Jewish tribe knows that this week marks a sharp and surprising pivot. After the thunder and lightning of the Sinai revelation, the Torah suddenly seeks out wooden boards, spans of cloth and skins of the enigmatic teḥashim. […]
Songs and Stars When I was a girl in France, I discovered Mati Caspi’s songs, which became the threads that wove my connections to Eretz Yisrael. His words were the first ones in modern Hebrew that I wanted to understand, and his melodies charmed me — and stay with me even now. “How can it […]
An End and A Reckoning At the end of the day on which Ran Gvili z”l was returned to Israel, I came home and took off the yellow ribbon I had worn for two years and three months. Not ceremoniously, and without a prayer. I simply took it off. I did not feel relief, nor […]
A Song for Tu B’Shvat “When you come into the land, you shall plant every tree first / and the tree shall yield its fruit and the land its produce / a time to plant trees, a time to plant and to build.” (Popular Hebrew song for Tu B’Shvat) A time to plant and to […]
Boundaries, Not Walls A people is born! Tens of thousands of slaves are called to demonstrate: to slaughter a lamb, to smear its blood on the doorway of their home, and to roast it whole. This action is also an expression of their readiness to leave their familiar home and set off for the unknown […]