The Torah portion, Balak, which we read this past Shabbat, is among the most amazing in the Torah: Bil’am emerges, a prophet not of the Israelite people, and pronounces deeply true things about us. He sees the people Israel in the desert, and ostensibly delivering a curse, he blesses: How good are your tents, Jacob, […]
Balak, King of Mo‘av, is fearful of the Israelites and asks Bila‘am the sorcerer to curse them, for he believes this is the only way to defeat them in battle. He is afraid and therefore chooses to curse and belittle. In contrast, God transforms the curse into a blessing, for the Holy One knows only […]
This week marked 9 months since October 7th. Nine months of war. Nine months during which 120 of our brothers and sisters have been held hostage in Gaza. Nine months of deep crisis. The Hebrew word for “crisis” is מַשְׁבֵּר / mashber* and can take on additional meanings. Thus wrote Moshe Ibn Ezra (11th century […]
Numbers Chapter 18 is the main Torah source of the concept of gifts to the Priesthood as understood by the Rabbis. Midrashim offer different explanations: Yalkut Shimoni understands that the Priests received them as reward for Aaron’s efforts to save the Israelites from the sin of the golden calf. Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer understands the gifts […]
In the wilderness of Paran the sin of the spies took place — a transgression so grave that an entire generation was condemned to die in the wilderness. A Talmudic legend (b. Shabbat 89a-b) interprets the several names in the Torah for that wilderness. On the name “the wilderness of Paran” the Talmud explains: “because […]
In Parashat Beha‘alotekha, the seven-branched menorah is lit for the first time. Note the directions: “When you raise up the lamps, toward the front of the lampstand let the seven lamps give light.” Only when we lift up the lamps, which are the receptacles of the light, will “the seven lamps give light.” The menorah […]
This week we celebrate Shavuot and we read Parashat Naso, the weekly reading with the largest number of verses. Despite its considerable length, it teaches us what it means to be “short and to the point” and to practice humility. How so? Parashat Naso includes that threefold benediction, the Priestly Blessing. Why does the blessing […]
Just what was heard on Mt. Sinai? Our tradition offers several answers: that we heard the Ten Commandments in full, that we heard only the first two Commandments, that we heard only the sound of the first letter, the aleph of Anokhi. The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks wrote that each person heard something different. […]
“The Eternal said to Moses…. ‘None shall defile himself for any [dead] person among his kin’.… You shall not profane My holy name’” (Lev. 21:1, 22:32). The shocking experiences we have undergone and continue to undergo this year contain a double danger. Of the first danger, the physical danger of war, none of us needs […]
Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes. Five hundred, twenty five thousand moments so dear. Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year? Those are the opening lyrics of the song I like most from the musical, “Rent.” How do you measure, how do you count, and […]