When God appears to Avraham in the beginning of this week’s parsha, what is Avraham doing? He is yoshev petah ha’ohel , “sitting in the opening of the tent,” ready to greet and welcome and honor whoever happens to come by. He sits in a posture of openness towards the world; if war comes, […]
Parashat Vayera: Inviting in Whoever Comes Read More »
Hashavat Aveidah. This mitzvah — to return lost objects to their owners —appears in this week’s parsha (Deuteronomy 22) as well as in Parashat Mishpatim and is the subject of much detailed halakhic discussion among the rabbis. While not taking away from the concrete aspect of the mitzvah, I want to offer an additional,
ESSAY: Returning Lost Parts (Parashat Ki Tetze) Read More »
We come into this world with a faint memory of having once been part of something much larger than ourselves. We have a vague sense of incompleteness, that we are missing something essential. We are hungry, but not for food, never quite satisfied, always yearning. We are deeply and relentlessly lonely, even when we
SHORT ESSAY: On Becoming Whole (Parashat Shoftim) Read More »
The most vulnerable in society are a primary concern in this week’s parsha — there is a constant refrain of taking care of the poor, the widow, the orphan, the male and female servant and the Levite, who, because he did not have a land portion, was dependent on others for his survival. This concern
SHORT ESSAY: The Poor in Your Midst (Parashat Re’eh) Read More »
“If there are two people and one of them honors you and the other disparages you, are they the same in your eyes or not?” This is the question that the kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak of Acco reports in the name of Rabbi Avner as being the essential question of equanimity, a state necessary in order
SHORT ESSAY: Getting Beyond Praise or Blame (Parashat Pinchas) Read More »
Venatan meimav. The rock will give its waters. This is how God instructs Moshe to get water for the thirsty people, how He wants things to work in His world: The rock will give its waters. You just have to ask for them, to speak gently to the rock, and the rock will unlock
SHORT ESSAY: Going with the Flow (Parashat Chukat) Read More »
Before I begin, I would like to thank my mother for graciously allowing me to write a guest blog on her blog this week and for her Torah which constantly inspires me. I would also like to to thank all my teachers at Yeshivat Maale Gilboa where I studied this year. Particularly, I am grateful
Guest Blog by Medad Lytton: Parshat Chukat-Balak Read More »
אל נא רפא נא לה El na refa na lah. O Lord, please heal her, please.(Numbers 12:13, in this week’s Torah portion) These five Hebrew words are Moshe’s prayer to God to heal his sister, Miriam, after she has been afflicted with leprosy as a divine punishment for speaking slanderously. The text tells us little
Parashat Beha’alotekha: On Healing Read More »
There is a lot of pain that is surfacing in our world, A lot of injustice and suffering and fear. There also continues to be a current of uncertainty and unease and even confusion. How does a person hold steady amidst it all, without denying either the suffering — of self and other — or
SHORT ESSAY: Shalom Is a Container (Parashat Naso) Read More »
Vayehi kol hashofar holekh vehazek me’od. The sound of the shofar blast on Mount Sinai is described as getting stronger and stronger. Rashi points out that this is a sign of its divine origin; when a human being makes a sound, the sound gradually gets weaker and weaker; only God’s sound keeps increasing in strength.
SHORT ESSAY: Getting Stronger (Parashat Yitro) Read More »