Taking advantage of what is, interestingly enough after all, only an arbitrary way of calculating a turning point in the counting of our days (why not solstice?), this is the time of year when our society focuses upon the idea of making new year’s resolutions. Jews practice a variation of this idea on Yom Kippur,Continue reading “Shabbat VaYekhi: Your New Day’s Resolution”
Monthly Archives: December 2017
Shabbat VaYigash: One Person, One Step
O, once again, what a week it has been in the United States of America. I feel so very fortunate to be part of a tradition much older and wiser than the 240-odd years of this nation’s development since its birth. Jews have lived under many forms of government and seen many, many examples ofContinue reading “Shabbat VaYigash: One Person, One Step”
Shabbat Miketz: Benefit of the Doubt
One of the Jewish ethics presented to us most powerfully by our parashat hashavua, and our week as a community, is this: khaf z’khut, “benefit of the doubt.” It is an important Talmudic teaching, and understood as a vital mitzvah of relationships, that we must always give someone the benefit of the doubt – even going outContinue reading “Shabbat Miketz: Benefit of the Doubt”
Shabbat VaYishlakh: #Dinah Too
A phrase is making the rounds on social media: #Me Too. It refers to women who are sharing their stories of sexual harrassment and abuse. A startlingly powerful wave of reaction is carrying off prominent men, one after the next, with breathtaking rapidity. And some of us watch with an uneasy feeling, wondering: where willContinue reading “Shabbat VaYishlakh: #Dinah Too”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 