Thousands of years ago, a prophet appearing in our parashat hashavua, Bil’am ben Be’or, stood on a high place overlooking the tents of the people of Israel. He had been tasked with cursing the people, at the order of King Balak, who had hired him. Balak feared the presence of these immigrants at his border andContinue reading “Shabbat Balak: Do You Know Where You Stand? Do You Know Why?”
Monthly Archives: June 2018
Shabbat Shelakh L’kha: There Are People Living There
Once again, the scouts of Sh’lakh-L’kha are left holding the bag. Every year around this time we Jews who engage in weekly Torah study again reach this story, of the moment when our ancestors stood at the verge of the land they had traveled to find, the land of their ancestral home. Scouts sent aheadContinue reading “Shabbat Shelakh L’kha: There Are People Living There”
Shabbat BeHa’alot’kha: Lift It Up
Last week the parashah began with the command to lift up every face; this week, the word beha’alot’kha, “in your lifting up” refers to raising up the lights of the menorah, the seven-branched lamp designed by G*d, according to Jewish tradition, to illuminate the holy place. To lift up the face is to see theContinue reading “Shabbat BeHa’alot’kha: Lift It Up”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 