When Shabbat ended yesterday I saw what riveted the Jewish community in the U.S. and Israel all day: the entry of a human being, suffering from anger and in misery, into a shul during Shabbat livestream prayers. He held the human beings he found hostage all day. The day ended with all hostages safe andContinue reading “Pittsburgh, Poway, Colleyville”
Monthly Archives: January 2022
Shabbat BeShalakh: What It Takes To Get Across the Sea
Evil consists in ruining someone else’s life rather than examine one’s own. – M Scott Peck, People of the Lie As we follow Torah’s narrative of the Israelite escape from Egypt, this week’s parashah relates a tense, utterly human moment. It’s the well-known sense that often sets in immediately after one takes an irrevocable step,Continue reading “Shabbat BeShalakh: What It Takes To Get Across the Sea”
Shabbat Bo: “Come” to Pharaoh
“The self is not built to carry its own weight.” Social psychologist Roy Baumeister Our parashat hashavua is Bo, literally “come.” As we read at the beginning of the parashah: וַיֹּ֤אמֶר ה֙’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בֹּ֖א אֶל־פַּרְעֹ֑ה VaYomer HaShem el Moshe, “Bo el Par’oh.” HaShem said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh.” The word bo is the singularContinue reading “Shabbat Bo: “Come” to Pharaoh”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 