Monthly Archives: November 2023

There are two concepts in Jewish law that help to frame it all: להתחילה l’hat’khilah and בדיעבד b’di’avad.  L’hat’khilah captures the Jewish mindset of the Ideal – we might express it using a phrase like “all things being equal” or just “ideally”. In halakhah, the Jewish path of life, it expresses the sense of howContinue reading “Shabbat VaYetze: She’arit Yisrael”

Summoning Light from Darkness The human eye has a white surface surrounding a black pupil. Contrary to what you might expect, we do not see with the white of the eye but with the black part. Rabbenu Bahya, BaMidbar 8.2.3 Judaism is an ancient tradition, and to belong to it is to know that no matter what is happeningContinue reading “Shabbat VaYera:”