Even the devil can quote Scripture This is the Third Shabbat of Consolation; as we move toward the High Holy Days of 5785, may we find the inner strength to believe in the possibility of positive change in ourselves, and in our world. אֵ֣ת כׇּל־הַדָּבָ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֤ר אָנֹכִי֙ מְצַוֶּ֣ה אֶתְכֶ֔ם אֹת֥וֹ תִשְׁמְר֖וּ לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת לֹא־תֹסֵ֣ף עָלָ֔יו וְלֹ֥אContinue reading “Shabbat Re’eh: Torah Against Occupation”
Monthly Archives: August 2024
Shabbat Ekev: What If You’re Mistaken?
Getting all judge-y אַל־תֹּאמַ֣ר בִּלְבָבְךָ֗ בַּהֲדֹ֣ף יְהֹוָה֩ אֱלֹהֶ֨יךָ אֹתָ֥ם ׀ מִלְּפָנֶ֘יךָ֮ לֵאמֹר֒ בְּצִדְקָתִי֙ הֱבִיאַ֣נִי ה’ לָרֶ֖שֶׁת אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַזֹּ֑את And when your God ‘ה has thrust them from your path, say not to yourselves, “יהוה has enabled us to possess this land because of our virtues”. (Devarim 9.4) This week is the second of Seven Weeks of Consolation,Continue reading “Shabbat Ekev: What If You’re Mistaken?”
Shabbat Nahamu: You Can’t Always Get What You Want
עֲלֵ֣ה ׀ רֹ֣אשׁ הַפִּסְגָּ֗ה וְשָׂ֥א עֵינֶ֛יךָ יָ֧מָּה וְצָפֹ֛נָה וְתֵימָ֥נָה וּמִזְרָ֖חָה וּרְאֵ֣ה בְעֵינֶ֑יךָ כִּי־לֹ֥א תַעֲבֹ֖ר אֶת־הַיַּרְדֵּ֥ן הַזֶּֽה׃ Go up to the summit of Pisgah and gaze about, to the west, the north, the south, and the east. Look at it well, for you shall not go across yonder Jordan. (Dev. 3.27) Moshe Rabbenu is held up inContinue reading “Shabbat Nahamu: You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
Shabbat Hazon: Facing It
With this week’s parashah we begin the last of the five books of the Torah, what our tradition also refers to as Torat Moshe, the Torah of Moshe. The entire book is a retrospective, a re-telling (the meaning of the word “deuteronomy”) of the epic myth of the Jewish people. We can tell it like a joke, that HaShemContinue reading “Shabbat Hazon: Facing It”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 