Bronze balance pans and lead weights, Vapheio tholos tomb, Laconia. Late Helladic (LH) II (15th c. BCE) National Museum, Athens הֶֽעָשִׁ֣יר לֹֽא־יַרְבֶּ֗ה וְהַדַּל֙ לֹ֣א יַמְעִ֔יט מִֽמַּחֲצִ֖ית הַשָּׁ֑קֶל לָתֵת֙ אֶת־תְּרוּמַ֣ת ה’ לְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶֽםthe rich shall not pay more and the poor shall not pay less than half a shekel when giving an offering to HaShem toContinue reading “Shabbat Shekalim 5786: In The Balance”
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Shabbat Yitro: What Does the Voice of G*d sound like?
וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֵ֛ת כׇּל־הַדְּבָרִ֥ים הָאֵ֖לֶּה לֵאמֹֽר God spoke all these words, saying (Exodus 20.1) What does the voice of G*d sound like? One opinion out of Jewish tradition is that we cannot handle hearing the actual voice of HaShem. Literally, hearing the Voice of G*d is insupportable in human terms: “the Israelites’ souls departed fromContinue reading “Shabbat Yitro: What Does the Voice of G*d sound like?”
Shabbat BeShalakh 5786: What It Takes to Leave Egypt
Evil consists in ruining someone else’s life rather than examining 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 5786: What It Takes to Leave Egypt”
Shabbat Bo: No One Should Suffer; No One
שלא היה רוצה הקב”ה שיהיה פרעה בעינוי וצער לפניו the Holy Blessed One did not want Pharaoh to suffer – Gur Aryeh Ex.10.3 Our parashat hashavua brings us to the midst of plagues and confrontations. The suffering of the Egyptian people is increasing, and for whatever reason (conspiracy theories? miracles? scientific cause and effect? theContinue reading “Shabbat Bo: No One Should Suffer; No One”
VaEra 5786: We Will Be What We Will Be
In this week’s parashah HaShem and Moshe meet. HaShem reveals the divine essence in a mysterious phrase: Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh, which can be translated in many ways that all can be summarized as Being. Since ancient Hebrew did not express the idea of tense the way we expect in modern language, it’s possible that theContinue reading “VaEra 5786: We Will Be What We Will Be”
Shabbat Shemot: Standing up to Pharaoh
Renee Good: may her memory be a blessing “Tank Man” temporarily stops the advance of four Type 59 tanks on June 5, 1989, in Beijing. This photograph (one of six similar versions) was taken by Jeff Widener of the Associated Press. (Wikipedia) וַיָּ֥קׇם מֶֽלֶךְ־חָדָ֖שׁ עַל־מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יָדַ֖ע אֶת־יוֹסֵֽף A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. –Continue reading “Shabbat Shemot: Standing up to Pharaoh”
Shabbat VaYehi 5786: Fruitfulness and Forgetting
וַיְבָ֨רְכֵ֜ם בַּיּ֣וֹם הַהוּא֮ לֵאמוֹר֒ בְּךָ֗ יְבָרֵ֤ךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר יְשִֽׂמְךָ֣ אֱלֹהִ֔ים כְּאֶפְרַ֖יִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁ֑ה וַיָּ֥שֶׂם אֶת־אֶפְרַ֖יִם לִפְנֵ֥י מְנַשֶּֽׁה׃ [Jacob] blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: may Elohim make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. (Gen. 48.20) Blessing one’s children has been a regular part of theContinue reading “Shabbat VaYehi 5786: Fruitfulness and Forgetting”
Shabbat Hanukkah 5786: What Are The Odds?
“Courage is knowing you’re licked, and remaining steadfast until the very end anyway.” – Harper Lee One of those who didn’t stop to calculate her odds was Judith of Betulia, a heroine whose story is associated with Hanukkah. Her bravery was a favorite subject of Renaissance art. Pictured: Caravaggio’s “Judith beheading Holofernes” (Creative Commons) ThisContinue reading “Shabbat Hanukkah 5786: What Are The Odds?”
Shabbat VaYetze 5786: We Are All Diminished
“When a righteous person leaves a city, its glory, its splendour and its beauty depart from it.” (Rashi, citing Bereshit Rabbah 68.6) Our parashah begins in terror: Jacob is running from certain death. We put it in more elegant ways in different translations, but the truth is that our ancestor was a refugee, running away,Continue reading “Shabbat VaYetze 5786: We Are All Diminished”
Shabbat Hayye Sarah 5786: Times Are Hard
מצווה גוררת מצווה ועבירה גוררת עבירה, ששכר מצווה מצווה ושכר עבירה עבירה” (נפש החיים א, יב). It is as the Sages have said (Pirke Avot 4.2), “A mitzvah brings another mitzvah and a sin brings another sin, for the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the punishment for a sin is a sin”Continue reading “Shabbat Hayye Sarah 5786: Times Are Hard”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 