Anti-Zionism: The Language of the Oppressor In this week’s parashah a woman must discern how best to move within the patriarchal tribal system in which she has found herself. Our Torah narrative depicts her as smart and courageous, and, finally, victorious as well – and she manages not only to survive but to prevail byContinue reading “Shabbat VaYeshev: To Dwell In Safety”
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Shabbat VaYetze: She’arit Yisrael
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”
Shabbat VaYera:
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:”
From Whence Our Help
The established leadership of the American Jewish community is freaking out. Why is the response to the horrific events of October 7 2023 in some ways more extreme here than in Israel? For some time now I’ve been convinced that we are in transition to a new Third Era of Jewish life; that as aContinue reading “From Whence Our Help”
The Mashiakh Is Not Coming
“If you have a sapling in your hand, and someone should say to you that the Messiah has come, stay and complete the planting, and then go to greet the Messiah.” –Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai (Avot de Rabbi Nathan, 31b) With all due respect to Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, their most famous creation, Superman, isContinue reading “The Mashiakh Is Not Coming”
Yom Kippur 5784: Ethics of the Apocalypse
Introduction: something’s burning The time is urgent. As our ancestors put it in that ancient compendium of ethical sound bites called Pirke Avot, רַבִּי טַרְפוֹן אוֹמֵר, הַיּוֹם קָצָר וְהַמְּלָאכָה מְרֻבָּה, וְהַפּוֹעֲלִים עֲצֵלִים, וְהַשָּׂכָר הַרְבֵּה, וּבַעַל הַבַּיִת דּוֹחֵק Rabbi Tarfon said: The day is short and the work is much, and the workers are lazy, andContinue reading “Yom Kippur 5784: Ethics of the Apocalypse”
Shabbat Ki Tavo: You Need Ritual
וְהָיָה֙ כִּֽי־תָב֣וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר֙ ה’ אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֖הּ וְיָשַׁ֥בְתָּ בָּֽהּ When you come into the land that your God ‘ה is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it (Deut. 26.1) The start of this week’s parashah records a very early (as far as our evidence goes) exampleContinue reading “Shabbat Ki Tavo: You Need Ritual”
Shabbat Ki Tetze: It’s Uncertain Out There
וּכְתַבְתָּ֛ם עַל־מְזֻז֥וֹת בֵּיתֶ֖ךָ וּבִשְׁעָרֶֽיךָ׃ {ס} inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deut. 6.9) Our parashat hashavua this week is ki tetze, “if you go out”. We go out of many realities: from sleep to waking, from a safe space to the uncertainty of the Outside, and from our own sense ofContinue reading “Shabbat Ki Tetze: It’s Uncertain Out There”
Shabbat Shoftim: If Not Now, When?
וְיִגַּ֥ל כַּמַּ֖יִם מִשְׁפָּ֑ט וּצְדָקָ֖ה כְּנַ֥חַל אֵיתָֽן׃ But let justice well up like water, Righteousness like a torrential river. (Amos 5.24) We are appropriately proud of our prophetic tradition and its insistence upon “just balances, just weights, a just efah, and a just hin” (Lev. 19.36) in our business dealings, as well as the social imperativeContinue reading “Shabbat Shoftim: If Not Now, When?”
Shabbat Re’eh: Blessings and Curses – what can you see from here?
רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃ See, this day I set before you blessing and curse (Deuteronomy 11.26) Our parashat hashavua is the last before the month of Elul, in which we prepare spiritually for the High Holy Days. It starts as plainly and starkly as possible: Look. The word ראה re’eh in HebrewContinue reading “Shabbat Re’eh: Blessings and Curses – what can you see from here?”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 