The human capacity for avoiding uncomfortable truths is so very well-developed. Consider the time-tested, familiar, absolutely transparently false ways we get around what we don’t want to face: it’s someone else’s fault. I was busy and must have missed it. That can’t possibly be true. I was unavoidably detained. Circumstances conspired against me. You don’tContinue reading “Shabbat Hazon: Seeing”
Tag Archives: bible
Shabbat Matot-Masei: Go and Learn
These are the journeys of the people of Israel (Num. 33.1) These journeys are a hint to us of redemption, and they offer a means toward atonement. One who must move from one place to another must continue to find a way to study Torah in that new place. Your slogan for this: tze ulmad,Continue reading “Shabbat Matot-Masei: Go and Learn”
Shabbat Pinkhas: Could Be Worse
Could be worse; could be raining. Young Frankenstein וַיֹּ֨אמֶר ה’ אֵלַ֗י מָֽה־אַתָּ֤ה רֹאֶה֙ עָמ֔וֹס וָאֹמַ֖ר אֲנָ֑ךְ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר א’ הִנְנִ֨י שָׂ֤ם אֲנָךְ֙ בְּקֶ֙רֶב֙ עַמִּ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹא־אוֹסִ֥יף ע֖וֹד עֲב֥וֹר לֽוֹ׃ HaShem said unto me: ‘Amos, what seest thou?’ And I said: ‘A plumbline.’ Then said Hashem: Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of MyContinue reading “Shabbat Pinkhas: Could Be Worse”
Shabbat Balak: Truth We Are Not Ready For
The prescribed reading from our Torah for this Shabbat Balak in the third year of the Triennial Cycle brings us to an interesting opportunity to consider the uses of power. King Balak of Moab sees the Israelite people emigrating through his people’s self-determined territory, and is concerned: וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מוֹאָ֜ב אֶל־זִקְנֵ֣י מִדְיָ֗ן עַתָּ֞ה יְלַחֲכ֤וּ הַקָּהָל֙ אֶת־כׇּל־סְבִ֣יבֹתֵ֔ינוּContinue reading “Shabbat Balak: Truth We Are Not Ready For”
Shabbat BeHa’alot’kha: Yes, It Can Get Worse
Sometimes the brain freezes and all one can do is say oh no. Stay with me now, for a moment: Our parashat hashavua is an amazing snapshot of many different human emotions and actions. People complain, people gossip, people go about their lives; and all while living through the profound impact on their lives of escaping slavery, and nowContinue reading “Shabbat BeHa’alot’kha: Yes, It Can Get Worse”
Shabbat Naso: How To Count
We are two parshas into the book BaMidbar, “in the wilderness,” called in English “Numbers” for the simple (and reasonable) reason that the first part of the book is focused upon counting. How many Israelites of fighting age who can help defend the camp in the wilderness? How many of the various families of theContinue reading “Shabbat Naso: How To Count”
Shabbat BaMidbar: Into the Wilderness
Necessary Chaos In the wilderness your possessions cannot surround you. Your preconceptions cannot protect you. Your logic cannot promise you the future. Your guilt can no longer place you safely in the past. You are left alone each day with an immediacy that astonishes, chastens, and exults. You see the world as if for theContinue reading “Shabbat BaMidbar: Into the Wilderness”
Shabbat Emor: “Say” what?
today is Lag ba’Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the ‘Omer: הוד שבהוד hod sheh-b’hod, gratitude in gratitude Today is the minor Jewish holy day known simply as lag ba’omer, a name which is nothing but the way to vocalize today’s Jewish date: the 33rd day of the counting of the ‘Omer; לContinue reading “Shabbat Emor: “Say” what?”
Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: “after death, holiness.”
Regardless of what I might want to write about on this Shabbat, like any Torah commentator I am guided, bidden and challenged by the parashat hashavua, the assigned parashah of the week. This week it is a double parashah: Akharei Mot and Kedoshim, “after death” and “holiness.” This is a not-unusual pairing, but it seemsContinue reading “Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: “after death, holiness.””
Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: Seems To Me
Don’t Believe Everything You Think Our ancestors dealt with forces beyond their control just as we do; in this week’s parashah, which joins together the parshiyot called Tazria and Metzora, what we read according to the third year of the Triennial Cycle for Torah begins with some kind of moldy growth detected upon the wallsContinue reading “Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: Seems To Me”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 