“an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” – Variously attributed to both the Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr, but also already expressed in the legislation of the ancient rabbis of the Talmud In this preparatory period which is the month of Elul, we are encouraged by our tradition to believeContinue reading “Shabbat Ki Tetze: Tit For Tat?”
Tag Archives: forgiveness
Shabbat of Sukkot 5778: the sukkah as reminder of the wilderness Mishkan
Sukkot begins five days after Yom Kippur. In the maftir Torah readings for Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur we have seen (in Numbers 29) a list of the holy days in chronological order, and what sacrifices our ancestors brought to mark each one. Numbers 29.1-6 refers to “the first day of the seventh month,” whichContinue reading “Shabbat of Sukkot 5778: the sukkah as reminder of the wilderness Mishkan”
Shabbat VaYishlakh: Gratitude, Not Fear
As Parashat VaYishlakh begins, Jacob survives a confrontation with his brother Esau, from whom he has been estranged for twenty years – a generation, a lifetime, of distance. Jacob has prepared himself for the worst, splitting his family into two camps and sending lavish gifts to his brother in advance – according to the Midrash, heContinue reading “Shabbat VaYishlakh: Gratitude, Not Fear”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 