כל ישראל ערבים זה בזה “All Israel are guarantors for each other” (Talmud Bavli, Shevuot 39a). But a person cannot serve as a guarantor unless they is more resourceful in some way than the one they are guaranteeing. For example, a poor person obviously would not be accepted as a guarantor for a rich person’sContinue reading “Shabbat Nitzavim: Who Is The Jewish Community?”
Tag Archives: nitzavim
Shabbat Nitzavim: We Stand Together Even When Miles Apart
I’m so tired of “well this Jewish employee doesn’t do X so it can’t be a Jewish thing.” – tweeted on Thursday September 26 2019, 138 “likes” You don’t have to speak Twitter, understand “likes” or use social media at all to feel the frustration that prompted that posting. We Jews, and those whoContinue reading “Shabbat Nitzavim: We Stand Together Even When Miles Apart”
Shabbat Nitzavim-VaYelekh: Where Do You Stand?
Where do you stand as a Jew? On this Shabbat we are called upon to focus upon this question. Nitzavim means “to stand firm” and in these days, as we count down the final hours until Rosh HaShanah, this Shabbat is a moment of welcome quiet. Even as the students among us have just begunContinue reading “Shabbat Nitzavim-VaYelekh: Where Do You Stand?”
Shabbat Mishpatim: Equality Before the Law – For All of Us
Last week in parashat Yitro we stood together at Sinai, and entered into the covenant with our G-d as a community, all equally necessary, equally precious. The text itself expresses this in unspecific language: And Moses brought forth the people [et ha’am] out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the nether partContinue reading “Shabbat Mishpatim: Equality Before the Law – For All of Us”
Shabbat Nitzavim-VaYelekh: Standing Firm And Walking It Forward
We are reading a double parashah this week. The first of the two readings is called standing firm in place, and the second is walking, going forward, toward something. One teaching we can derive from the fact that these two parashot are often read together is that we are to be doing both of these apparentlyContinue reading “Shabbat Nitzavim-VaYelekh: Standing Firm And Walking It Forward”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 