יום שישי, ד׳ תמוז תשפ״וFriday, June 19, 2026
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Rabbi Francis Nataf (www.francisnataf.com) is a veteran Tanach educator who has written an acclaimed contemporary commentary on the Torah entitled “Redeeming Relevance.” He teaches Tanach at Midreshet Rachel v'Chaya and is Associate Editor of the Jewish Bible Quarterly. He is also Translations and Research Specialist at Sefaria, where he has authored most of Sefaria's in-house translations, including such classics as Sefer HaChinuch, Shaarei Teshuva, Derech Hashem, Chovat HaTalmidim and many others. He is a prolific writer and his articles on parsha, current events and Jewish thought appear regularly in many Jewish publications such as The Jewish Press, Tradition, Hakira, the Times of Israel, the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Action and Haaretz.
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Ideally, it should be something we do in every aspect of our spiritual lives. Nevertheless, its most common use is to refer to the growth one experiences in intense Torah study.
It is well known that, by working together, people can accomplish far more than if they work apart. This is also true in the spiritual world and is presumably part of the reason a minyan is required for public Torah reading, priestly blessings, repeating the amidah, etc.
Of course, Yosef wasn’t planning on Yehudah’s powerful speech bringing him to his knees and forcing him to reveal himself as their long-lost brother. Hence, he had to come up with a new plan.
Even if it may have been clear to both men that theirs was the only way to assure any type of future, the isolation and opposition they must have encountered (as explored in many Midrashim) would have brought down anyone lacking the legendary fortitude of these two heroes.
Yisrael, of course, is the name of (or, at least, one of the names of) our forefather. Given that the Torah explains why Yaakov received this name, it should be easier to understand why we, too, are called by that name.
The theological questions from October 7 appear to be answering themselves in a way we can more readily understand.
Rebbe Akiva. He is the Jewish hero par excellence, which means that, on some level, his life story encapsulates the values and ideals of the Jewish people. And yet, perhaps not coincidentally, he lived in the shadow of death.
While his voice was heard, and it is still heard, it was not heard loudly enough; and so, his vision still remains marginal to most discussions, whether between the religious and secular or amongst the religious themselves.
Involving our bodies in the holiness of looking for chametz or preparing for Shabbat is something that can become a habit. That is not to say that we shouldn’t use our minds to superimpose even greater meaning on these actions while we perform them. But it does mean that accustoming our bodies to do good things has value unto itself
More than one scholar has noted the absence of self-critique in ancient literature of all peoples except the Jews.
the Talmud speaks about His presence moving away from the Temple only gradually during its last days. So would it not have made more sense for G-d’s presence to also come down gradually while the Tabernacle was being builtT
In the last hundred years, we hear Western intellectuals speaking more and more about a fragmented world. They feel that one can no longer hold on to some grand cultural narrative of truth.
It seems like no coincidence, then, that we read Esther and Ruth at the beginning and end of this period in the year.
We are now entering the season of faith-building that begins at Purim and ends at Pesach. More than at any time in our calendar, it is a season when we remember the long-term
Nadav and Avihu don’t only teach us about how to relate to God, but also how to relate to each other
Adar has become a very beloved month to the Jews. I say become, because I don't think it was necessarily always that way.
Perhaps it is the nature of debate that blinds many from the wisdom of the opposing position, but our sages clearly advocated both approaches simultaneously.
There is one great payback to mentoring. It brings one a certain type of immortality even in this world.
Just as there are no two more similar stories than the respective exiles of Yaakov and Moshe, it is hard to find two more disparate parallels than the roles of their respective fathers-in-law.
" I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." Henry David Thoreau
While I respect many of the moral accomplishments of the West, I believe that Judaism still has much to offer in critique of the West’s many remaining failings.
Historical perspective should humble us. It should make us realize how little we understand the true nature of what is going on around us. But it should also make us realize that things truly worthwhile have a staying power.
Even as Western society has become uncomfortable with religion, it has also become increasingly uncomfortable with its own discomfort.
The sum of the whole is greater than the sum of the parts
To understand why we don't see people like these anymore, it is worth pointing out that Rosenzweig and especially Weil could be described as “Renaissance men.”
Most focus on the writing of the corpus of the oral Torah (which may actually not have happened until later). Yet much more significant was how he organized its contents, something one might easily dismiss as merely technical.
Ya’akov is the patriarch that reached the pinnacle of the early Biblical period by combining the strengths of both his father and grandfather and raising all thirteen of his children to follow in his footsteps.
Though many of us remain focused on Israel’s current war, the more general polarization in Israeli society and throughout much of the world that preceded it and continues to serve as its backdrop should be an even greater concern.
Even if we have a theoretical understanding of the sort of mighty and absolute monarch used as a metaphor for G-d, it is very distant from our actual experience.
There is no more meaningful relationship than the relationship of someone who teaches Torah with their students. And yet, no student is the same as their teacher.
While Moshe saw all the Jews as one whole, it was the ones in front of him who served as the representatives for all those who had lived and would live in the future.
Many commentators wonder why not proffering bread and water is considered such a great crime
The Torah standard for the conviction of criminals is set much higher than in most contemporary systems of law
The reward matches the challenge.
NEVER lose sight of the gol
...And Why You Might Have Thought Otherwise
The Land of Israel being the ideal homeland of the Jews is that it is the only one. It is ideal, and nowhere else
once Aharon dies and they confront the king of Arad, they decide upon a different journey in which they will enter Israel through the “side door.”
How important are failed plans and plots, such that the Torah needs to mention any of them at all?
When God gets angry at the people, all Moshe can do is fall on his face in grief at his own responsibility about what was happening-- But Moshe doesn’t stay on his face for long.
Being a real hero is not just about what we do, it is also about when we do it.
One may then raise the question of why should Moshe have gotten married to begin with
The Kohen is the one who will accompany these three alienated individuals and, by so doing, become their connection to the rest of society.
Judging from the sources in the Talmud, there is more than a tinge of ambivalence about the non-Jews being left out of Matan Torah. Though the Talmud was written in the context of a nascent Christianity that preached a gospel to all men, it was likely more than this that prompted the rabbis to justify […]
Since historical events like these have the potential to challenge our faith, they create a religious imperative to search for God’s loving hand even in the face of tragedy and sorrow. That is an important part of R. Akiva’s legacy as well as that of R. Shimon’s.
As we continue to speak less, we will continue to have less room for defilement… and for sanctity
The reason movement is so important is that it is the basis of action; and it is ultimately this G-d-like ability to act that is equated with life.
It is well known that one of the causes for tzara’at is evil speech... However, the far more powerful example of the power of speech is the Torah’s conditioning the legal existence of tzara’at upon the priest’s declaration.
it seems hard to understand how the rabbis could come right back with the conclusion that Nadav and Avihu were greater than Moshe and Aharon
Exposure to evil prevents us from an illusion of pleasant stability--and stability is the very thing that prevents the good from getting better.
The incense that burned on this altar has always attracted special interest for its unusual life-giving properties
The measure of things...
In Judaism, quantification is everywhere. That is because halacha understands that just like offering too low a price for an object belittles it, so too does effort incommensurate with the value of an ethical act belittle it as well.
I believe that the Torah is telling us something more nuanced. I think it is telling us that God wants the people to listen to Moshe even when he is wrong!
Throughout history, the Jews have not had many friends Faced with a hostile world, when they came across a truly righteous gentile, it was a bit of a surprise. Rare indeed was the gentile who would be kind not only to his fellows but also to the Jew. Thus, when the Jews met a highly […]
Leading by example must be calculatedly visible, not only from a point of view of where it is done, but even when and how it is done. Doing something privately is not an act of leadership.
The experience of the generation that came out of Egypt shows us that the clarity we think we so much want from God would actually hurt us more than it would help us.
Moshe’s complaint to God is that even though he would have the best human understanding of the Divine will, he had difficulty bringing it down to regular people.
While there is an important place for reflecting about past mistakes, that is only with regards to preparing ourselves to do better in the future.
Neither Yosef nor Yehudah panicked. They did not know how the next parsha would begin, but they did know that the larger story had to have a happy ending.
Do "clothes make the woman"?
Ya'akov's youth resembles that of his passive and isolated[…] father, his adult life resembles the trials and tribulations of Abraham among the nations.
If we are constantly looking for the ideal, we may never find it, but if we start doing the possible, we may find that the ideal is just down the road
One thing that is clear from this war is that Hamas must be taken out of the picture. It is not that we did not know before this that they were intent upon the destruction of the Jewish state. Rather, the calculation was whether they could be contained at a lower cost than having to uproot them.
I am convinced that meeting Yitzchak was a much more intense experience than meeting Avraham.
I want to suggest at least two important and clearly positive effects of this war that – short of open miracles and/or suspending human free will, both of which go against the rules the dominant voice within Jewish tradition understands as central to how God runs the world – were otherwise basically impossible
Interestingly, it is not one of the fruits for which the Torah praises the Land of Israel. So, it is no surprise that the custom of eating apples on Rosh Hashana did not originate in Israel but in France or Germany.
We should remember that though Avraham was the first Jew, Yitzchak was the first born Jew. In other words, a certain paradigm of Jewish existence is created by Yitzchak’s birth, a birth in total contradiction to the physical reality of other men.
What does this have to do Yom Kippur?
This inability to understand others with whom we disagree underlies the polarization in Israel today
The Torah is not saying that all Jews need this. Rather since some Jews need law enforcement, the Jewish nation will require it as a whole.
How might Moshe looked back upon his life? Ironically, the man unsurpassed in so many ways may actually have seen himself as a failure. Yet that is certainly the impression one gets from reading through most of this book.
The concept of “Beshert" in life
This is not to say that there is no such thing as a wrong turn. Though we can even learn from a mistaken path, we have good reason to want to avoid it.
While the Torah is more frequently compared to water, it is also called an esh dat (fiery law). Fire takes coarse matter and turns it into something lighter that rises towards the heavens.
One doesn’t die from a question
we need to first discuss the logical problem posed by chametz.
The Torah is based on the spot-on premise that basic features of the human condition remain constant throughout history
Purim provides just enough time to engage with the fascinating ideas and narrative of Megillat Esther.
By using humor, he could bring home what simple study in a beit midrash could not.
Apparently, God is only actively engaged when man is conscious of Him
Wishing you a joyous Chanukah
When we climb a ladder, skipping a step is a near impossibility. That, of course, is a great analogy for our spiritual lives.
If I am indeed correct that each of the four descriptions of Yitzchak represents a different aspect of the test and Avraham is only congratulated for two, could it not be that Avraham did not pass the two aspects of the test that went unmentioned?
It is a time to go back to our human roots and to seek the novelty that God implanted within us
Some people get angry at the Jewish calendar. It takes away their ability to decide when they want to rejoice, when they want to mourn and when they want to repent. While narrowing our choices is true of halacha in general, there is something about the calendar that can feel especially oppressive. But even without […]
“I have learned much from my teachers and even more from my friends, but from my students I have learned most of all” (Taanit 7a).
The most outstanding Torah scholar may not be the greatest mentor and visa-versa. It is wonderful (and convenient) when we can find someone, who is “one-stop shopping.” Yet the story of Rav Kahana shows us that life is not always so tidy.
The pernicious difficulty of keeping self-love in check and not having it warp the way in which we see others is brought to our attention in the story of R. Elazar
Wishing all a Happy New Year-but when?
When it came to the “Jewish question,” Achashverosh seemed to be completely neutral. So how could he be as bad as the man who destroyed the Temple?
The goal is not to have God do what we want, but rather to do what He wants and thereby sanctify Him in the world. Often, that is accomplished by praying, but sometimes it is better accomplished by not praying – we are to look to halacha to tell us which situation is which
No matter how real the tragedy is on the human plane, it ultimately ends up being only like a play – tragic while the actors are on the stage, but readily put into a larger context when they step off.
The alchemy of teshuva: Turning lead into GOLD.
