Rosenzweig and Weil are Dead
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.”
Redeeming Relevance: Trail Flies and the Human Condition
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.
Listening to Others so God Will Listen to Us
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.
Redeeming Relevance: The Limits of Torah Legacies
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.
Redeeming Relevance: Moshe’s Speech to Jews Living Today
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.
Levinas, Ammon, and Moav: On the Neutral Neighbor
Many commentators wonder why not proffering bread and water is considered such a great crime
Of Witnesses, Keruvim, and Clones
The Torah standard for the conviction of criminals is set much higher than in most contemporary systems of law
Ending Poverty, the Torah Way
The reward matches the challenge.
Parshat Eikev: Can the Torah Exaggerate?
NEVER lose sight of the gol
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Ve’etchanan :Why You Don’t Need to Worship Idols
...And Why You Might Have Thought Otherwise
The Torah’s Insists Uganda is for the Ugandans
The Land of Israel being the ideal homeland of the Jews is that it is the only one. It is ideal, and nowhere else
Reading Between the Lines
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.”
Redeeming Relevance: Parshat Balak: What You Don’t Know Won’t Hurt You?
How important are failed plans and plots, such that the Torah needs to mention any of them at all?
What to do When Our Decisions Bring Casualties
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.
When Silence is NOT Golden
Being a real hero is not just about what we do, it is also about when we do it.
Moshe and the Missing Matriarch
One may then raise the question of why should Moshe have gotten married to begin with
The Place of the Displaced, the Replaced, and the Misplaced
The Kohen is the one who will accompany these three alienated individuals and, by so doing, become their connection to the rest of society.
Why Weren’t the Non-Jews Under the Mountain?
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....
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, an “Accident” of History
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.
The Word
As we continue to speak less, we will continue to have less room for defilement… and for sanctity
Words that Define Reality and the Benefits of Saying Maybe
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.
Knowledge and Wisdom
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
A Bad Sin and a Good Drash
Peshat vs. Drash
Gan Eden, The Temple, and Shushan HaBirah
Dressing up
The Benefits of the Evil Amongst Us
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 Torah’s Atomic Weapon
The incense that burned on this altar has always attracted special interest for its unusual life-giving properties
The Symbolism of Incompleteness and its Truth
The measure of things...
Can an Angel Be Wrong?
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!
The Good Midianite
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...
Follow the Leader: The Legacy of Nachshon Ben-Aminadav
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.
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