Every year, immediately before Rosh Hashanah, the weekly Torah readings fit the occasion so appropriately. On this final Shabbat of 5777, we read at the beginning of our two parshiyot, Nitzavim-Vayelekh: “You are all standing this day before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, every man of Continue Reading »
As I enter my 13th year as the rabbi of this wonderful community, I often recall my first Yom Kippur here. We were clobbered all day leading up to Kol Nidre with relentless rain, and by the end of services that evening, we discovered that the shul building was taking on water. There was a flood in Continue Reading »
We have been overwhelmed by the images from Houston and other Gulf communities in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. So much has been lost, including lives, in the flooding. There is so much that cannot be replaced, but we’ve also been inspired by the sights of volunteers all across the country packing trucks with supplies Continue Reading »
Several weeks ago, when we learned about ‘arei miklat, the cities of refuge, we underscored how important it was to the theology of Biblical Israel to avenge all spilled blood. That makes the final topic covered in this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, truly fascinating. It’s the ritual of the ‘eglah ‘arufah, which is a response to finding a Continue Reading »
For the second time already in his farewell discourse, Moshe instructs the people what to do when they inevitably encounter idolatrous shrines upon conquering the Promised Land. On the heels of 7:5, we learn this week in Parshat Reeh: “You must destroy all the sites at which the nations you are to dispossess worshiped their gods…Tear Continue Reading »
In just a few days, we will commemorate Tish’ah B’Av, a day of mourning for cumulative national trauma. Most notably, we remember the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem. The hurban represents not only the demolition of a building, but of the sovereign society at whose epicenter the Temple stood. But we are here to commemorate it, which means Continue Reading »
In the ancient world, the spilling of blood was cause for spilling more blood. That’s why murderers were killed, either executed by the courts in capital punishment, or if they fled, by a relative of the initial victim in an act of blood vengeance. The institution of cities of refuge, ‘arei miklat, is mentioned in a Continue Reading »
One of the Torah’s most entertaining scenes is the confrontation between the prophet Bil’am and his talking ass. Bil’am, a prophet considered to be the gentile prophetic equal to Moshe, Balak, king of Moav, to curse the otherwise unstoppable Israelites. As he rides his long-serving animal up the hill to get a better view of Continue Reading »
To his credit, right after getting a pink slip from God, Moshe continues to lead the Israelites. If he can’t get into the Promised Land, he can at least bring them closer. His first action after being told his fate is to send messengers to the King of Edom. After reminding him of what Israel Continue Reading »
When Moshe first hears the accusations of Korah, he has an extreme physical reaction: “He fell on his face” (Numbers 16:4). As the complaints mount up against him and Aharon, God has had enough, and warns the two leaders, “Stand back from this community that I may annihilate them in an instant” (16:21). What is Continue Reading »
