This Shabbat, as we read Parshat Vayeshev, we’ll hear words of Torah from someone else. In the meantime, I’m happy to give you food for thought for your Shabbat dinner conversation. Yosef, whose story will dominate the remaining four portions of the book of Bereshit, is known for his God-given talents in dream interpretation. It’s Continue Reading »
The Dinah episode is one of the most troubling narratives in the entire Torah. Ya’akov’s daughter ends up in an intimate relationship with Shekhem, who falls in love with her and wants to marry her. Dinah’s brothers convince Shekhem and his entire community of males that in order to have intimacy with the family of Continue Reading »
We are the descendants of of Ya’akov, and that’s not always an easy burden to bear. It’s tough enough to admire our patriarch for his sneaky behavior in pilfering dad’s blessing from his unwitting older twin brother Esav. We can put Ya’akov on trial and debate the appropriateness of his actions, but the episode still Continue Reading »
By the time God includes Avraham in the deliberations, the fate of Sodom has already been sealed. Or has it? God’s almost certain that the people of this city are so wicked that the city deserves to be destroyed. But before pulling the trigger, as it were, God has to check things out one last Continue Reading »
A health care worker returns from treating Ebola-infected patients, develops a low-grade fever upon returning to New York, and the city goes up in arms about where he bowled and ate meatballs. Why? Two local tween-age children–brothers originally from Senegal–were beaten up by schoolmates so viciously they had to be hospitalized. This after being taunted Continue Reading »
On this third consecutive day of rain, and given this week’s Torah portion, Noah, I’m getting a bit anxious. The weather has led me to this question: What was so bad about the human race that God was so disappointed in and enraged by it as to bring the devastating flood? The Bible says dor Continue Reading »
I write these words on the 13th commemoration of the terror attacks of September 11. We remember the many innocents who died on this date, and the many heroic first responders who charged into the heart of the flames in the hopes of saving fellow human beings. What does it mean for a person to Continue Reading »
Two weeks ago, I began my dvar Torah about religious fanaticism with a question for the community: “Did anyone watch the video of the beheading?” I was gratified that no one raised a hand, for a variety of reasons. Politically, we should not validate the vile propaganda campaign of Islamic State or any group committed Continue Reading »
“Tzedek tzedek tirdof–justice, justice shall you pursue” (Deuteronomy 16:20). In this week’s portion, Shoftim, we encounter one of the Torah’s most famous ethical imperatives. But ethical imperatives are not always easy to translate into concrete actions that everyone can agree fulfill the mission statement. For example, we might be fully confident that we are beneficiaries of Continue Reading »
The civilized world watched in horror as the radical jihadist group IS (Islamic State) released a video appearing to show the beheading of American photojournalist James Foley. In response, President Obama said this group “speaks for no religion…no faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just god would stand for what they did yesterday and Continue Reading »
