This Yom Kippur is the 40th anniversary of one of the most anxious days in recent Jewish history–the day Egypt and Syria launched coordinated attacks on the State of Israel, beginning the Yom Kippur War. I will be reflecting on that event and its impact on Israel Friday evening after Kol Nidre. As part of Continue Reading »
Read any section of the Torah carefully enough, and you will see literary genius at work. We’ll see a word appear again and again in a short passage, begging us to notice it as the central idea of that section. Then, we are beckoned to look closer, to see if there’s a pattern to the Continue Reading »
If you had been alive in the decade before the Civil War and living in this country, you would have been bound by a law that is in direct conflict with a mitzvah that appears in this week’s Torah portion, Ki-Tetzei. The mitzvah is: “You shall not turn over to his master a slave who seeks Continue Reading »
When the U.S. government announces that it has intercepted terror threats and puts us on higher security alert, do you feel more safe, or less so? Are you concerned that the threats may be over-hyped, and calculated to cause the public to be more afraid than we need to be? Or do you feel that Continue Reading »
Does Judaism permit us to believe that our children are perfect? Now that Jenny McCarthy is about to become a co-host on The View, we can expect that her unorthodox parenting philosophy will gain more attention. One of her beliefs is in the highly-dubious concept of Indigo and Crystal Children. According to this theory, some children Continue Reading »
It’s easy to forget amid the noise surrounding some of the candidates, but the New York mayoral race also includes some serious questions about the city’s future. As always, education reform is one of these questions. There’s a passage in the Talmud that addresses education reform that I’d like us to ponder this Shabbat, since Continue Reading »
Does Jewish law sanction Big Brother? In light of allegations made by the NSA whistle blower, Edward Snowden, that personal electronic communications are subject to government surveillance, halakhic experts have weighed in on the issue of privacy in Jewish law and ethics. One such expert is Rabbi David Golinkin, in his columnResponsa in a Moment. You can Continue Reading »
When it comes time to transfer leadership from one person to another, how should the community be involved? Does this take place in the private space, or in the public sphere? On this Shabbat of the installation of new officers at HHJC, I’d like to notice something that happens in our Torah portion, Hukkat. God tells Continue Reading »
On the surface, Korah had a good point. “All the community are holy, all of them, and the LORD is in their midst.” It’s the challenge that follows that marks Korah as a rebel: “Why then do you raise yourselves above the LORD’s congregation?” (Numbers 16:3). We might classify the tension in this week’s Torah Continue Reading »
The Book of Numbers, Sefer Bemidbar, is just one story after another of cranky Israelites challenging their leadership. Last week, we had the complaints about the menu options in the wilderness. This week, the scouts bring back a report that editorializes enough to send the people into a panic attack. Next week, Korah will attempt mutiny, Continue Reading »
