כשעזבתי את שיקגו והתרחקתי מבית הוריי, אמי דאגה תמיד להמשך ההתפתחות האינטלקטואלית שלי. כדי לאפשר לי להיות מעודכן בענייני דיומא, היא נהגה לשלוח לי בדואר את גיליונות השבועון "טיים" מהחודש שעבר. תמיד התרשמתי מהעובדה שכאשר... READ MORE →
In truth, our mother Sarah, like many other mothers past and present in Jewish life, has not quite received her due. Rashi, quoting Midrash in describing Sarah’s life, states that all the years of Sarah’s life were “for good.” He must mean “for good” in a spiritual and holy sense, for in her physical worldly life there was little good that she experienced. Wandering over the Middle... READ MORE →
When I moved away from Chicago and further from my parents, my mother was ever fearful for my continued intellectual development. In order to allow me to be wise about current events she would send to me by mail the previous month’s collection of TIME magazines. I was always impressed by the fact that when I read these magazines weeks after their time sensitive publication, I invariably found... READ MORE →
The story of the miraculous birth of Yitzchak to his ninety-year-old mother Sarah is not only one of the highlights of the parsha but it is one of the foundation narratives of all of Jewish history. Without Yitzchak there simply isn’t a Jewish people. The birth of Yitzchak is one of the triumphal moments of Jewish life, a reflection of God’s mercy and guidance in creating His special... READ MORE →
In the highly charged urban setting in which most of us currently live, there always is background noise in our lives. Traffic, honking horns, noisy pedestrians, exuberant children, strange and mostly unintelligible public announcements blared from automobiles with public address systems…. are all omnipresent. There was a period of time here in Israel when we were a much smaller country and... READ MORE →
בפרשת השבוע התורה עוזבת את הסיפור הכללי של האנושות ומתחילה להתמקד בסיפור הפרטי של הקמת האומה היהודית. סיפורם של אברהם ושרה על כל הקשיים, האתגרים, הבדידות והחיפוש הרוחני הוא לבה של פרשת לך לך וגם של הפרשה הבאה. סיפור... READ MORE →
בדרך כלל אני לא נוטה לפרש נבואות או לעסוק בחזיונות משיחיים או אפוקליפטיים. אך לאחרונה למדתי שוב את ספר יחזקאל ולא יכולתי שלא לחשוב שרבות מן הנבואות שמתועדות בחלק האמצעי של הספר מזכירות במידה מבהילה את האירועים... READ MORE →
I am not usually given to interpreting prophecy or dealing with messianic and/or apocalyptic visions. However, I have recently been reviewing the book of the prophet Yechezkel and could not help but think that many of the prophecies recorded in the middle section of the book are eerily similar to events that are occurring in our present day Middle Eastern part of the world. The prophet... READ MORE →
The Torah now proceeds from the general and universal story of humankind to concentrate on the particular and individual story of the founding of the Jewish people. The story of Avraham and Sarah, their difficulties and challenges, their loneliness and spiritual quest, form the essence of this parsha and the next one as well. In this life story they create the prototype for all later Jewish and... READ MORE →
There always is an emotional and even physical letdown that people experience immediately after the departure of the glorious holiday-laden month of Tishrei. Here in Israel the daylight hours become shorter, especially with the change of the clock to wintertime. The blessing of the rainy season begins to manifest itself, and it is time for flu shots and other such joys. And since this year of... READ MORE →
