הערכת הזכות ליכנס לארץ-ישראל היכולת של האדם להטביע את האכזבות האישיות שלו ואפילו את האסונות בתמונה הכללית של החיים היהודיים החיוביים ושל המשימה היהודית, מקבלת ביטוי עז בתגובה של משה לסירוב של הקב"ה... READ MORE →
The ability to somehow subsume one’s own personal disappointments and even tragedies into the general picture of positive Jewish life and mission is vividly illustrated in Moshe’s response to God’s refusal to allow him to enter into the Land of Israel. Moshe does not accept the decree in a stoic, ‘what is the use’ manner but he instead uses it to impress upon the... READ MORE →
ישנם בתלמוד מקרים רבים שבהם חז"ל שואלים אם סוג מסוים של התנהגות מותר לחלק מהיהודים, מדוע איננו מותר לכולם? התלמוד והתורה עצמה מכירים בכך שיש נסיבות יוצאות מהכלל, שיש לחצים חריגים ודעות שונות שצריך לקחת בחשבון,... READ MORE →
There are numerous instances in the Talmud when the rabbis state that if a certain item of behavior is permissible to some Jews then why is it not permissible to all? The Talmud and the Torah itself recognizes exceptional circumstances, unusual pressures, differing opinions that need be taken into account but the Talmud never advocated differing standards of halachic... READ MORE →
חזון ישראל ישנם חזיונות וישנם סיוטים. בפרשת השבוע ובהפטרה שלה אנחנו מקבלים קצת משניהם. כשמשה מתחיל את הנאום האחרון הגדול שהוא נושא בפני עמו האהוב, הוא מזהיר את העם מפני סכנות עתידיות ומזכיר לו את השגיאות... READ MORE →
There are visions and there are nightmares. This week’s parsha and haftorah provides us with a little of both. As Moshe begins his final great oration to his beloved people he warns of the dangerous future and reminds the people of the tragic and costly errors of the past. Moshe is the person of vision. He is shown the entire story of the Jewish people throughout all... READ MORE →
Though the month of Av carries with a title – menachem – meaning comfort and consolation, it nevertheless remains the saddest and most disturbing month of the Jewish calendar. Comfort is a great and necessary word but as a true concept and reality it is very difficult to obtain. This is particularly true for individuals reeling from the loss of a beloved one but it is... READ MORE →
The reading of the book of Bamidbar concludes this week with the parshiyot of Matot and Masei. Jews are inveterate travelers. The long exile that we have suffered has of necessity forced us to travel a great deal. There is almost no place in the world that we have not visited, settled and eventually moved from to a different location. Thus the recording of all of the travels and... READ MORE →
Jews are good at mourning. We have had a lot of practice doing so over the many past centuries and certainly over this last past one. Jewish suffering, many times accepted with stoicism, nevertheless was immortalized in the rituals and traditions of the liturgy and practices of Jewish life. This week marked the beginning of a three week period of mourning which will culminate on... READ MORE →
The Jewish people go to war against Midian in this week’s parsha. This war can be described as a preventive war – striking before the enemy strikes again against you – and even as a war of revenge and punishment over the culpability of Midian in the death of twenty four thousand Jews due to their willful planned seduction by the women of Midian. In this war the... READ MORE →
