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 →
The most dreaded words that a parent, teacher or guardian can here from one’s child, student or ward is “I am bored.” The rabbis of the Talmud long ago cautioned us against boredom as a state of mind that brings one to desolation, depression and even anti-social behavior. Now that the schools are out for the summer vacation the question of what to do with the young is a... READ MORE →
There is an old adage in both the Jewish and non-Jewish world which states something like this: “I can deal with my enemies but Lord please help me with my friends.” The problem figure in this week’s parsha is not so much Balak, who is easily identified as the enemy of the Jewish people, as it is Bilaam whose mouth utters soaring blessings and compliments to the Jews. ... READ MORE →
The Torah extols the value of truth as an absolute virtue. The Torah teaches us to stand firmly away from falsehood. Even though the technical application of this value in halacha is apparently limited to legal and evidentiary matters the value of truth in Judaism as a general axiom is unquestioned. Yet the Torah itself allows for the situations when ultimate truth can be... READ MORE →
