The book of Vayikra concludes this week with the Torah reading of Bechukotai. It presents rather stark choices to us. Blessings and disasters are described and it is apparently our behavior, actions and lifestyles – all of which are within our range of life choices – that will determine our individual fate and national future. It appears to be an all or nothing scenario with the Torah... READ MORE →
May 1 is the most sacred and significant day of the year on the calendar of the universal Left. It was, and in certain countries still is, the day of the Red Flag and the marching parade of millions of workers and the proletariat throughout the world. In the halcyon days of the Soviet Union, terrible and aggressive weapons of destruction were paraded before the eyes of the world in Red Square... READ MORE →
The emphasis that the Torah places on the location – Mount Sinai – where Moshe received the Torah and its commandments, and the particular commandment regarding the observance of a sabbatical year, has been an issue of much interest to the commentators on the Torah over the ages. Rashi, quoting the famous rabbinic dictum, states that the words “Mount Sinai” indicate to us that just as... READ MORE →
There are numerous thoughts in rabbinic literature expressed as to the intent of the Torah in banning kohanim – the priestly male descendants of Aharon – from coming into contact with the deceased. Ramban exposits that it is the “ordinary” Jew, so to speak, the non-kohein, who is immersed in the daily material existence of competitive life that requires constant reminders of one’s own... READ MORE →
All children grow up and hopefully mature into independent, self-sufficient and productive adults. The Torah itself advocates this process when it states that “therefore every man shall leave his father and mother” in order to marry and build one's own home and family. Growing up is often a painful process for both parents and children. I have often advocated the idea that everyone should... READ MORE →
There is no way that anyone can completely shut the door of one’s religious Jewish home to exclude the influences of prevailing culture from entering our living quarters and influencing our families. The zeitgeist – the prevailing culture of the time and place -has always been a powerful and sometime detrimental force in Jewish history. It was the existing zeitgeist of rampant and... READ MORE →
בספרות הפרשנית מוצעות כמה וכמה תשובות לשאלה מה הרעיון שעומד מאחורי האיסור של התורה על הכוהנים, צאצאיו של אהרון, לבוא במגע עם המתים. התשובה של הרמב"ן מציעה את התובנה שהיהודי "הרגיל", הלא-כהן, זה ששקוע בקיום החומרי של... READ MORE →
כל הילדים גדלים, כך אנחנו מקווים, ונעשים לאנשים בוגרים עצמאים ויצרנים שיודעים להסתדר בכוחות עצמם. התורה עצמה דוגלת בתהליך הזה כשהיא אומרת לנו "על כן יעזוב איש את אביו ואת אמו" כדי לשאת אישה ולבנות את ביתו ומשפחתו. אך לא... READ MORE →
התורה שלנו מתארת את עצמה כתורת חיים. אפשר לפרש את הביטוי הזה בדרכים שונות. הוא יכול להתייחס לעובדה שהתורה נצחית, תוססת ומתחדשת תמיד, מקור ומעיין של חיים – זאת תורת חיים. אך לפי לדעתי הביטוי הזה מבקש לומר שהיא גם, אם לא... READ MORE →
The Torah describes itself as a Torat chayim - a Torah of life and living. There are many possible interpretations of this phrase. It can refer to the fact that the Torah is eternal, vibrant and ever renewing, the source and fountain of life – that it is a living Torah. However to my mind, this phrase implies that it is also, if not even primarily so, the Torah of practicality and reality. ... READ MORE →
