תשעת הימים שלפני האבל על נפילת ירושלים וחורבן בית המקדש הגיעו. השבת הזאת, שתמיד מקדימה את תשעה באב עצמו, נקראת על שם ההפטרה מהנביא ישעיהו שאנחנו קוראים בבית הכנסת. הנביא מגנה את תחלואי החברה של תקופתו, החברה שבה הוא חי:... READ MORE →
The nine days of mourning for Jerusalem’s fall and the destruction of the Temples are upon us. This Shabat, which always precedes Tisha B’Av itself, takes its name from the haftorah of the prophet Yeshayahu read in the synagogue. The words of the prophet condemn the social ills of his times and society – governmental corruption, economic unfairness and a lack of legal and social justice.... READ MORE →
The fourth book of the Torah – Bamidbar – concludes in this week’s public Torah reading. The new generation of Jews, no longer the slave generation that left Egypt hastily and constantly longed to return there when faced with problems and difficulties, stands poised to enter the Land of Israel and fulfill God’s covenant with Avraham. However here again, narrow personal interests becloud... READ MORE →
הספר הרביעי בתורה, ספר במדבר, מסתיים בקריאת התורה של השבוע הזה. הדור החדש של בני ישראל, כבר לא דור העבדים שיצא ממצרים בחיפזון וכל הזמן השתוקק לחזור לשם כשנתקל בבעיות ובקשיים, עומד מוכן להיכנס לארץ-ישראל ולקיים את הברית... READ MORE →
The Lord promises Pinchas that most valuable and yet the constantly elusive gift – the blessings of the covenant of peace. The world has known very little peace over the long millennia of human existence. Strife and conflict, war and violence, have been the staples of human existence from time immemorial. Many historians and social scientists maintain that war and violence are the natural and... READ MORE →
There is an eternal debate amongst philosophers and criminologists as to whether the mob boss or the actual hit man is most culpable in the murder of a rival gang leader. Though both are certainly morally guilty, the question as to which one bears the legal onus for the crime, absent statutory law on the matter, is an issue of discussion and differing opinions. In Judaism there is a concept... READ MORE →
שליחות לדבר עבירה יש ויכוח נצחי בין הפילוסופים והקרימינולוגים בשאלה מי אשם יותר, בוס המאפיה שהזמין את הרצח, או המתנקש עצמו שירה בראש הכנופיה היריבה. אין ספק אמנם ששניהם אשמים מבחינה מוסרית, השאלה מי נושא באחריות... READ MORE →
The Torah interrupts its narrative of the events that befell the Jewish people in the desert with the description of a commandment that admittedly has no rational human understanding in logical terms. Even the great King Solomon, the wisest and most analytical of all humans, was forced to admit that understanding this parsha of the Torah was beyond his most gifted intellect and talents. If... READ MORE →
Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban) is of the general opinion that events, as recorded in the Torah, occurred in a linear timeline. This is in spite of the maxim that there is no late or early in the Torah. He limits that rule to certain halachic instances as they appear in the Talmud. Thus the story of Korach and his contest against Moshe that forms the central part of this week’s parsha occurred... READ MORE →
This week’s parsha raises the age-old issue of human behavior – altruism over personal interest and gain. While we all pay lip service to the concept and ideal of altruism when dealing with public affairs and the general good , we all remain human beings and the Talmud long ago posited that “a human being is first and foremost closest and prejudiced to one’s own self and interests.” ... READ MORE →
