One of the great social inventions of the past few centuries has been the public library. Although conventional wisdom assigns this innovation to the creative genius of Benjamin Franklin, the idea undoubtedly has much earlier antecedents. There were great research libraries functioning in the ancient world in Alexandria as well as in Greece and in Rome. From the Talmud it seems apparent that...
Yehuda confronts Yosef regarding all of the false accusations he has piled on to his brothers. Both Yosef and Yehuda have right on their side. Yehuda is certainly correct in sensing that Yosef has a personal agenda of animosity towards him and his brothers that has expressed itself in all of the false accusations that he has leveled against them. Yosef is justified in his behavior...
יהודה מתעמת עם יוסף בעניין האשמות השווא שהטיח באחיו. גם יוסף וגם יהודה צודקים. יהודה בוודאי צודק כשהוא חש שיש ליוסף מטרה זרה ושנאה אישית כלפיו וכלפי אחיו, שבאה לידי ביטוי בכל האשמות השווא שהוא הטיח בהם. יוסף...
חודש טבת, שמתחיל, גם אם קשה להאמין בכך, את הספירה האיטית אך העקשנית לקראת פורים ופסח, מצוין ביום צום בעשרה בו. צום עשרה בטבת מסמן את תחילתו של המצור על ירושלים, המצור שהוביל, בסופו של דבר, לחורבן המקדש ולגלות עם ישראל...
The month of Tevet, which begins, believe it or not, our slow but inexorable countdown to Purim and Pesach, is marked by the fast day of the tenth of Tevet. The fast day of the tenth of Tevet marks the beginning of the siege of Jerusalem, which eventually led to the destruction of the holy Temple and the exile of Israel from its homeland. However, Jewish tradition records that the ninth...
Yosef’s actions towards his brothers are accompanied by much weeping on his part. We can well understand the emotional stress that he undergoes in confronting his brothers decades after they sold him into bondage and abandoned him to his fate. But Yosef weeps not only for himself and his own pain and angst. He weeps just as much for his brothers who also have had to live with their...
מעשיו של יוסף כלפי אחיו מלווים בבכי רב מצדו. לא קשה להבין את המצוקה הרגשית שהוא חש בשעה שהוא מתעמת עם אחיו, עשרות שנים אחרי שמכרו אותו לעבדות ונטשו אותו לגורלו. אך יוסף בוכה לא רק על עצמו ועל הכאב והחרדה שלו. הוא בוכה...
חג החנוכה מייצג ניצחון, ובמילות תפילת "על הניסים" שאנחנו אומרים בחנוכה זהו בעצם ניצחון של החלשים על הגיבורים. אין ספק שהמילים "חלשים" ו"גיבורים" המופיעות בתפילה מתייחסות לכוח הפיזי, הצבאי. צבא היוונים-הסוריים שנלחם...
Chanuka represents a triumph, in the words of the al hanism prayer recited during this holiday, of “the weak over the strong.” There is no doubt that the words “weak” and “strong” that appear in the prayer refer to physical, military strength. The Syrian-Greek army that waged war against the Hasmonean rebels was far larger and better equipped – elephants, et al – than was the...
I have often stated that one should never confuse Jews with Judaism itself. Jews are human beings, prone to error, folly and foolishness. Judaism however sets Godly standards and goals and though it is vastly tolerant of all sorts of human beings, it does not adjust its standards or worldview to make wrong right, bad good or aberrant behavior normal and acceptable. The State of Israel...
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