Not in the Heavens by Hamutal Bar-Yosef Not in the heavens, Not far away, Goodness blew like wind. Is it not very close? Is it not here? Is its flame not in your hand, whispering to perform it now? Goodness blows like the wind — not up in the heavens, writes Hamutal Bar-Yosef, playing on […]
In the Torah reading Yitro, Moshe’s father-in-law advises him to appoint judges to meet the people’s needs for justice. This precedes the giving of the Torah itself. A functioning legal system is a prerequisite for any just, decent, human society. It is no coincidence that this requirement appeared as one of the seven Noahide laws […]
“When Pharaoh sent the people off …” With the plagues past, the blood dried, the matzah baked and packed, the people are leaving Egypt. But no celebration ensues. There would be no straight road to Canaan, only carping and complaining and delay. Even behind pillars of cloud and fire, the Israelites were unprepared for the […]
“(God) secures justice for those who are wronged, feeds the hungry, God releases the prisoners” (Psalms 146:17). Malbim* says “it is to say that a human king, in freeing a prisoner from his sentence, has already done enough justice and goodwill, and a person will not ask for any more help, but God frees the […]
During these days of “Operation Wings of Liberty,” we rock back and forth between outbursts of joy, deep sadness and disappointment, anxiety and fear, despair and once again hope. Sixteen months of war, during which we have hoped, anticipated, prayed to witnesses the release of our sisters and brothers held in anguish and captivity. In […]
A friend showed me an Islamic prayer rug that his son took when he served in Gaza. Deuteronomy 23:10 teaches: “When you go out as a troop against your enemies, be on your guard against any evil thing.” Nahmanides (1194–1270) explains that in war, “the most naturally upright person becomes cruel and wrathful …” My […]
We have come to the end of the Book of Genesis (Bereishit), where the Torah delivers a strong message about the connection between brothers. We began with Cain and Abel, where we read that “Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him” (4:8). One man murders his brother. We continued with Isaac and Ishmael, […]
The light of Hanukkah this year is engulfed in a cloud of pain and sorrow. In her song “Kad Ha-kemaḥ” (The Pitcher of Flour”), Naomi Shemer portrays a fabulous scene in the story of Elijah the Prophet. The hungry, wandering prophet, wrapped in his sorrow, believes that the pitcher of flour will not be depleted […]
Responding to the Torah’s passage about the Temple menorah, the Sages wonder: How can it be that in the most sacred place one must light lamps? After all, the Torah tells us that “the Glory of the Eternal filled the tabernacle [mishkan]” (Exod. 40:24, 25) — that is, the Blessed Holy One, who is the […]
In our parashah, we encounter the story of the ketonet passim, the “coat of many colors” (in the King James translation) that Jacob made for Joseph, the garment that brought about the rift between Joseph and his brothers — a rift that led let to tremendous violence. Many years later, Meir Ariel (a 20th c. […]