Robespierre and Saadyah

Robespierre  (1758 –1794) was one of the most controversial figures of the French Revolution. Read more

Shabbat Beha’aloteha: Women and Race

Miriam and Aaron complained to Moshe about his wife, calling her Isha Cushit, a woman of Cush ( Numbers Chapter 12 ). Read more

Remember

Yizkor.  “Remember…Don’t forget” (Deuteronomy 25:17&19). Read more

Shabbat Naso: Alienation and Reconciliation

This week’s reading consists of seemingly disparate themes but really, they all connect in a parable of alienation and reconciliation. Read more

Shavuot

You might think there is little left original to write about the Festival of Shavuot that we are about to celebrate. Read more

Shabbat BaMidbar: Words and Silence

We start a new book of the Torah this week, Bamidbar. Which in non-Jewish terminology is the Book of Numbers probably because it starts with a census. But in Hebrew, it is In the Desert! Read more

Yom Yerushalayim

Sunday May 29^th is Yom Yerushalayim.  Some people may say it was a miracle, to regain the Old City of Jerusalem after two thousand years. I think it was proof that only by being proactive and determined can one survive and thrive in a hostile world. Read more

Shabbat Behukotai: Carrot or Stick

I have always resisted threats and felt it counterproductive to employ them to enforce or encourage people to become religious even if these are tools that all religions have used at one stage or another to preserve their power and authority. Read more

Abortion

In 1973  the USA Supreme Court decided in Roe v Wade to strike down Texas laws that criminalized abortion. Read more

Shabbat Behar: Valuing the Land

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Shabbat Emor: Alienation

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Ethical warfare

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine raises important moral issues about warfare. Some people believe that all violence is wrong under all circumstances. Read more

Shabbat Kedoshim: About sex

The part of the Torah we read this week, Kedoshim,  contains more moral and ethical laws than any other part of the Torah, that you will be familiar with. Read more

Solzhenitsyn Was Right

Aleksander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), was one of the most impressive Russians of the past century. Read more

Shabbat Acharei Mot: Arrogance

Previously in Leviticus Chapter 9, the two sons of Aaron, Nadav, and Avihu had watched and participated in the dedication of the priests and the tabernacle. Read more

Real freedom

America is obsessed with slavery and its ramifications and rightly so. But it is less concerned with the idea of freedom and what that means. Read more

Don’t let the Seder be a bore

The text of the Hagadah that we use today, goes back a thousand years although its origins are Mishnaic, two thousand years ago. Read more

Failed priests and prophets

There seems to me to be a permanent state of conflict in all religions between religious authority and individual spirituality or mysticism. Read more

Shabbat Metzora and Shabbat HaGadol: A Special Shabbat

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Mazel

I was reading the Roman historian Suetonius (around 69-122 CE) on the twelve Roman Caesars, and I came across this, “Tiberius abolished foreign cults in Rome particularly the Egyptian and Jewish, forcing all those who embraced superstitions to burn their religious vestments and other accessories.” Read more

Shabbat Tazria: Rosh Hodesh Nisan – Purity

Having dealt with the sacrificial system and its ceremonials, the Torah now turns to human beings and how they should take steps to care for their physical as well as spiritual lives. Read more

The lesson of the Ukraine

The brutal violence of Putin (against dissidents as well as Ukraine) cannot be justified on any moral grounds whatsoever. Read more

Tsav: Eat together

There are four obligations on Purim. To read the Megillah of Esther, to give charity to the poor and gifts to our friends, and to have a celebratory meal, a seudah. Read more

Did it really happen?

The Book of Esther is a great story, of incompetent government, attempted genocide, personal intrigue, salvation, and celebration. Read more

Shabbat Vayikra: Ethical Leadership

The Book of Exodus that we have just completed, provided us with two examples of leadership. Read more

Binding Isaac

I was reeling from the inhuman aggression of the maniacal Strangelove Putin on an independent country causing the deaths of hundreds of children when I thought of the words of Leonard Cohen in “The story of Isaac.” Read more

Shabbat Pikudei: The Messiah

The term Mashiach is usually associated with the apocalyptical idea of a Messiah who will change the world to make it a more peaceful and honest place. Read more

Death

Last week’s article about Organ Donation got me thinking about death and to what extent it matters and to whom. And the invasion of Ukraine made me wonder what is worth dying for. Read more

Shabbat Vayakhel & Shekalim: Amazons and the Oral Law

There are many ways of looking at the Bible, as history, theology, literature, and archeology. Read more

Organ donor

“ Is it true that if I donate an organ to another person I will not be allowed to be buried and go to heaven?” Read more

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