…third and fourth, gnats and wild beasts, caused worry, not crisis. The fifth, the plague that killed livestock, affected animals, not human beings. The sixth, boils, was again a discomfort, but a serious one, no longer an external issue but a bodily affliction. (Remember that Job lost everything he had, but did not start cursing his fate until his body…
…child.[4] Moses’ lesson, thirty-three centuries old, is still compelling today. [1] Abraham Lincoln, “The Gettysburg Address” (Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Penn., Nov. 19, 1863). [2] Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela (Back Bay Books, 1995). [3] Tamid 32a. [4] A statement attributed to Confucius. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR BO How did Jewish education ensure Jewish…
…so important? It is not until we reach the end of the Mosaic books that we can begin to understand it in retrospect. Two details from the book of Deuteronomy provide the key. The first has to do with the liberation of slaves: If a fellow Hebrew, man or woman, is sold to you, they shall serve for you for…
…specific historical and halachic context. There was a time, under both the Greeks and the Romans, during which Hellenistic culture had an enormous appeal for many Jews. They assimilated. They were drawn to Greek art and drama. They took part in athletic competitions. For them Hellenism was cosmopolitan, Judaism merely parochial. Both periods (the Greek in the second century BCE,…
…is about. Rabbi Sacks: So both Professor Putnam and Lord Glasman believe that strong family bonds can be made simply through family members being there for one another. Father: What is this? Daughter: It’s a ram’s horn. Father: What’s it called in Hebrew? Daughter: Shofar. Father: And when do we blow the shofar? Daughter: Rosh Hashanah, Father: Rosh Hashanah, the…
…and the verb lehakriv, which mean “to come, (or bring) close.” The name of God invariably used in connection with the sacrifices is Hashem, God in His aspect of love and compassion, never Elokim, God as justice and distance. The word Elokim occurs only five times in the whole book of Vayikra, and always in the context of other nations….
…were left uneducated. It was then resolved that teachers of children should be appointed in Jerusalem, and a father (who lived outside the city) would bring his child there and have him taught, but the orphan was still left without tuition. Then it was resolved to appoint teachers in each district, and boys of the age of sixteen and seventeen…
…mimitzrayim b’yad chazakah’ – ‘and God took us out of Egypt with a strong hand/ with a strong arm.’ (Exodus 13:14) Shmuel is looking at the answer given in the Torah. That’s how you answer the Wise Child, whereas Rav is quoting a verse from the book of Joshua which says: ‘be’eiver hanahar yashvu avoteichem mei’olam Terach avi Avraham v’avi…
…The reaction, when it came, was fierce and disastrous. The nineteenth century saw the return of the repressed. Identity came back with a vengeance, this time based not on religion but on one of three substitutes for it: the nation state, the (Aryan) race, and the (working) class. In the 20th century, the nation state led to two world wars….
…read the Pesach story, you come across something so remarkable, so counterintuitive. It’s there in parshat Bo. It’s reflected in the Haggadah itself, which is that when Moshe Rabbeinu addresses the Israelites on the very brink of their liberation, they’ve been in exile for 210 years. They’ve been enslaved. They’ve seen their male children killed, slow genocide, and what does…