…heart, as in “And as for Ishmael I have heard you” (Gen. 17: 20), meaning, “I have taken into account what you have said; I will bear it in mind; it is a consideration that weighs with Me”. [5] to respond in action, as in “Abraham did [vayishma] what Sarah said” (Gen. 16: 2). This last sense is the closest shema comes…
…is essentially moral. It sees the nation as charged with a mission, a set of values, a destiny and responsibility. The health of the nation is directly related to the degree with which it is true to its vocation. John Schaar, writing about the political beliefs of Abraham Lincoln, summarises the idea well: We are a nation formed by a…
…Exodus 3:13). Maimonides, the philosopher, emphasized the universal, metaphysical aspect of Judaism and the eternal, unchanging existence of God. Judah Halevi and Nachmanides, the one a poet, the other a mystic, were more sensitive to the particularistic and prophetic dimension of Judaism: the role of God in the historical drama of the covenant. Both are true and valid, but in…
…book of Shemot. However it is almost impossible to visualise it. The description is written as a series of instructions as to how to make the various components. It is more a construction manual than a pictorial description. Even here the emphasis is not on seeing but on hearing and doing. Perhaps the most remarkable phenomenon is that the Bible,…
What was the first commandment? On this there are two fascinating disagreements in Judaism. One was between Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) and the author of the Halachot Gedolot, probably R. Shimon Kayyara (in the period of the Gaonim in the eighth century, who for the first time enumerated in a systematic way the 613 commands. The other dispute we will examine…
…Deuteronomy is more than simply Moses’ speeches in the last months of his life, his tzava’ah or ethical will to the future generations. It is more, also, than Mishneh Torah,[2] a recapitulation of the rest of the Torah, a restatement of the laws and history of the people since their time in Egypt. It is a fundamental theological statement of…
…is like this. So are music and literature. Beethoven didn’t win. Bach didn’t lose. Great artists change the rules. That is what Beethoven, Schoenberg and Stravinsky did; so too did Van Gogh, Cézanne and Picasso. Politics can be like this when it rises above opinion polls and sets its vision on larger issues of justice, equality and the moral health…
…further passage in Va‘etchanan: In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Famously, these four passages became the basis of the four…
…leader. And it says “vayigdal Moshe” (Exodus 2:11), Moses grew up. “Vayeitzei el echav”. And he went out to his brothers, “Vayar b’sivlotam”, “and he saw their suffering.” And for me, those half a dozen words, describe in the end what moves any Jew, man or woman, to undertake the awe-inspiring responsibilities of leadership. Moshe Rabbeinu could have lived a…
…whole world will change. So Shmuel believes that what really matters is simply having the freedom to rule yourselves, but Rav holds that it’s much deeper and more spiritual than that. Or, finally, it could be that Shmuel is simply looking in the Torah. If you actually look in the Torah in parshat Va‘etchanan it says, ‘Ki-yishalcha bincha machar lemor’…