…published 14 January 2014) Environmental Responsibility (Covenant & Conversation, Shoftim) Environmental Ethics: JNF Rabbinical Conference (1992) Lecture Ceremony & Celebration Family Edition: Tu BiShvat Made With Love (Covenant & Conversation Family Edition, Acharei Mot Kedoshim) The Ecological Imperative (Covenant & Conversation Family Edition, Shoftim) The Good Society: The St George’s Lecture, 5 June 2000 (transcript where the environmental aspects of…
…Written by Rabbi Barry Kleinberg Inspired by the Teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks The Haftara reading in a Nutshell Judges 11:1 – 33 (Ashkenazim and Sephardim) Judges 11:1 – 40 (Yemenites) Judges (Shoftim) 11:1–33 tells the story of Yiftach, a mighty warrior from Gilad who was the son of a prostitute. Rejected by his family, he lives in exile…
There is no subject on which the Torah is more ambivalent than the issue of monarchy in particular, and politics in general. The starting point of any discussion of the subject is in today’s sedra: When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it, and settled in it, and you say,…
…answer There are six times in the Tanach when spies were sent out: Moshe sent spies to scout out Yazer (Bamidbar 21:32). Yehoshua sent spies before entering Eretz Canaan (Yehoshua 2:1). Yehoshua sent spies to Ai (Yehoshua 7:2) Bnai Dan sent spies to scout out their nachalah – their portion in the land (Shoftim 18:2). David sent spies to verify…
…human king ruling over Israel is complicated, and the prophet Samuel strongly protested when the people first asked for a king to be appointed. As Rabbi Sacks writes, “The ideal society, as the Torah conceives it, is one in which no one rules or exercises power over anyone else, other than God Himself” (On the Limits of Power, Shoftim, Covenant…
…world of ideas. Only thus do they gain the perspective to be able to see further and clearer than others… ” Learning and Leadership, Shoftim, Covenant & Conversation, from the Lessons in Leadership series Further Ponderings How would you summarise your life so far? What are the key events, both positive and negative, that made you who you are today?…
In the course of setting out the laws of war, the Torah adds a seemingly minor detail that became the basis of a much wider field of human responsibility, and is of major consequence today. The passage concerns a military campaign that involves laying siege to a city: “When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting…
The Parsha in a Nutshell Having already explained with many of the aspects of worship in the Promised Land, Moses now turns to the laws of society. He begins with the roles of courts, judges, and officers that should be established every city. There is to be a Supreme Court to deal with difficult cases. There are to be three…
…not go with me, I cannot go” (Shoftim 4:8). The relationship between Barak and Deborah was not as close as the one between Moshe and Miriam, yet Barak acknowledged his dependence on a wise and courageous woman. Can Moshe have felt less? Bereavement leaves us deeply vulnerable. In the midst of loss we can find it hard to control our…
…Alongside rights, there are duties, and there can be duties without corresponding rights. Animals do not have rights, but we have duties towards them. As several laws in Parshat Ki Teitse and elsewhere make clear, we must not cause them unnecessary pain or emotional distress. As we saw last week in the case of environmental legislation in Shoftim, Genesis 1…