…lawlessness of the moment. The parsha of Balak ends with this terrible ambiguity unresolved. Only in our parsha do we hear the answer. God says: “Pinchas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the Priest, has turned back My anger from the Israelites by being zealous among them on My behalf, so that I did not wipe out the Israelite people…
…books in all of literature about what Nelson Mandela called “the long walk to freedom.” Bamidbar Naso Beha’alotecha Shelach Lecha Korach Chukat Balak Pinchas Matot Masei Devarim (Deuteronomy) With the book of Deuteronomy, Devarim, the entire biblical project becomes lucid and reaches its culmination. Deuteronomy is the last act of the Jewish people’s drama before becoming a nation in its…
…qualities that make people follow those who demonstrate them. We follow those we trust, because they have acted so as to earn our trust. That was what made Moses the great leader Balaam might have been but never was. Always be loyal to the people you lead. Balak: Leadership and Loyalty Respect for diversity, care for the lowly and powerless…
…June – Shelach – Strong People Don’t Need Walls – Rabbi Shaul Robinson 21 June – Korach – Dying Twice: Korach’s mysterious end – Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum 28 June – Chukat-Balak – Dwelling Alone: Blessing or curse? – Rabbi Shaul Robinson 5 July – Pinchas – Who is the God of the Spirits of all Flesh? – Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum 12 July…
Koren Publishers have launched a new Magerman edition of the Koren Tanach featuring, for the first time, the complete translation of Chumash by Rabbi Sacks zt”l. You can order your copy here and view the opening pages below. Peek Inside…
Emunah means faithfulness, reliability, loyalty. It means not walking away from the other party when times are tough. It is a key covenantal virtue…. Those who are loyal to other people find that other people are loyal to them. Those who are disloyal are eventually distrusted and lose whatever authority they might once have had. Leadership without loyalty is not…
What makes Jews “a nation dwelling alone, not reckoned among the nations,” is that their nationhood is not a matter of geography, politics or ethnicity. It is a matter of religious vocation as God’s covenant partners, summoned to be a living example of a nation among the nations made distinctive by its faith and way of life. Lose that and…
I believe that we can emerge from the shadow of death if we allow ourselves to be healed by the God of life. To do so, though, we need the help of others. “A prisoner cannot release himself from prison,”…
I believe that God is teaching us that love can turn curses into blessings. It is the only force capable of defeating hate. Love heals the wounds of the world….