…meaning. BEHAR: In life, ask not, what can I gain?” But “what can I give?” Be a blessing to others and you will find that life has been a blessing to you. BECHUKOTAI: Search for meaning and you will discover strength, fulfilment and peace. FROM THE BOOK OF BAMIDBAR: BAMIDBAR: Remember your destination. This will help you to distinguish between…
…same word comes to mean, in Latin, a narrative of past events. [9] Jonathan Sacks, The Home We Build Together: Recreating Society (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2009). [10] Roger Scruton, England, an Elegy, Continuum, 2006, 16. [11] See “We, the People”, the Covenant & Conversation essay on Behar-Bechukotai, for further discussion on the power of this phrase. Why do you think stories can be so effective in teaching and…
…end of Vayikra. The end of Vayikra, parshat Bechukotai, contains a passage called the tochecha, the curses, and a key word of the curses is the word Keri, spelled k-r-y (kaf, reish, yud) During the curses, the tochecha, we are warned, “If you don’t listen to Me, [says God] and you walk towards Me with keri, then I will behave…
…God’s promise, already said in parshat Bechukotai that af gam zot beyotam be’ertz oyveihem, even when they are in the land of their enemies, lo mastim v’lo ga’altim l’chalotam (Leviticus 26:44), says God, I will not so despise them as to destroy them, thus invalidating my covenant with them. I will keep my promise. I will never let them be…
…keep the brit and the chessed …” This suggests that we will be shown chessed if we deserve it, but if not, not. But it isn’t so. At the end of the curses in Bechukotai, God says: “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to…
In the final parsha of the book of Leviticus, in the midst of one of the most searing curses ever to have been uttered to a nation by way of warning, the Sages found a fleck of pure gold. Moses is describing a nation in flight from its enemies: Just the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to…
…by its alignment with the will and word of its Creator. Vayikra Tzav Shemini Tazria Metzora Acharei Mot Kedoshim Emor Behar Bechukotai Bamidbar (Numbers) The central theme of Bamidbar, the book of Numbers, is the second stage of the Israelites’ journey: physically from Egypt to the Promised Land, mentally from slavery to freedom. It is among the most searching, self-critical…
…on earth.’ When one sins, all are punished … When one is injured, all feel the pain. Sifra Bechukotai 2:7 ‘They shall stumble over one another’—one because of another. This teaches that all Israel are sureties for one another. Core Questions What makes the Jewish people a people? What is the difference between a people and a religion? How do…
…within our sphere of influence – be it within the family, the community, the organisation, or a larger grouping still. Bechukotai: “We the People” A Jewish leader has to respect individuals. They must “lift their heads.” However large the group you lead, you must always communicate the value you place on everyone, including those others exclude: the widow, the orphan,…
…Conversation, Bechukotai) On Judaism and Islam (Covenant & Conversation, Chayei Sarah) Particular Paths to a Universal God (Covenant & Conversation, Yitro) Loving the Stranger (Covenant & Conversation, Mishpatim) The Universal and the Particular (Covenant & Conversation, Mikketz) Minority Rights (Covenant & Conversation, Behar) The Home We Build Together (Covenant & Conversation, Terumah) Short Quotes from Rabbi Sacks on Interfaith Dialogue…