A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible I Believe is a personal and intimate demonstration of how Rabbi Sacks came to see the world through listening attentively to the Torah and its message for the present and all times. This book is the last instalment of the Covenant & Conversation series of themed books, written by Rabbi Sacks on the…
…beginning, on account of the famine, was also a sin he committed, for in famine God would redeem him from death. It was because of this deed that the exile in the land of Egypt at the hand of Pharaoh was decreed for his children. Ramban, Commentary to Genesis 12:10, based on Zohar, Tazria, 52a. According to Ramban, Abraham should…
…you celebrate the good, the more good you discover that is worthy of celebration. SHEMINI: What you think of as your greatest weakness can become, if you wrestle with it, your greatest strength. TAZRIA-METZORA: In any relationship that matters to you, deliver praise daily. Seeing and praising the good in people makes them better people, makes you a better person,…
As we saw in Parshat Tazria, the Sages identify tzara’at – the condition that affects human skin, the fabric of garments, and the walls of a house – not as an illness but as a punishment, and not for any sin but for one specific sin, that of lashon hara, evil speech. This prompts the obvious question: Why evil speech…
…when we most want and need community, we are being deprived of it by social distancing, by self-isolation, by quarantine. And it feels not so much like the parshiyot of Vayakhel-Pekudei as the parshiyot of Tazria and Metzora, where we read, badad yeisheiv mi’chutz lamachaneh moshavo, “He shall dwell alone in self-imposed isolation outside the camp.” (Vayikra 13:46) In New…
…that we’re all seeing, and I described the pain, the loneliness of the person who lacks interaction, camaraderie. In this week’s parasha, Tazria, we have a pasuk of punishment for the one who speaks ill of another, their punishment is to be alone, “baddad,” to be alone. Rav Zalman Tzorotskin, in his “Oznayim LaTorah,” a great Rav in Poland before…
…London: Duckworth, 1978. 8 Daily Mail, 18 June 2001. 9 Midrash Tanhuma, ed. Buber, Tazria, par. 7. 10 Babylonian Talmud, Brachot 5b. 11 Feldman D. Marital relations, birth control and abortion in Jewish law. New York: Schocken, 1974, pages 251–267. 12 Feldman, ibid., 258. 13 Scruton R. Animal rights and wrongs. London: Demos, 1996, page 108. 14 Diamond J. The…
…responsibility to reflect those values – to react appropriately to lashon hara and create environments in which malicious speech is not tolerated. Tazria: The Price of Free Speech Praise, and how we administer it, is a fundamental element in leadership of any kind. Recognising the good in people and saying so, we help bring people’s potential to fruition. Metzora: How…
…Yellin College and taught at Keren Ohr and Chavat HaNoar HaTzioni. He moved to Perth in 2007, where he completed a Master’s in Special Education. He and wife, Judith, have two children. < Back to The Sacks Scholars More from Simon Lawrence Tazria: The Plague of Evil Speech – Family Edition What is True Freedom? Tikkun Leil Resource for Teenagers…
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…