Articles in Free Choice
Vayera: Too Perfect?
Is “too perfect” a thing? Have you ever worried about being too perfect? Most of us worry that we aren’t perfect enough. But I know of at least one person who worried about being too perfect. Our collective grandfather, Abraham.
The Torah tells us that Abraham recovered from his circumcision in …
Lech Lecha: Anything You Want To Be
“Anything you want to be,” is a phrase parents often say to their children. You don’t need to accept any limitations; they are all artificial. If you put your mind to it, you can be anything you want to be.
Sometimes children misunderstand and think that they can snap their fingers …
Shabbat Shuvah: Jewish Guilt
Have you ever heard of Jewish guilt? Well, of course. If you have a Jewish mother, you know about Jewish guilt. But the truth is that Jews have little to do with guilt. In fact, the Catholics claim to have cornered the market on guilt. Considering the Catholic doctrine of …
Pinchas: Between the Gates
As the Jacob and his family entered the gates of Egypt, Yocheved, the mother of Moses, was born between the gates. The Torah tells us that seventy Jews traveled to Egypt. Yet, if you count the names of all the people listed in Jacob’s party, you find sixty-nine. Our sages …
Balak: Stolen Waters
King Solomon famously wrote, “Stolen waters are sweeter.”[1] By this, he meant that the moment something is forbidden to us, we lust after it. Not because we like it or enjoy it, but because we can’t have it. It is a quirk of human nature to be titillated by the …
Vayigash: Stuck in Lockdown?
Lockdown is a word with which we have sadly become all too familiar. Many countries around the world have experienced a second wave of COVID and implemented various forms of lockdown. Ontario in Canada just announced its own lockdown and as I write I am looking at 28 long days …
Mishpatim: We Matter
When you read the Torah portion that we chant in the synagogue this week, you wonder why G-d even cares. Does the Creator of heaven and earth have nothing better to do with His time than devise laws about the differences between liabilities carried by paid and unpaid custodians? Does …
Vayigash: Debt of Kindness
Kindness is something that is usually given out of generosity. We don’t usually think of kindness as a debt. Yet, sometimes it is a debt. For example, if someone treats you kindly, they deserve to be treated kindly in return; you owe them a debt of kindness. If you owe …
