The white beard and old age seem to go together. It is not surprising that they share the same cognate in Hebrew; a beard is zakan and old age is zaken. The Torah tells us that Abraham became zaken. Our sages combined the two meanings by saying that until that …
Shoftim: The Individual
Today I want to talk to you about the individual. When nations go to war, they institute mandatory drafts. Wartime drafts are different from peacetime drafts. In peacetime drafts, soldiers are eligible for all kinds of exemptions. During war, everyone must serve. Exemptions are rare.
In Jewish law, however, it is …
Re’e: The Pivot
In the course of life, there are always moments of pivot. A moment when we recognize that we have strayed from the proper path, and we pivot—reverse course and head in the opposite direction. The moment of pivot is, at the risk of sounding cliché, pivotal. It isn’t merely a …
Vaetchanan: The Full Moon
This Shabbat will be special because the full moon will shine on Friday night. The full moon occurs every month but is most important in the month of Av. The Temple’s destruction on the ninth day of this month was the low point in Jewish history. At that time, it …
Devarim: Response to Suffering
Suffering is sadly familiar to Jews. We have a long and painful history of suffering. Our sages taught that the Torah was given on Mount Sinai because Sinai is etymologically similar to sinah, which means hatred. From the day that we were chosen to become a light unto the nations, …
Matot Masei: The Three Weeks
We are in a time of year called the three weeks. During this time, Jerusalem was sacked twice, once by the Babylonians circa 420 BCE and again by the Romans in 69 CE. Each time, our enemies struck directly at the Jewish heart by destroying the Temple. The Babylonians destroyed …
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 …
Chukat: An Available Tool
This week we read the Torah portion that delineates the laws of the Red Heifer. Jews who contacted a dead body were deemed ritually impure. The process of purification was lengthy, but one of the steps was for the impure person to be sprinkled with a mixture of water and …
Parsha Insights »
Chayei Sarah: Why We Bury
After the binding of Isaac, Abraham discovered that his wife Sarah had passed, and he hurried from Jerusalem to Hebron to eulogise, mourn and bury her. This is the first description of a burial in the Torah, which gives us an opportunity to discuss the question of why we bury.
Many …
Yearly Cycle »
Rosh Hashanah: The Shofar – Humility and Strength
Three Blasts
On the holiday of Rosh Hashanah we sound three variations of Shofar blasts. tekiah, a long blast, shevarim and teruah, variations of short blasts. Each set of blasts begins with a tekiah, followed by a shevarim or teruah, and concludes with a tekiah. The shevarim and teruah are thus …
Concepts »
Purim: Jewish Identity
Can we deny our Jewish identity? This question was a subject of debate among Jews since the advent of the Jewish enlightenment. Reeling under the burden of antisemitism, many Jews concluded that if they were to conform in dress and behavior to the wider population, they would blend in and …
Rabbi’s Desk »
The Passing of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
It has been around a year since the world has lost a great leader with the passing of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Who will be his successor?
There will be millions beginning with me and you.
Rabbi Sacks was a unique and leading voice among rabbis in our generation. His keen intellect and …
