Articles in Parsha Insights
Shelach Valor Of Discretion
The Shared Etrog
I came across a delightful story related by Dov Greenberg about Israeli Nobel Laureate and novelist S. Y. Agnon. Agnon encountered his neighbor, an elderly Rabbi, in a neighborhood Etrog store on the day before Sukkot. Jewish law ordains that Jews obtain an Etrog (citron fruit) before Sukkot …
Beha’alotcha: Constructive Shame
A Royal Visit
As soon as the tabernacle was erected G-d instructed that seven lights be kindled on the candelabra every day. Surprised, Moses asked, “Dear G-d, you are the master of light, do you require light from us?” To which G-d replied with the following parable:
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Naso: Mourners Kaddish
Empty Shoes
One of the most poignant monuments in the Unites States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the mountainous display of empty shoes. Thousands and thousands of ownerless shoes; old people’s shoes, young people’s shoes, sturdy shoes, torn shoes, large shoes, little shoes and even infant shoes. All are empty; their bearers …
B’Midbar: The Jewish Father
And The Mothers?
When the census was taken in the desert, families were recorded by the names of their fathers. Now that’s unfair! Who insisted on having these children in Egypt over their husbands’ protests? Who defied Pharaoh’s decree and risked their lives to carry, birth and nurse these children? Now …
B’har Bechukotai: Spiritual Significance of Volcanoes
Frailties of Nature
Have you ever wondered about the spiritual significance of volcanoes? Well wonder no more. This essay is your answer.
There are rocks and there are plants. The difference between them; one can grow, the other cannot. There are two kinds of people; those who grow, change and adjust …
Emor: Win Them With Love
The Problem
We live in an age of twenty-four hour news cycles. The need to fill the air with constant news serves to lower the journalistic bar. The media used to award at least a measure of privacy to public figures. That age is long gone; today outing a prominent politician …
Kedoshim: Legislating Moral Conduct
Human Rights Commissions
I attended a seminar on Canadian Human Rights Commissions. On the whole the event amounted to a wholesale “Let’s Quash Human Rights Commissions” extravaganza. But I must concede that the tone of the event was rather peaceful. The presenters articulated their call for abolition in reasoned, albeit impassioned, …
Tazria: Touched By Kindness
Am Ordinary Event
The other day something happened that meant little when it occurred, but upon reflection came to mean a great deal. I was entering the post office with a mountain of envelopes balanced precariously in my arms. Taking in the perilous state of my load a girl of perhaps …
