Articles in Re’e
The Festival and Shabbat
Sanctity and Joy
When a Jewish festival falls on Friday, it merges directly into Shabbat. This gives us pause as we reflect on the differences between the festival and Shabbat.
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Re’eh: Teaching Children
Memories of Children
What are your earliest Jewish memories?
My formative memories are of the holidays. Building a Sukkah with my father and brothers. Eating Matzah at the Seder table. Hearing the Ten Commandments on Shavuot.[1]
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Re’eh: Animal Rights
The Golden Mean
The world is full of animal rights activists who stand in the breach and protect our animals. They work to save endangered species and prevent animal abuse.
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Re’eh: Charity From The Heart
Unhappy Giving
I have a confession. I can’t stand being thanked for giving charity. I just hate it when the person to whom I gave a dollar smiles and heaps lifelong blessings upon me. I usually make a dismissive gesture, wait till they walk away, heave a small sigh of relief …
Ree: Smiles on Loan
A Running Servant
I have always wrestled with the following Talmudic teaching.
The Torah states, “If there will be among you a needy person, from one of your brothers in one of your cities, in your land that the Lord, your God, is giving you, you shall not harden your heart, …
Re’e: A Cup Of Coffee
My Coffee SummitI have a vice, especially on long trips,called coffee. I got back to the car and shared this exchange with my wife. There is a sermon in this somewhere, she observed, and she was right. Here it is.
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Reeh: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Fortune
Not every country is a superpower nor is every country at the bottom of the totem pole. Mostany are somewhere in the middle; comfortable, but not powerful. Jews, however, are never in the middle; we are either at the very top or at the very bottom. This is because …
Re’eh: The Sacred Barbecue
The Barbecue
Its a lazy summer afternoon. Warm sunshine bathes the yard, birds perch atop the trees and a gentle breeze caresses its limbs. Sounds of playing children and chatting adults waft up through the yard and, on the patio, an aroma of sizzling steak rises from the barbecue.
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