Articles tagged with: food for thought
Ha’azinu – Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Rain and Dew
“May my teachings flow like rain, my words like dew.” Rain is formed from vapor that rises from earth and after condensing precipitates back to earth. Dew forms spontaneously here on earth when warmer surfaces contact the cooler atmosphere. Rain thus symbolizes the flow of G-d’s blessing …
Vayelech: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Where Did He Go?
The first words of our parshah, “And Moshe went and spoke to the sons of Israel.” Where did he go? Taking into account that this parshah is read between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur the commentaries suggest that he went to inspire Jews to repent. No …
Nitzavim: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Unity of Parts
“You stand firmly today, All together [as one], the heads of your tribes, elders, guards… young children, women, converts…” This verse begins by emphasising the unity of the gathering, they stood together [as one], then it enumerates the distinctions between the classes gathered on that day.
Unity is …
Ki Teze: Food for Thought for your DinnerTable
Sunday: Internal Conflict
“When you go out to war against your enemies and G-d will deliver him into your hands.” There are two anomalies in this verse. First, why does the Torah use the phrase, “go out to war” when it would be sufficient to say go to war? Second, why …
Shoftim: Food for Thought for your Dinner Table
Sunday: Local Judges
“Judges and guards you shall set for yourself at all your gates.” Judges were placed at the gates of every Jewish community both inside Israel and outside. Why were the Jews from abroad not brought to Israel for trial? Why were courts established outside of Israel?
A judge must …
Eikev: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: The individual
“You should observe and fulfill every Mitzvah that I command you today so that you may all live, multiply, arrive and inherit the land that I promised to your forefathers.” This verse begins with an exhortation to the individual, but concludes with a blessing to the nation. This …
Va’etchanan: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: Pray to Pray
“I have beseeched the Almighty at that time . . . saying.” These words introduce Moshe’s heartfelt plea, later denied, to enter the Land of Israel. The last word of this verse, “saying,” seems superfluous, what does it mean?
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Matot: Food for Thought for Your Dinner Table
Sunday: The Vow
The Mishnah encourages us to take oaths against sins toward which we are inclined because “vows promote abstinence.” The Jerusalem Talmud discourages use of vows to prohibit behaviors that the Torah permits because “G-d’s prohibitions should be sufficient.” Which is the correct approach?
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