I've been thinking a lot recently about the number eight. Like many of you, I just completed eight days without eating anything leavened. But, technically, I did not celebrate eight days of Passover. Rather, because I live outside of the Land of Israel, I celebrated the seventh day of Passover twice, just to be sure I was doing so on the right day. In this, Passover is exactly parallel to Sukkot, which occurs at the other pole of the year, six months apart. Read more...

Shemini Atzeret, in some regards the conclusion of Sukkot, is in other important respects a holy day all its own.  Certainly in the number of sacrifices offered, Shemini Atzeret is distinct. The Midrash suggests that Sukkot is a festival during which sacrifice is offered for all the peoples of the world. At the end of that week of universal concern, God bids the Children of Israel to stay for an extra day to commune with God, like a beloved friend is asked to stay at the party after the other dear guests depart. Read more...

Imagine the excitement in the air, as the Children of Israel gather around the newly-constructed sanctuary! The Mishkan (Tabernacle) is promised them as the central structure of their encampment, and God promises to be present from that place. All of the people come together to donate their jewelry, to contribute the wood, the gold, the yarn, the skins. Each person with artistic and practical skill joins in the labor, and the kohanim (priests) and levi’im (levites) are consecrated for holy service. Read more...

Without attempting to justify the elaborate Jewish dietary laws, the Torah provides a lengthy list of which foods are kosher and which are not. Animals with cloven hooves and which chew their cuds are kosher.  Fish with fins and scales are kosher.  Birds which eat grain and vegetables, and which can fly, are kosher.  Insects, shellfish and reptiles are not.     Read more...

We live in an age of vigorous political debate, as liberals and conservatives present their views of the world and their prescriptions for how to redress our problems in books, articles, and speeches all over the country. With thoughtful and enthusiastic partisans on both sides, it just may be the first time in recent history in which Americans are actually taking political thought seriously. Perhaps because the stakes are so high, perhaps because there is no real consensus, how we understand the issues confronting us has important ramifications for the future we leave to our children. Read more...