Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

In the realm of biology and chemistry, interactions lead to further interactions, as the energy of one unit creates the response of the next, which in turn launches yet another process. Everything is connected, and everything is part of a series of responses and influences. What goes around comes around. Read more...

This is the age of vicarious virtue: all of us prefer to continue living our lives in much the same way we always have, and all of us want our leaders to adhere to the standard of our words.  In that way, we get to enjoy our own laxity while still claiming credit for the morality of our ideals. Our mouths toot one thing and our deeds blare a different, more gaudy, tune. Read more...

Well over a decade ago, my last-surviving grandmother passed away. A week or so after our period of mourning ended, my mother sent me some of her furniture, figuring (correctly) that I and my wife could use it in setting up our home. As the movers carried in my grandmother's furniture, I had an eerie sense that something wasn't right. This, after all, was hers, not mine. She should have it, not me. I realized then, in a more concrete way than before, that we really never own the things around us. We borrow them for a while, and ultimately we return them. Read more...

Have you ever noticed yourself counting the time leading up to an important moment in your life – the years before a Bar mitzvah or golden celebration, the months before a new baby is born, the weeks before a wedding or graduation, or even the days before a special birthday?  How natural it is that we count time as we wait, eager with anticipation, excitement, and expectation that the milestone we are about to reach will be an important and meaningful one.  Who will be there, what will we wear, how will we spend the time, what will we do afterwards - as the clock clicks on, our an Read more...

In the famous description of the Woman of Valor, the Book of Proverbs praises her by saying that “she opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is a Torah of love.” High praise indeed, but it raises a curious dilemma. If she speaks a Torah of hesed, of steadfast love or of lovingkindness, does that imply that there is a Torah that is not a Torah of love. Is there a Torah of hate? Read more...