Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

The human mind presents us with both a marvel and a mystery. Capable of mastering a remarkable range of complex tasks, of remembering obscure experiences or facts, that same organ will also forget an important appointment, an acquaintance's name, or the contents of this morning's breakfast. Simultaneously able to outperform a computer in our supple manipulation of data into concepts, each of us also faces the unpleasant reality that we continually forget information we desperately desire or need. Read more...

One of the more striking institutions in biblical Israel was that of the Nazirite, a person who took a vow to abstain from grapes or grape products, from cutting the hair on the head, and from contact with the dead. The vow would cover a specific period of time (according to the Talmud, at least 30 days) and was only applicable in the Land of Israel. Read more...

One of the greatest 'mitzvot' in the Torah, the very first command given to humanity, is that of bearing children. "Be fruitful and multiply" is the necessary underpinning of any Jewish community, since without renewed Jewish people, there can be no Torah, nor any Judaism either.   Read more...

Puritan and colonial America viewed themselves as the modern embodiment of ancient Israel. Like the Israelites, they saw themselves as fleeing from an oppressive Pharaoh, journeying into the wilderness in pursuit of freedom and the establishment of a religious and democratic society. No coincidence, then, that on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, the Hebrew Bible proclaims its ancient ideal. "Proclaim liberty throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof." Read more...

Ours is a culture which glories in individuality and autonomy. The foundation documents of theUnited States affirm the right of each individual to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Pilgrims fled England and Europe, so we are told, to practice religious liberty and to find individual freedom as well. Read more...