Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

By the time you, dear reader, have this drasha delivered to your in-box or find it posted on the internet, my elder child will be in New York City, participating in freshman orientation at New York University (okay, so they're starting a day late thanks to Hurricane Irene, but still...). And I will be back in Los Angeles, a continent away. As we read the book of Devarim this year, I thus find myself identifying with Moshe in ways I had not contemplated before. Read more...

I know that I am supposed to address this week's torah portion, T'rumah, and I know that this week's torah portion is the home of generations of mystics (mishkan/tabernacle - sacred space; materials from the different realms of life - mineral, plant, animal; colors that can be aligned with the divine emanations/sefirot, to mention but a few of the dwelling spaces of these mystics) but I also know that I can't do this without holding on to last week's reading for one more moment. Read more...

To be honest, I don't remember exactly when this occurred, some time during college or shortly thereafter. I don't remember exactly where this happened, a group of us around a table at someone's home for a Shabbat meal or at a restaurant on a night out. But here's what I do recall, quite vividly: I looked around the table at my circle of closest friends, including my future husband, and suddenly realized that everyone there, myself included, was either an eldest sibling or an only child. That is, a first-born. Read more...

 Testimony to the Power of Love God's love for humanity is revealed in the love two people feel for each other -- "a man for a woman, a woman for a man, and both with God." Our tradition repeats the insight that human beings are fulfilled in their love for each other, in the deeds of love they can perform for each other. Love, then, is the dynamic process of completing yourself and another person at the same time. Read more...

In one of the Torah's most dramatic scenes, Jacob – the younger son – appears before his father, Isaac, to receive his father's blessing. Using guile, Jacob disguised as his older brother, Esau, hopes thereby to fool his father into bestowing the blessing which properly belongs to the firstborn. Using his brother's clothing to deceive, the hairless son covers his arms and legs with the fleece of a lamb, to imitate his more hirsute sibling. When Jacob does answer his father's call, he steps forward so that Isaac can touch his arm. Read more...