Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God demand of you? Only this: to revere the Lord your God, to walk only in His paths, to love Him, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, keeping the Lord’s commandments and law, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good. Mark, the heavens to their uttermost reaches belong to the Lord your God, the earth and all that is on it! Read more...

Dear Mr. Feinstein, Let me be the first to welcome you to the wonderful world of AARP. Attached you will find your provisional membership card. Soon, the world of AARP benefits will be yours. So begin my sunset years. Read more...

The day after our return from a short vacation to a location not known for its kosher restaurants or other dining options (which describes many places both in our country and around the globe), I got a text from my husband in the late afternoon about planning what to have for dinner. It began: "GIVE ME MEAT!!!" I would be far from the first to note that the Torah seems to be ambivalent about the eating of meat and its permissibility. In Gen. 1:29, the first humans are told by God: Read more...

When Rabbi Yehuda Loew, the 16th century rabbi of Prague, received word of an imminent pogrom driven by a vicious blood libel, he prayed for divine help. In a dream, he saw ten Hebrew words forming an alphabetical acrostic: "Create a Golem of Clay, Destroy Those Tearing Israel's Heart." Read more...

Enter into the great cathedrals of Europe – St Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Notre Dame in Paris, San Marcos in Venice – what do you experience? The cathedral is a visceral presentation of a theology, a vision of the universe. Soaring vaulted ceiling, giant columns, colossal statues of saints and martyrs, luminous stained glass images of Scriptural heroes, all articulate a spirituality of contrast. We are small, insignificant, ephemeral creatures no better than insects on the floor. We are impure, corrupt, stained with sin. Who are we to approach God? Read more...