Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

I don’t have a fully formed and set process for deciding what to write about when it is my week to contribute the drasha for the ZSRS site, but almost always one step is to go to the work of one of the great scholars of Bible and of parshanut, traditional commentary of the medieval and early modern periods. I am blessed to own a set of Nehama Leibowitz’s 'Studies in...' series (given to me by my grandmother many years ago), and for each weekly parashah, Leibowitz always finds at least three and as many as six or seven topics to explore in essays of about 5-7 pages each. Read more...

These are My fixed times, the fixed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions. (Leviticus 23:2) I once had a good friend, Perry London, z'l, with whom I would go bike riding at 6:00 in the morning. Perry at the time was a Professor of Psychology at the University of Southern California. He later moved to Harvard and then to the Hebrew University, and he wrote the introductory psychology textbook used by many universities in addition to the scholarly work that earned the rand of Professor. Read more...

Ours is a society that glorifies youth as a sign of vitality, vigor, strength, and beauty. Television and pop cultural images are full of Hollywood celebrities and sports figures whose fame and fortune is based in their youthful look and/or talent, establishing themselves, for many, as national heroes. Lucky are the ones amongst them who continue into their later years gaining ongoing recognition and accolades as they mature and age. Read more...

Ours is a society that glorifies youth as a sign of vitality, vigor, strength, and beauty. Television and pop cultural images are full of Hollywood celebrities and sports figures whose fame and fortune is based in their youthful look and/or talent, establishing themselves, for many, as national heroes. Lucky are the ones amongst them who continue into their later years gaining ongoing recognition and accolades as they mature and age. Read more...

Think about a time in your life when you felt excluded or left out of a community or group. Perhaps you excluded yourself, or perhaps others excluded you. Remember your thoughts and your feelings. Did you ask for help? Did you want someone to reach out to you, to stretch out a hand, to bring you back in? Read more...