Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

In one of the most gripping scenes in the Torah, the Gentile prophet Bilaam has been summoned to curse the assembled Israelites on behalf of Balak, the King of Edom. Protesting that he can only say what he is instructed by God, Bilaam nonetheless ascends the heights of a nearby mountain, to get a commanding view of Israel - all the better to curse them. Each time he attempts to curse the people, and each time he is overwhelmed by God's mandate to bless. Finally, in a moment of personal envy and hope, Bilaam blurts out, "Let me die the death of the righteous. May my fate be like theirs!" Read more...

A recent conversation I had with my son as we drove to his day's activity comes to mind in regards to this week's Torah portion of Matot-Masei. The drive took us through the much of the West San Fernando Valley and along several of its main arteries. As we passed a row of thrift shops, a wet suit that hung in the window caught his attention. Read more...

The headline-all capitals-spanning eight columns of page one of the Greensboro (North Carolina) Record for "Tuesday Evening February 23, 1960" reads: "New Sitdowns Bring 24 Arrests." The article records that "Police in Charlotte and Winston-Salem arrested both whites and Negroes today as Negro students resumed sitdown demonstrations against segregated lunch counter service." Read more...

As a young child attending day camp at the local JCC, I had a counsellor who used to spend hours entertaining us with her ability to catch grasshoppers mid-jump. She would scoop them up by two of their legs and hold them up, showing off their stomachs. Hands quick enough to catch the hoppers were certainly noteworthy, but what fascinated me even more was the long springboard-like bounce of the jumping grasshoppers whose ability to keep jumping would certainly have surpassed the commercial energizer bunny. Read more...

As a young child attending day camp at the local JCC, I had a counsellor who used to spend hours entertaining us with her ability to catch grasshoppers mid-jump. She would scoop them up by two of their legs and hold them up, showing off their stomachs. Hands quick enough to catch the hoppers were certainly noteworthy, but what fascinated me even more was the long springboard-like bounce of the jumping grasshoppers whose ability to keep jumping would certainly have surpassed the commercial energizer bunny. Read more...