Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

Each year as we read Parashat Ekev, I am reminded of how very different the God with whom I share a relationship with today is from the God of my childhood imagination. No longer do I envision God as the big guy in the sky, sitting on a throne as would a king, taking on human emotions or characteristics. Yet, as I read the haftarah, I am always drawn to one verse that takes me back and leaves me pondering how it is that God of my childhood might not be so different than God with whom I relate today. Read more...

With more than seventy laws detailed (72 according to Maimonides; 74 by other counts), this week's Torah portion, Ki Tetzei, contains more laws than almost any other single portion of the Torah. At first glance, the various laws read as a miscellany list of unconnected themes: marriage/divorce, personal property, employee-employer relations. Read more...

May I have a word with you? The opening words of the fifth book of the Torah begin simply enough, "These are the words that Moses spoke (diber) to all Israel." The Rabbis of the ancient Midrash Sifre Devarim note that every place the Tanach uses the verb 'daber' indicates harshness or rebuke, whereas the Hebrew word 'amar' conveys a sense of praise. Read more...

I am always in awe of people who can learn and speak multiple languages. As a high school student I spent four years learning Spanish. And, despite how it might seem today, I was really quite proficient. The problem was that when I entered college and returned to learning the Hebrew I had begun in elementary school, my words kept coming out in Spanish. Over time, I found myself blocking more and more of the Spanish to the degree that while I can still understand some basic conversations, it is far more difficult to formulate full sentences to have a meaningful conversation. Read more...

After the Israelites sin at Baal-Peor, God lashes out in anger, ordering Moses to "Take all the heads of the people and have them publicly impaled." Before Moses can act on God's command, a leading Israelite named Zimri and a leading Midianite woman named Cozbi enter the sacred site of the Tent of Meeting and there, before the entire people, begin to copulate. This arrogant escalation of sin inflames Pinhas, the leader of the levitical guards, who grabs a spear and impales the two sinners. Read more...