Tagged: “parashat hashavua”
Three Refuge Cities – Deuteronomy 4:41-49 – Part I
Torah Judaism is not far from Judaism’s tribal roots and Deuteronomy 4:41-49 shows this up quite clearly. This verse talks about three refuge towns on the east side of the Jordan River, Bezer (for...
Enemies of the Jews – Parashat Va’ethannan: Deuteronomy 7:1-11
This passage, the last part of Parashat Va’ethannan, bothered me and I struggled with the implications of taking the words literally. These lines relate to how following the commandments (mitzvot in Hebrew) will ensure...
Descendants of Esau and Jacob: Naming Names and Telling Tales (Genesis 36:1-43)
In psychotherapy, it is generally proposed that the beginning of coping consists of naming the problem or issue with which one is having difficulties. But giving a name is insufficient. Stories must be told...
Esau versus Jacob: Naming Names and Telling Tales (Genesis 36:1-43)
Why are the generations of descendants of Esau merely listed in these 43 verses with no stories told about any of them? In contrast, in the next parasha, we are introduced to an in-depth...
“Chosen” People? Tolerated, Perhaps. (Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy 32: 19-28)
Ha’azinu has put the term, “Chosen People” into a new perspective for me. And I can’t say that I like it. In my previous post, I wrote about the power of choice and the...
Power of choice (Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy 32: 19-28)
After having escaped from Egypt, we Jews faced a number of critical points at which our collective decisionmaking skills were challenged. Perhaps the most dramatic example was at Mount Sinai when the persistence of...
Joseph’s Brothers Prostrated Themselves – Are We? (Bereshit 42:1-7)
I grew up believing that Jews bow down only to the One God, our Creator, and never to another human being. The Purim story tells us that Mordechai refused to bow to Haman, an...
