GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY In this week’s parasha Moses calls on heaven and earth to be witnesses to the Jewish people. “Listen, Heaven and I will speak, and hear, Earth, the words of my mouth.” (Devarim 32:1) The Midrash explains that the people are to look to the natural world as symbols of faithfulness to G-d and...
STANDING AND WALKING Encapsulated in the titles of this week’s double parasha are two key principles of life. Nitzavim and Veyelech. Standing firm and Walking. There are times when what is required of us is to be firm, principled and resolute. There are other times when what is called for is to be flexible, compliant...
MONUMENTAL VALUES The controversy over reports of thefts from the British Museum throws into focus the importance of such institutions as being the custodians of the cultural heritage of mankind. Gazing at an ancient monument can give a graphic insight into the world and values of a civilization long past on. The construction of a...
THE WATERS OF NOAH This Shabbat contains the shortest Haftara in the book – a mere ten verses from chapter 51 of Isaiah. Yet it contains a message that rings out across the generations. Isaiah promises, in the name of G-d, that just as he had promised in the days of Noah, not to bring...
TWO KINDS OF BLINDNESS Earlier this year, Ukrainian authorities detained the chief justice of the Supreme Court for allegedly taking bribes from an oligarch. As a recipient of so much Western support in its war against Russia, Kyiv was determined to demonstrate its swift and absolute commitment to outlawing corruption. Here’s what the Torah has...
FOR ONE AND FOR ALL “Behold I am setting before you this day a blessing and a curse” [Devarim 11:26] The opening words of today’s parasha have occasioned much discussion.. The nuance of grammar is lost in the English translation. The verse begins with an injunction in the singular, Re’eh, “Behold or See”...
