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”...
ISRAEL’S EMBASSIES This week’s parasha includes the passage well-known to us from the siddur: the second paragraph of the Shema. The conclusion of this passage seems difficult to accept at face value: “so that your days will be lengthened on the land which the L-d promised to your ancestors, to give to them.” The Torah...
TIME FOR A BREAK With the holiday season upon us, many will be looking to have a much-deserved break. Some may be wanting to have a quiet relaxing time. Others may be seeking something more exciting. Is there a Jewish angle on having an adventure? The Torah fortuitously sets out a general principle in a...
FATHER OF MERCY This Shabbat we will be reciting an extra prayer before Ashrei called Av Harachamim “Father of Mercy.” Its origins lie in the wake of the First Crusade, in 1096. Many Jewish communities in Germany were decimated as mobs found an outlet for their religious zeal in killing Jews before making their way...
