As the deadly knife/car/stone/and gun attacks against Israelis continue, and in the wake of ongoing atrocities committed by ISIS, Boko Haram and other radical, racist, Islamic groups, one hears, quite understandably, comments about the intractable and immutable nature of the xenophobic, triumphalist, tribal hatred that exists in the Arab/Muslim world, and elsewhere. One of the Rabbinic statements that is often used in this context appears in a Rashi in this week’s parsha.

There really is only one way to describe the domestic drama which takes place in this week’s parsha, Va’yetze: it’s a real mess. Yaakov works seven years for the sneaky, dangerous Lavan, in order to marry Lavan’s daughter, Rachel. Lavan tricks him, and Yaakov finds himself married to her sister, Leah, and then forced to work seven more years for Rachel. The dynamic between the beloved Rachel and the less beloved Leah is, unsurprisingly, difficult, as it is among their sons. There is sexual jealousy, anger, and competition for who can give birth to the most children.

This week’s parsha, Chayei Sarah – the Life of Sarah – begins with Sarah’s death and subsequent burial by her husband, Avraham, in Hevron. The parsha then follows Avraham’s attempt, as a single parent, to arrange a marriage for his son, Yitzchak. This is accomplished by sending his trusty servant, Eliezer, back to the land of Avraham’s birth, Aram Naharayim, to bring back an appropriate, non-Canaanite bride for his son and heir.

There are a few burning religious and communal issues the Jewish people are now dealing with.  Arguments are raging over what our policy should be towards conversions, women’s role in the synagogue and the community, homosexuality, our attitude towards non-Jews, and other questions. Almost all of these arguments seem to revolve, one way or another, around the same question: To what degree should our  personal, internal, human morality and ethics determine our position on these issues?

Here in Israel, a battle has been raging (no, not that battle) between different factions about what our policy should be towards conversion. To briefly summarize: one group, headed by the Charedim (ultra-Orthodox) and the Israeli Rabbinate, wants to make conversion a long, difficult process, and demand a very high commitment to all of Jewish law and custom from would-be converts.

The current situation in Israel is challenging in a number of ways. The fact that almost any Arab in the street – young, old, male, female – might be carrying an axe or knife which he or she is itching to use on the first Jew they see is certainly disconcerting. We are all also wondering how it all came to this, and where it will all end. In addition, an interesting ethical dilemma has arisen: how are we to relate to the attackers? How are we meant to deal with the society from which they come?

I would like to explain how feminism - the belief in equality between men and women - is a basic Jewish value,  and that achieving that equality is, in fact, one of our most important and cherished goals, an essential element in our hopes for a redeemed, Messianic age. 

Parshat Ha’azinu is a beautiful poem, a final effort by a soon-to-die Moshe to stir the Jewish people to a commitment to their covenant with God. The parsha, which speaks of both the Jewish past and future, and our relationship with God and his mitzvot (commandments), begins like this: “Listen, oh heavens and I will speak, and hear, oh earth, what I say”.

The obvious question is why does Moshe seem to address the heaven and earth – we thought he was meant to be talking to the Jewish people?