Sarah's Protest

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Parshat Chayei Sarah opens with the death of Sarah. Her death comes almost immediately after the story at the end of last week's parsha - the binding of Isaac. That story seems to be presented by the Torah as one with a happy ending. Abraham rises to the occasion, and passes the test that God set for him by showing his willingness to sacrifice his beloved son and heir Yitzchak to God. At the last possible moment, divine intervention exempts him from making the actual sacrifice.

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This week's parsha contains the fascinating dialogue between God and Avraham about the fate of the people of Sodom and Amora. God informs Avraham of His plans to destroy the cities and their inhabitants. God's decision to share this information with Avraham and, perhaps, invite some sort of response from him, is presented in an interesting way:"And God said, shall I hide from Avraham that which I do? For Avraham shall surely be a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because of him...."God then informs Avraham of his plans to destroy the sinful cities.

Exactly How Impressed are we Meant to be by Noach?

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"These are the descendants of Noach - Noach was a righteous man, he was saintly in his generation; Noach walked with God." This is how the Torah begins the well-known story of Noach and the flood. Earlier, towards the end of last week's parsha, Bereshit, we are informed of the birth and naming of Noach with these somewhat enigmatic words: "Lemech lived one hundred and eighty-two years and had a son.

Teshuva: The Personal and the Communal

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"No man is an island, entire of itself." -John Donne

"Life is with people." Harry Golden

The first of the two parshas we read this week, Nitzavim, is read every year on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Hashanah, sometimes alone and sometimes, as it is this year, together with Parshat Vayelech. The connection of Parshat Nitzavim to Rosh Hashanah is readily apparent; the theme of Teshuva - repentance - which is a major element of the High Holy Days, is also the theme of a central section in this week's portion (Deuteronomy, Chapter 30):

The Pretty Woman: Object or Subject?

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This week's portion, Ki Tetse, begins with a section known as the parsha of the yefat toar - the good looking woman. It is one of the more morally challenging of all the laws of the Torah. This is what the Bible says:"When you go out to war against your enemy and the Lord your God gives him into your hand and you capture his captives. And you see in captivity a good looking woman and you desire her and you will take her to be your wife. And you shall take her into your home, and she shall shave her head and do her fingernails.

Eicha? How Can I be So Alone? The Difficulty in Being Different

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A few weeks ago, on Tisha B'Av, we read the Book of Lamentations. In Hebrew, this is not the name of the book. Rather, it is called by it's first word; Eicha - "How?" "How she sits alone, the city [Jerusalem] that was full of people, she has become like a widow, she that was great among the nations, princess among the provinces, is now a vassal." The word Eicha  appears three more times in the Book of Lamentations and, all together, a total of 16 times in all the books of the Bible.

Yaakov and Korach: a Model for Parents and Their Difficult Children

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In one of the more dramatic stories which takes place during the Jewish people's sojourn in the desert, Korach, one of the Levites, leads a rebellion against Moshe and Aharon, challenging their leadership and demanding power for other members of the Jewish people and, specifically, other Levites. At the beginning of the story, Korach is introduced as "Korach the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kehat, the son of Levi." Korach's family tree stops there, and does not go on to identify the father of Levi, Korach's great-great-grandfather, Yaakov.

Miriam's Punishmen: Human or Divine Morality?

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There is an ongoing question about religion and ethics that has been discussed for a long time: Where do standards of behavior come from? Is the source for morality and ethics ultimately divine, and to be found in our sacred traditions, or is there validity to human, social notions of how to conduct oneself? Do I look to my religious traditions for guidance on living my life, or can I - should I - rely on what societies come up with on their own when looking for the right way to behave in a given situation?

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This week, the Parsha, Behar (which means "On the mountain", referring to the fact that the laws contained here were given on Mount Sinai), begins with the laws of Shmita and Yovel, the Sabbatical and Jubilee years, during which we are forbidden by the Torah to do any agricultural work, debts are forgiven, slaves are freed, and in the 50th, Jubilee Year, all land which has been sold returns to its original, tribal owners.

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This week's parsha, Emor - which means 'speak' - ends with a tragic story: And the son of an Israelite woman, who was the son of an Egyptian man, went out among the children of Israel, and they fought in the camp - the son of the Israelite woman, with an Israelite man. And the son of the Israelite woman spoke the divine name and cursed, and they brought him to Moshe - and his mother's name was Shlomit the daughter of Divri, of the tribe of Dan. And they placed him in a guarded place, so that the thing could be explained to them by the word of God.

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