Parsha

Parashat Mishpatim: All or nothing

Loyalty to a path means saying, “I belong. Sometimes I will fail, sometimes I will err, but I am all in.” This is completely different from saying “I like this, but I don’t like that.”

Piano
The Knesset building

Parashat Mishpatim: The long search for moral society

Exodus from Egypt (Edward Poynter)

Parashat Bo: Jeremiah’s timeless promise to Israel

Torah scroll 521

Jacob’s warning: Enthusiasm without restraint threatens a nation - opinion


Parashat Ki Tetze: Making ourselves disappear

Deuteronomy 22 tells us that when you see another’s oxen or sheep lost, you should not remain indifferent.

A 1,000-year-old Hebrew Bible,was unveiled at the Museum of the Bible on November 8, 2019.

Parashat Ki Tetze: What is a Holy War?

We see three laws in these verses that are hard to imagine are mentioned in reference to a war camp.

‘HAVING CHOSEN God, the Torah is God’s response to us.’ Pictured: The Yanov Torah, rescued from the Holocaust.

Parashat Ki Tetzei: Domestic workers must be cared for by employers

The minimum wage, in its current state, is a collective violation of the biblical prohibition of “oshek” (worker oppression).

Elderly Israelis wait for their turn to vote

Parashat Ekev: Your gift or God’s?

The Land of Israel, like all the goods of this world, is God’s gift, but the people must still fight to deserve it.

THE ARCHEOLOGICAL site of the City of David. ‘The only people for whom the Land of Israel has ever been their national kingdom are the Jews’

Torah commands both love and vengeance. What’s a Zionist to do? - opinion

When I read this week’s Torah portion, Ekev, I hear echoes of the Zionist narrative of my upbringing.

A tree grows in the Galilee, in Israel's North.

Parashat Matot-Masei: The art of listening

The two-and-a-half tribes who ask for their land to be outside the stated borders of the land of Israel serve as a subtle but beautiful example of what it is to ask, and what it means to listen.

THE WRITER warns that historical incoming water flow is drying out, as the Jordan River (pictured) has almost completely dried out and Lake Kinneret water levels have never been lower.

Parashat Pinhas: A plurality of opinions

We learn from this week's Torah portion, parashat Pinhas, a plurality of opinions is a godly phenomenon.

Microphone

Humility and humanity in Torah and Israel - opinion

A look at this week’s Torah portion, Balak

A Palestinian man riding a donkey passes a Jewish family in the Jordan Valley this week.

Parashat Korah: The boundaries of holiness

This week, we read about the dispute of Korah, for whom the parasha is named. Korah and his companions challenged the religious and leadership hierarchy.

THE PUNISHMENT of Korah, a detail from the fresco ‘Punishment of the Rebels’ by Sandro Botticelli in the Sistine Chapel

Parashat Bamidbar: Four lessons for one's journey into Jewish adulthood

The Book of Numbers is not primarily one of danger and warning, but rather one of promise and preparation, albeit seasoned with a healthy dose of realism.

‘The Grapes of Canaan’ painted circa 1896-1902 by James Jacques Joseph Tissot, The Jewish Museum, New York.