Parsha

The story of his life up until the moment God tells Abraham to leave is tantalizingly elusive. This is why the midrash there plays such a central role in answering: Why was he chosen?

The differences between Abraham and Lot chart the future - In this week’s Torah portion God tells Abraham to go and each generation of our people is taken along on his journey. 

Abraham’s unique path - and ours nowadays - is to pursue justice and perform acts of loving-kindness.

Shouldn’t this great man be introduced along with his heroic credentials? Why is this his past résumé kept confidential?

The notion that Moses received everything on the mountain in the Book of Exodus runs into considerable problems, as our sages knew.

Why is a punishment in the Torah described as "the concealment of God’s face" , and what is the meaning of this?

In Judaism, we emphasize the past through saying Kaddish (the Mourner’s Prayer) and Yizkor (the Memorial Prayer).

 On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we have the chance to stop, and admit that in our lives we are lost. We can reset our spiritual GPS, and begin anew.

Centuries of sin, exile and distance created a sort of spiritual cover over the heart that thickened as time passed.

Too often we perceive our great achievements as a testament to our greatness and fall prey to “And you may say in your heart, ‘My strength and the might of my hand made this victory’.”