In Parshat Re’eh, the Israelites are given intimation of the shape of their future society across the Jordan River. The portrait of the Israelites’ world-to-come generally radiates an exuberant sense of well-being—reflecting a society contentedly organized and functioning smoothly. The desert nomads are regaled with how they will yearly process to a central site for …
Read MoreAs the Israelites are poised to enter Canaan in Parshat Va’etchanan, Moses finally finds his tongue and speaks at length with his people, instructing them on his legacy. Central to Moses’s oration is the insistence that the events of his life have unfurled before the people’s “own eyes.” As Moses retells it, his audience’s presence …
Read MoreAfter decades of the Israelites’ wanderings, God’s decree upon the willful generation of the Exodus—”In this very wilderness shall your carcasses drop”—is nearly fulfilled.[1] To take stock of the new generation born in the desert, a census is ordered. Lineages are recorded; tribes’ sums inscribed; fresh tallies of the war-ready men collected. And from among …
Read MoreParshat Korach tells of the mayhem and violence that often accompany political strife. After Korach the Levite challenged Moses’s leadership and Aaron’s priestly authority, a test was devised: God’s choice for priestly service would become known after Korach and Aaron each offered sacrificial incense. The divine response was unmistakable. The earth “opened her mouth and …
Read MoreParshat Naso provides the script for one of the more penetrating segments of the Hebrew liturgy—the birkat kohanim, or priestly blessing. Over the millennia, this benediction has remained a seminal means of invoking the Divine in both the Jewish and Christian traditions. In our parshah, God dictates the blessing to Moses, who is to teach …
Read MoreAfter my grandfather’s death, I rifled through a shabby valise into which he had tossed important-seeming documents. Among the runic scraps were several fragile pages of type-written Yiddish with their English translation, signed and dated, Tel Aviv, 1957, and titled “Sworn Declaration in Lieu of Birth Certificate.” The Declaration’s armature of legalese, embossings, seals and …
Read MoreIn this week’s double portion of Tazria-Metzora we read of the purification ritual for the metzora, the unfortunate person struck with tzara’at—a preternatural skin disease that resulted in a status of ritual uncleanliness and temporary banishment from Israel’s encampment. The surprising intimacy of the purification ritual underscores the importance of restoring dignity and community to …
Read MoreIn this week’s double portion of Tazria-Metzora we read of the purification ritual for the metzora, the unfortunate person struck with tzara’at—a preternatural skin disease that resulted in a status of ritual uncleanliness and temporary banishment from Israel’s encampment. The surprising intimacy of the purification ritual underscores the importance of restoring dignity and community to …
Read MoreFor as long as people have organized themselves into civil societies, corruption has placed its thumb on the scales of justice, diverted the flow of essential resources and helped turn the wheels of power. But while corruption may have indiscriminately left its mark on every age, it is not so even-handed in its distribution today. …
Read MoreParshat Ki Tisa introduces the taboo against quantifying persons, enjoining the Israelites from giving themselves numbers. The sum of the people, it seems, is a dangerous thing—inviting evil, tempting fate, summoning the evil eye. Thus, God here commands that when Israel is to be counted the people are to use coins as proxy for their …
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