The First Question
Bereshit is so familiar that it is easy to forget how quickly things unravel. Within a few chapters we get the creation of the world, human beings made in the […]
The Jewish Art of Not Quite Leaving
There is a very Jewish instinct buried inside Shemini Atzeret: we do not always know how to leave. The meal is over, the plates are being cleared, somebody has already […]
Learning to Live Under an Unfinished Roof
Sukkot is a strange festival to arrive at just after the intensity of the Yamim Noraim. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we stand before HaShem with seriousness. We speak […]
When Heaven Is Asked to Listen
Ha’azinu is not an easy parashah. It does not come to soothe us. It comes as a song, but not the kind of song we might expect at the end […]
The Sound That Won’t Let Us Hide
There are moments when a year does not feel ready to end neatly. Too much has happened. Too much has been said. Too much has been left unsaid. We arrive […]
Standing Here, Choosing Again
Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech comes just as we move towards the end of the year, and its opening words feel almost deliberately personal: “You are standing here today, all of you.” Not […]
What We Carry In
Parashat Ki Tavo begins with someone bringing the first fruits of the Land to the place HaShem will choose. It is a simple but powerful image: a person standing with […]
The Small Things That Shape Us
Parashat Ki Teitzei contains more mitzvot than any other parashah in the Torah. It moves quickly from one law to another: family life, lost property, workers’ rights, marriage, dignity, honesty, […]
Justice Is Not a Slogan
Parashat Shoftim opens with one of the Torah’s most famous lines: “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” It is easy to admire those words. It is much harder to live by […]