Vayeira – Unreal

Regarding various Jewish laws (e.g. see Bava Kamma 49a), the Gemara sees in Avraham’s words to his entourage on the way to the Akeida, “Stay here with the donkey” (Beraishis 22:5), an indication (based...

Lech Lecha – Of Banners and Bloodshed

It’s considered uncouth, or worse, these days to assign any sort of “national character” to peoples of different ethnic or geographical backgrounds. And we are well advised to not assume anything about any individual...

Noach – Get Your Own Dirt

It could have been a launch pad for a vehicle to reach the moon. Or a panopticon to monitor people over a large distance. Those are two of the suggested theories for why the...

Beraishis – The The

Is there any reason why the Torah uses the definite article (“the”) in its first pasuk? Couldn’t it have said “In the beginning, Elokim created heavens and earth” –  minus the “the”s? While we...

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The Book to Take to Yom Kippur

Even inanimate objects “pray.” When a bris takes place on Rosh Hashanah, and the mohel happens to be the one who will afterwards sound the shofar, we instruct him not to wash out his...

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Each year, I share some brief thought before Rosh Hashanah with a large list of personal contacts, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Some recipients have liked them, so I will share the one I mailed...

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