Parasha

Parashat Lech Lecha: Having the courage to stand alone

Abraham’s willingness to stand alone would become a defining feature of our nation. As his descendants, we would desperately need that same strength.

AVRAHAM’S WILLINGNESS to stand alone would become a defining feature of our nation.
LIFE’S TRIALS themselves are the light that a person must follow.

Parashat Lech Lecha: There is no wisdom like that gained through experience

WATER HOLDS a profound place in Judaism,

Parashat Bereishit: The world of water

An illustration of the Bereshit-Nama.

The imagination that began it all: The Persian-Jewish poet bringing Genesis back to life - opinion


Parashat Shoftim: Wholehearted – and well

“Wholeheartedness is greater than wisdom, but great wisdom is required of a Jew before he reaches the level of ‘You shall be wholehearted with the Lord your God.’” - Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz.

SORCERERS, MAGICIANS, diviners: The Torah rejects them all.

Parashat Re'eh: The tyranny of ‘one’ truth

An age of prophecy should have been an age of clarity. If God spoke directly to humanity, the path forward ought to have been unmistakable.

It takes courage to reject someone who has demonstrated extraordinary gifts.

Parashat Eikev: With respect for the past

Moses shattered the Tablets, yet their fragments were preserved beside the new ones. Their message endures, what appears broken can still carry holiness, meaning, and strength.

 Moses is seen breaking the Tablets after coming down from Mount Sinai.

Parashat Eikev: The things we step on

Parshat Eikev teaches that the greatest threats to our values begin not with rejecting them, but with neglecting the small practices that keep them alive.

REMBRANDT'S MOSES with the Ten Commandments

Parashat Va'ethanan: The positive within the negative

The Ten Commandments are not an independent list of fundamental principles, but rather the nucleus from which the entire Torah unfolds - its genetic code.

Moses on Sinai (Le tables de Loi judaique), 1773. Artist Simon Julien.

Parashat Devarim: Always relevant

The Torah remains unchanged, yet its message can be expressed anew in the language, challenges, and circumstances of every generation.

SEVENTY LANGUAGES?

Parashat Matot-Masei: Don’t borrow identity

Public debate has become louder, more bitter, and less capable of self-correction because opinions have hardened into identities.

IT ALL comes back to the question of identity.

Parashat Matot-Masei: Slow and steady

The most important movement is not always what is visible externally, but what takes place within a person.

EVERY STATION on the slow journey  plays an indispensable role.

Parashat Pinchas: A prophet for difficult times

The Three Weeks do not ask us to despair. They ask us to remember what we lost, why we lost it, and, above all, that God has never stopped remembering us.

Jerusalem Day at the Western Wall.

Parashat Balak: What is the price of aloneness?

In a highly integrated world, the isolation of the State of Israel is itself a strategic risk. Some voices in Israel deride this issue or dismiss concerns about how we are viewed.

A person is seen sitting alone (illustrative).