Torah Reflections

Vayeira Genesis 18:1-22:24   In his life storyline, Abraham did not always rise to the occasion of his ethical challenges. Yet this aspect of his story is worthy of praise: his standing up to God in the episode of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham remained standing...

Lech Lecha Genesis 12:1-17:27   When Abraham receives God’s call to leave his home and travel to an unknown land, it is with the assurance of a Divine promise: “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be...

B'reishit Genesis 1:1-6:8   Abel was a Shepherd and Cain tilled the soil. And it was, after the passing of days, that Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the Eternal; and as for Abel, he too brought [an offering] from among the choice...

Matot - Masei Numbers 30:2 - 36:13   The second of this week’s double Torah portion, Masei, summarizes the Israelites’ journey since they left Egypt, thus bringing the Book of Numbers to a close. “These are the journeys of the Children of Israel, who went forth...

Pinchas Numbers 25:10 - 30:1   As we near the end of the Book of Numbers, and therefore the end of the Exodus narrative—which will be retold by Moses in Deuteronomy, the last book of Torah—let’s look again at the moment when God tells Moses that his earthly time...

Korach Numbers 16:1 - 18:32   In the opening verses of this week’s Torah portion, a leader of the Levites named Korach took it upon himself to challenge the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Accompanied by 250 angry followers, he confronted the two brothers and...

Sh'lach L'cha Numbers 13:1 - 15:41   For forty days and forty nights the scouts sent by Moses gathered information and sampled the local fruits in the Promised Land. Upon their return, Caleb and Joshua encouraged the people to enter and conquer the land, but the...

Naso Numbers 4:21 - 7:89   One of the most disturbingly misogynistic stories in Torah—and, admittedly, there are many—confronts us in this week’s portion. It describes the humiliating ritual a woman was forced to endure if she had “strayed” or if her jealous...

B'midbar Numbers 1:1 - 4:20   A midrash relating to the opening of Parashat B’midbar (“In the wilderness”) asks, “Why was the Torah given in the wilderness?” Why not present the Torah in a more spiritually elevated place—say, for example, atop Mount Moriah in...

B'har - B'chukotai Leviticus 25:1 - 27:34   “If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit.” (Lev. 26:3-4) Thus promises the...

Acharei Mot - Kedoshim Leviticus 16:1 - 20:27   Tucked in among the verses of the Holiness Code is one of the best-known proclamations in Torah: “Love your neighbor as yourself; I Am YHVH” (Lev. 19:18). This translation (which is the same in the French of my...

Sh'mini Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47   Growing up, I always had difficulty with the concept of doing “God’s will.” The rabbis of my youth spoke of observing the mitzvot—the divinely prescribed do’s and don’t’s in the Torah, Talmud, and Halachah—but I questioned such...