Eye for an Eye?
One of the classic perceptions of the Old Testament is that it commands a strict and merciless justice. And the single most prominent example comes from this verse: Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for a hand, foot for a foot. (E. 21:24) Casual readers understand this verse as strict like-for-like justice…
Why Does G-d Talk to Himselves?
There are three verses in the Torah refers to G-d in the plural, which obviously poses a conflict with the statement in D. 6 that “G-d is One.” I have written on the first of these here, the second, here. And now we address the third verse. The people of Babel have come together to…
Making Sense of Seemingly Random Verse Placement
In the runup to the Exodus, there is a commandment that seems to come out of left field, concerning the tefillin that Jewish men wear on their arms and forehead: “And this shall serve you as a sign on your hand and as a reminder between your eyes—in order that the Teaching of G-d may…
We Grow Only When We Reach Across A Gap
Today, most people try to make life as easy and as simple as possible. So when they look for a mate, they look for commonality and a shared worldview. The thinking seems to be that the more two people have in common, the more compatible they will be, and the happier the resulting relationship. I…
G-d’s Physical Presence?
And G-d said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after. (E. 19:9) Why is it necessary that, in the wilderness, G-d appears in a physical form? That this somehow adds to Moses’ credibility?…
What is a Kingdom?
The first kingdom, mamleches, in the Torah is that of Nimrod – a great hunter and gibor, the first alpha predator in the world. (G. 10:10) The second mention of mamleches is the kingdom of Avimelech (G. 20:9). Avimelech was an accumulator of wealth: silver, wives, flocks and wells. The third mention of a mamleches…
Priests?
You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests. (Ex. 19:6) What is a priest, a cohen, in the Torah? The word appears precisely 10 times before this verse. Could its first use in the text help us understand what it means to be a “kingdom of priests”? The very first priest, cohen, mentioned in…
Beshalach – Bar Mitzvah Speech
In this week’s sedra, we have the Jewish people emerging from Egypt, and it is kind of like a national birth, the people leaving the womb of Egypt, through the waters, to emerge on dry land. The people who were compared to sheratzim and other swarming creatures made on the 5th day, lacking individuality and…
Tracking Time
What is one of the first things that prisoners do when they are incarcerated? Famously, they try to keep track of time, marking days and weeks and months on the wall. Somehow, in some way, people recognize that when we lose track of time, we also lose track of ourselves, perhaps in some fundamental way.…
What Kind of G-d?
For primitive man there are fertility gods, a sun god, and gods of luck and fortune. Indeed, people are also called gods – people who are more powerful than others are called gods, even in the Torah. “You will be to Pharaoh as gods.” (Ex. 4:16), and “The LORD replied to Moses, ‘See, I give you as…
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