Surrendering to Power
We do not have to look far to see how deeply people are attracted to power, unfettered and raw. We see it in sports – winning teams invariably have more fans. We thrill when we see domination. In some sports, that thrill can even be akin to bloodlust. We see it in world events, where…
Why Do Sunsets Matter?
A person who somehow has a blocked ability to spiritually elevate (often erroneously and clumsily translated to as “impure” or “unclean”) typically has to wash their body in water. But even after they have washed, they are not able to elevate until the sun sets. This is specifically cited twice in the Torah: The person…
The Holiness That Comes From Offering Bread
The Torah tells us that one of the reasons cohanim, priests, are to be sanctified is specifically because the priest offers the bread of your G-d (L. 21:8). Separately, the Torah tells us about offering bread to G-d: When you enter the land to which I am taking you, and you eat of the bread…
The Value of Indefinite Speech
When someone thinks they have been “touched” by G-d and now have the spiritual malady of tzaraas, then go to the priest, and they tell him so. At least, that is how it works for tzaraas of the body or of the clothing. These, presumably, reflect on a person’s personal behavior, and/or how they choose…
What Are We Supposed to Do With Time?
Judaism is legendary for always seeing the Big Picture. That probably comes with the territory – being one of the oldest religions in the world certainly can bring a sense of perspective. For us, the Big Picture is attained in part by always investing in the next generation, by seeing our lives as links in…
Wasted Potential
“What a waste!” We hate it when potential has been ruined. The Torah has a word for it: neveilah. The word is first used by G-d in his plans to deal with the builders of the Tower of Babel: Let us, then, go down and neveilah their speech there, so that they shall not understand one…
Interventions – Good and Bad
The Torah has a special word for interventions on someone else’s behalf: chesed. Though chesed is commonly understood to mean “kindness,” in the Torah, the meaning is more clinical: “acting on someone else’s behalf.” So, for example: Lot describes the angelic deliverance from Sodom as a chesed, and the Torah tells us that the search…
At the Heart of Rapprochement
On the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, the High Priest comes closer to G-d than at any other time, when he approaches the Ark of the Covenant, the Aron. The text tells us that for all the things that happen that day, the priest must start with just 3 things, at the essence…
The Little Bell
When excavating near the site of the Temple in Jerusalem in 2011, archaeologists came across a peculiar artifact, a single unique item: a tiny gold bell, about 1cm in diameter. This artifact matches the biblical description of the high priest’s clothing: a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all…
Was Sinai the High Point?
Today’s accepted thinking is that Sinai was the high point of Jewish history. After all, Sinai was where the Revelation occurred, where Moses was sequestered with G-d, and where the Ten Commandments were given. But the Torah does not say this! Indeed, it seems to take an opposing view: At the end of the period…
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