All About Eight in the Torah
The number eight is the human bridge. Seven belongs to the created world—the week in which heaven and earth were finished. But the number eight is the day, the act, and the substance by which people take what nature has already given and invest it in a relationship that nature alone cannot complete – the…
Science’s Big Lie
Normal Judeo-Christian religion does not have a beef with science. Sure, we would like scientists to be guided by a moral code (e.g. don’t inflict people with toxins or viruses to see what happens – this is far more common than you might think), but we don’t generally have a problem with gaining knowledge about…
Recharging the Soul
We all know that the expectations that we have for ourselves or for others are important. We know that cultures or families where people achieve great things are the environments in which expectations are high. It is for this same reason that parents work hard to get their kids into good schools; good schools have…
Is There Hope?
I want to offer a broad, and perhaps grim, view of the world. The world is sick. Humanity is dying out. And we are doing it not because of external forces, but entirely driven by tendencies that, in the big picture, can only be described as broadly suicidal. Individuals, communities, entire nations, and Western Civilization…
The Rosh Hashanah Journey
I wanted to explore a way of thinking about Rosh Hashanah that occurred to me. I think Rosh Hashanah is the start of a journey – but not a conventional one. We had a conventional journey 6 months ago, with Pesach. On Pesach, the people had to physically get up and go. It was kind…
Journeys and Offerings
One of the areas of the Torah that often gets overlooked are the different meanings between the offerings. We tend to jumble them all together, even though the text has different names for the offerings, and does not use them interchangeably. For example, Noach is the first to offer an Oloh, an elevation offering (also…
Being Mindful
The first person who voluntarily connects with G-d is Cain, when he offers from the fruits of the earth, the pri-ha’adamah. It seems like a good and decent thing to do. But it falls short: Cain’s offering was famously not accepted by G-d, and Cain’s response is to commit the first murder. Perhaps the rejection…
Clothing For The Sake of Dignity
The Torah has different words for clothing, each having a distinct meaning. For example, in the Torah, beged always refers to aspirational garments, while simla consistently refers to functional clothing. There is another word that refers to maintaining the dignity and reputation of a person, of always being sure to them as if they are…
Can Directions Be Symbolic?
Some time ago, I wrote that when Jacob spoke of Rachel dying “on the way to Efrat,” he was speaking of her being on the path to fruitfulness (since Efrat contains “fruit” within the word). Which is why Jacob promoted Ephraim and Menasseh (grandsons of Rachel) to the status of his own sons. Rachel thus…
Solving Israel’s Draft Problem
Israel was founded by European Jewish Intellectuals who – with only some exceptions – deeply believed in the power of the intellect to properly order every element of society. In other words, they admired communism. Hence Israel’s national union, kibbutzim and moshavim, state-owned enterprises, and universal conscription to the armed forces. Israel has retained much…
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