Moses and Aaron “Whoever says something in the name of the one who said it brings redemption to the world” In that spirit, I wish to present here some ideas from an outstanding sermon I heard last Shabbat at my local synagogue, Beit Boyer, from Rabbi Read More »

What’s in a Name? When I first became interested in Judaism during my teenage years, I used to study the parshat hashavua, like many of my generation, using the Soncino Pentateuch , with the commentary and notes of UK Chief Rabbi J. H. Hertz. Read More »

Kol Be-Isha Ervah—“A Woamn’s Voice is Lewdness” First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the sweetness of their song. Read More »

Setting the Stage Most of this issue is devoted to a special essay, entitled “Kol be-Isha Ervah —’A Woman’s Voice is Lewdness.’” I will, however, preface it with a few remarks about the beginning of the Book of Shemot (Exodus). Read More »

“Do Not Bury Me in Egypt!” This time, I would like to explore and try to understand one detail of this week’s parashah: the meaning of burial and the place of burial. I noticed a striking fact: Parashat Vayehi is framed, at its beginning and its end, by two closely parallel, otherwise unique incidents. Read More »

A Study in Character As last week (belatedly) I wrote about Hanukkah alone, this time I shall discuss together the two parshiyot of Miketz and Vayigash, which in any event constitute a single continuous sequence. Read More »

Is Hanukkah a Festival? The other day I went to the local post office to pay a bill and send some letters. After I finished my business, the clerk, in keeping with the spirit of the recently privatized Israel postal service, tried to sell me something. “What are these?” I asked her. “Greeting cards. Read More »

Yaakov and David as Fathers The first Rashi I ever learned, or rather heard, is the opening one of this parashah. My parents had a friend named Isaiah who, like most of my parent’s circle, New York–Jewish progressive intellectuals, was a non-observant Jew who had grown up in a traditional home. Read More »

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A Tale of Two Brothers Before turning to this week’s parashah, I would like to reiterate a point that has guided much of what I have written here over the years: namely, that the Jewish tradition frequently puts a very definite slant on the meaning Read More »

“And Yitzhak went out to the field” One of the verses in this week’s parashah that has always intrigued me is ויצא יצחק לשוח בשדה לפנות ערב וגו’: “And Yitzhak went out to converse/meditate/stroll in the field towards evening…” (Genesis 24: 63). The traditional Rabbinic interpretation, cited by Rashi and others (Sforno, R. Saadya Gaon, R. Read More »

Dedicated by Mark Feffer, in loving memory of his parents, Harry and Clara Feffer (Hayyim Zvi ben Mordechai Hakohen ve-Esther) and Hayah bat Chaim ve-Dreiezel The Binding of Isaac and the Beatles The chapter of Akedat Yitzhak, the Binding of Isaac, Read More »

“Abraham My Lover” In Isaiah 41: 8, one of the relatively few verses outside of the Torah which mentions Abraham, the children of Israel are referred to as זרע אברהם אוהבי—“the seed of Abraham My lover. Read More »

“Their Thoughts were Only Evil all Day Long” The first images that come to mind when we speak of the story of Noah and the Flood is of the building of the great ark and the animals filing in by twos, of the dove flying back and forth and returning with an olive branch in its mouth, and the appearance of the rainbow. Read More »

Introduction: Wandering the Highways and Byways of Torah I deliberated for some time as to what topic to choose for this year. Read More »

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