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Each of us a Pillar
Our Torah reading for this Shabbat begins with Moses gathering the People of Israel and proclaiming, “You stand this day, all of you, before the ETERNAL your God… to enter into the covenant with the Eternal, your God.” What follows—although not described explicitly in the Torah—is a ceremony reaffirming the covenant that God made with…
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When the Torah Re-Wrote the Rules for Eating Meat
During the forty years of Israel’s journey through the wilderness, the only meat the Israelites consumed was meat that had been sanctified and offered at the altar. Every animal slaughtered was part of a sacrificial rite, its portions divided among God, the priests, and the family who brought the offering. Eating meat was therefore an…
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Step by Step
Our Parsha begins, “When you go out to war against your enemies…” Chassidic commentators note that the verse is grammatically in the singular. They interpret this to mean that there is no greater enemy for any individual than the “Yetzer Ha-rah” – the “evil inclination” — which tempts us to sin. The verse therefore comes…
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Appoint Judges and Constables at Your Gates
Our parasha opens with the Torah instructing the Israelites to appoint magistrates and constables at the gates of every city. (Deuteronomy 16:18) Rashi explains that the magistrates judge matters of law, while the constables enforce the magistrate’s decisions— “with a stick or a strap”—until the recalcitrant party accepts the ruling. The author of Shnei Luchot…
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God Have Mercy
Our parasha this week speaks about the mitzvah of taking up arms against an Israelite city that has become so spiritually corrupt that all its citizens worship idols. (Deuteronomy 13:13-17) The Israelites are commanded to destroy such a city and put its inhabitants to death. If the Israelites follow this commandment, and the soldiers do…
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Understanding Jacob’s Name
As we read in the Book of Genesis, (25:19–26) our matriarch Rivka gives birth to twins. The first to emerge is covered with hair, and the Torah tells us, “They named him Esau,” a play on the Hebrew word se’ar, meaning “hair.” The second child appears grasping his brother’s heel, and he is named Yaakov…
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An Israel to Celebrate
When I spoke regularly from the pulpit, I would often talk about Israel. My pulpit, I determined, would be a place where Israel’s goodness, promise, and achievements were emphasized. Heaven knows, my congregants could hear criticism of Israel from many places, but my pulpit would be a place of “ahavat Yisrael” – love of Israel.…
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Finding Ones Voice
This week I share a teaching from The Sefat Emet, Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905), one of the most influential Hasidic masters of the late 19th century. He comments on the very first verse of the Book of Deuteronomy, our parsha hashavuah, our Torah portion for this week: “These are the words that Moshe…
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Promises, Promises
Our teaching today comes from Rabbi Tsvi Hersch Bonhardt, a German-born rabbi who became a prominent maggid, or preacher in Wodzisław, Poland in the early 1700s. Rabbi Tsvi Hersch was the father of the better-known Hasidic master Rabbi Simcha Bunim Bonhardt of Peshiskha. He comments on verse 3 of this week’s Torah reading: “If a…
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The Perennial Struggle for Justice and Equality
One storyline in the PBS series Downton Abbey centered on who would inherit the Grantham estate and title. The Earl of Grantham, Robert Crawley, and his American-born wife, Cora, had three daughters: Lady Mary, Lady Edith, and Lady Sybil. Under English law, however, the estate and title had to pass to a male heir when…
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Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 