Tag: god
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A Judaism without Israel?
In his great legal code, the Mishneh Torah, Maimonides praises the discipline of silence: “One should always cultivate silence and refrain from speaking, except about matters of knowledge or things necessary for one’s physical welfare. It was said that Rav, the disciple of our saintly teacher Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, never uttered an idle word in…
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The Enduring Power of Study
Our Torah reading this week begins, “If you walk in My ordinances and fulfill My commandments…” before proceeding to list the blessings that follow. Rashi explains that “walking in My ordinances” refers to diligent Torah study, while “fulfilling My commandments” refers to performing mitzvot. The Talmud makes a striking distinction between these two categories. Although…
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Rising to the Occasion
Our Torah reading for this week opens with the words: “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: A priest shall not defile himself among his people.” The Torah then prohibits priests from coming into contact with the dead, except for seven close relatives — wife, mother, father, son, daughter, brother,…
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A Conspicuous Absence
Our parasha this week, Tetzaveh, opens with the words, “You shall command the People of Israel….” It is striking that it does not begin with the usual formula, “God spoke to Moses.” Even more surprising, the name of Moses does not appear anywhere in this parasha. From the beginning of Exodus through the end of…
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The Kiddush for Friday Night
On every Friday night Jews around the world gather with their family and friends around the dinner table to inaugurate the Sabbath with a prayer called “The Kiddush”. This prayer notes that the Sabbath is both “a memorial to the days of Creation” and a “remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt”. In fact, the Torah…
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Joseph the Righteous
The Rabbis of the Talmud call Joseph “Joseph the Righteous” – “Yosef Ha-tsadik”. No other Biblical figure is described in this way. Why is Joseph singled out for this appellation? When Joseph is brought to Pharaoh, he makes it clear that it is not within his power to interpret dreams: And Pharaoh said to Joseph,…
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Praying Together or Alone?
The emphasis in Judaism tends to be on communal prayer. We need a “minyan”, a gathering of ten adults, in order to recite the mourner’s kaddish and other prayers in our liturgy. Jewish law states that one should make every attempt to pray in a synagogue with the community. The rabbis even maintain that one’s…
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The Days of Our Lives
Chesed is an important word in Jewish life. It means love, but a particular kind of love –generosity of spirit, kindness, compassion and open heartedness. Abraham is said to be the embodiment of this kind of love. Every day that Abraham lived, he did acts of Chesed. The Slonimer Rebbe (1911-2000) takes this further. He says…
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Broken Vessels
Our holy Torah knows of no unflawed or perfect people. Despite the high esteem that we hold for Abraham, the Bible does not present him as without faults. When a famine drives him and his wife to Egypt, the Torah tells us that Abraham is concerned for his own safety. (Genesis 12:10-20) What if the…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 