Tag: god
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The Proper Attitude in Prayer
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the great Chasidic master, was once visiting a town. He came to the community’s synagogue but refused to enter. The townspeople were astounded. Why was he refusing to cross the threshold of their House of Prayer? they asked. “The synagogue is too crowded,” he replied. The townspeople looked at one…
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Angels in our Midst?
In our Torah reading this week, Joseph is dispatched by his father Jacob to check on the welfare of his brothers and on the flocks they are pasturing near Shechem. (Genesis 37:12) Joseph loses his way and encounters a man who asks him what he is seeking. Joseph replies that he is looking for his…
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Just Getting Even?
In our Torah reading for tomorrow, (Genesis 31:7-32:3) Jacob flees from Laban with his family and all of the wealth he has managed to accumulate in his years of service/servitude to his father-in-law. We learn that Rachel, Jacob’s wife (and Laban’s daughter), steals the household idols and brings them with her. The commentators wonder why…
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To Be Ever Fresh and Fragrant
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlov, the great-grandson of the founder of Hassidism, the Baal Shem Tov, was born in 1772 and died at the age of 38 in 1810. Rabbi Nachman is buried in Uman, in Ukraine, where he spent his final years. His grave has become a place of pilgrimage for tens of thousands who…
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Love Makes the World Go Round
In her 1986 album, True Blue, Madonna singsThere’s hunger everywhereWe’ve got to take a standReach out for someone’s handLove makes the world go roundIt’s easy to forget If you don’t hear the soundOf pain and prejudiceLove makes the world go round. The idea that “love makes the world go round” is found in our Parasha…
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A Broken Vessel
Our holy Torah knows of no perfect people. Even the founder of our religion, Abraham, the first Hebrew, is a flawed individual. Between the ages of 75, when, as Abram, he received his promise from God that he would become “a great nation” to the age of 99, when Sarah gave birth to Isaac, the…
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Striking a Balance
The Torah portion for this week contains two stories, one of destruction and one of dispersal. In the story of Noah, God regrets that he has created humankind. The Torah tells us that the “earth was filled with lawlessness”. According to the sages, a merchant would bring a cartload of grapes through the marketplace. This…
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The Universal Word
What word in the English language is the most understood around the world? This word appears in our Torah portion this week. When you say this word, people in Europe understand it, people in South America understand it, and in Africa, and across the Middle and the Far East all understand this word. In fact,…
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The Miracles of Everyday Life
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses assembles the Israelites and recounts the past forty years of their experience together. He reminds them of “the wondrous feats that you saw with your own eyes, those prodigious signs and marvels.” “Yet,” he continues, “The Eternal has not given you a mind to understand or eyes to see or…
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A Summary Execution?
Last week’s parasha closed with the Israelites, encamped at a place called Shittim. There, they begin to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab, a pagan people. A plague breaks out among the people, an expression of God’s displeasure (to say the least) with the Israelite’s descent into paganism. An Israelite prince named Zimri brings…
Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph 