Israel / Palestine

On its surface, Chayei Sarah is one of the tamer portions in all of the Torah. It is the only parasha in Genesis in which there is a complete absence of conflict and destruction. Yet there is an extremely rich subtext here, one that can be read in relation to the dramatic and disturbing events...

When we tell others the stories of our lives, we often find ourselves spicing up the narrative a bit as we tell and retell the story. It’s only human to exaggerate a bit, especially if our audiences don’t seem to be giving the stories the attention we feel that they deserve. Our additions add an...

These are the words Joseph spoke to his brothers; words of identification, love and reconciliation. In four Hebrew words (Gen. 45:12), Joseph has bridged an insuperable chasm between his brothers and himself. And in speaking as he did, he closed a chapter about lives marked by separation. There are chasms that mark our lives, keeping...

As this d’var Torah goes to print, we are in the middle of a second cease-fire, wondering whether this one will last beyond its three days. Nearly half of the casualties from this war are civilians, including hundreds of children. I believe that Israel not only should continue to exist but should thrive, with the...

Earlier this summer, before the fighting began in Israel, I led a birthright trip. From June 16th-26th, there was one issue on the minds of nearly every Israeli I met: the kidnapping of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah, the Israeli teens who were taken on June 12th. Throughout the trip, we knew nothing...

“The sky above your head will be copper and the earth beneath you iron.  HaShem will give the rain of your land over to dust, and sand from the sky will descend on you until you are destroyed.” (Deut. 28:23, 24) This week’s parashah contains some of the most terrifying verses in the Torah. Curses...

For the honor of Torah: A rabbinic response to Rabbi Dov Lior

Many of us are war-weary and disheartened this week as we open the final book of Torah—Devarim or Deuteronomy. The Rambam called this book Mishneh Torah (repetition of Torah), because so much of it contains Moshe’s retelling of the stories that our ancestors lived out in the 40 years’ walk through the Wilderness. The aged...

The reunion was to take place the next morning. Each of the brothers, alone within his own encampment, struggled with his own fears – and his own memories. Esau, the older, was sure that his younger brother would be up to his old tricks. He remembered how he had done everything his father had asked...

In this week’s Torah portion, we read the following words about the first Jew ever to set out for the land we call Israel:  “V’Avraham zakein ba bayamim” – “Abraham was old, advanced in years.”  Torah scholars point out that the phrase is redundant – if he’s old, we already know he’s advanced in years. ...