Category Judentum

Parashat Balak (last week’s reading) has quite a disturbing end. The short chapter reads like a report that predicts the end of “Project Exodus”. The situation in the camp is chaotic, all boundaries are fallen and no one cares anymore…

Torah Sparks: Tu BiShvat – celebrating the birthday of all trees “Then the Eternal One said to Moses, ‘Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward. And you lift up your rod and hold out…

This is one of the more profound theological questions. To be able to name something or someone is to have a specific relationship to it or them, even a form of control. One can call out not just “Hey, You!”…

In parshat Vayishlach Jacob’s name is changed to Israel, not once but twice. The first time, in 32:29, Jacob is named by a “man” after spending all night wrestling with him. In 35:10 Jacob receives the name Israel directly from…

A joke is told about the New York man driving around desperately seeking a parking place. He can’t find one, and so in desperation, he says, “Oh God I pray that you give me a parking space, if you give…

This week’s Torah portion begins with the phrase, V’eileh toldot Yitzchak ben Avraham, “This is the line of Isaac son of Abraham” (Genesis 25:19), indicating that the text is now going to focus on Isaac, the second of the Patriarchs…

Our parashah for this Shabbat continues with report of Abraham’s and Sarah’s journey. Both welcome the three unknown visitors and learn from them that Sarah will soon bear a son, despite of her old age. As the visitors had predicted,…

Have you asked yourself how life would be for you if you were born into a different time? Somewhere in the past or in the future? Would you be a different person? In this week’s Torah portion, as we read…