by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 4, 2024 | Revelation and Prophecy, Shavuot (Pentecost), Yitro
Jean-Jacques Rousseau once observed the remarkable resilience and enduring nature of Jewish people. In an unpublished document discovered after his death, Rousseau wrote: The Jews provide us with an astonishing spectacle: the laws of Numa, Lycurgus, Solon are dead;...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 31, 2024 | Faith, Va'etchanan
This commandment in this verse mandates the writing of this paragraph, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, as well as Deuteronomy 11:13-21, on a parchment scroll which is then mounted on the doorpost of the home. These two passages are “these words” that the Bible mandates to be...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 30, 2024 | Kindness and Compassion, Yitro
At the start of the Torah portion of Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:22), we read about Jethro’s visit to Moses in the desert before the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Moved by the news of the remarkable miracles God had performed for the Israelites, including the...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 29, 2024 | Good and Evil, Yitro
The placement of stories in the Bible is sometimes as instructive as the narratives themselves. The story of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, in the Torah portion of Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:22) is a prime example of this intricate storytelling. At first glance, the...
by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki | f 24, 2024 | Faith, Va'etchanan
“You shall bind them as a sign on your arm, they shall be for ornaments between your eyes.” The practice of phylacteries Practically speaking, this verse commands the donning of phylacteries. This daily practice is still done by all Jewish males to this...
by Shira Schechter (Moderator) | f 23, 2024 | Education, Faith, Va'etchanan
Alert: Too many translations! Whenever we find a word that is translated differently by various Bible translations there is a good chance that the Hebrew word in question is worthy of study. This makes sense. If a word is straightforward and easy to translate in...
