Weekly Torah Reading Nitzavim, September 8, 2018
A Minor Change in Translation “Today, you are all standing before the Lord your God,” this week’s reading opens, “your chiefs, your tribes, your elders, your officials, every man of Israel.” But there’s something wrong with this list (which …
Weekly Torah Reading, Ki Tavo, September 1, 2018
Reuben, Where Art Thou? “Today,” Moses tell the Israelites, “you have become the people of the Lord your God” (Deut 27:9) The Rabbis asked: What did he mean by “today”? Wasn’t Israel chosen to be God’s own people forty …
Weekly Torah Reading, Ki Tetze, August 25, 2018
All About Amalek At the very end of this week’s reading comes a well-known commandment, “Remember what Amalek did to you along the way as you were leaving Egypt.” The reference is to the battle fought between the Amalekites …
Weekly Torah Reading, Shofetim, August 18, 2018
Kings, Think Twice! “The ancient Near East,” wrote the Egyptologist Henri Frankfort, “considered kingship the very basis of civilization. Only savages could live without a king. Security, peace, and justice could not prevail without a ruler to champion them. …
Weekly Torah Reading, Re’eh, August 11, 2018
The Children of God This week’s reading contains an odd injunction: “You are children of the Lord your God,” it says, “You shall not gash yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead” (Deut 14:1). Ancient …
Weekly Torah Reading, ‘Ekev, August 4, 2018
Three for One King David, according to tradition, was the author of all 150 psalms in the book of Psalms. In one of these, Psalm 27, he addressed God with a particular request: “One thing I ask of …
Weekly Torah Reading, Va-etḥannan, July 28, 2018
The Eternal Shema This week’s reading includes the Torah’s most famous declaration, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (Deut 6:4). Throughout Jewish history, these words have been Israel’s unceasing proclamation of faith, recited both …
Weekly Torah Reading, Devarim, July 21, 2018
The Coming Surprise The Shabbat that precedes the fast of the Ninth of Ab, Tish‘a Be-Av, always features the same haftarah reading, from the first chapter of the book of Isaiah. At first glance, this seems odd. That …