Weekly Torah Reading, ‘Ekev, August 12, 2017
Eat What I Say The expression “Not by bread alone” has certainly gotten around: it is, among other things, the name of a website promoting a farmer’s market in Green Bay, Wisconsin; the title of a Russian novel by …
Weekly Torah Reading, Va-etḥannan, August 5, 2017
The Real Shema According to a rabbinic tradition, when the “men of Jericho” recited the Shema, they would say it in a slightly different way from that followed by Jews nowadays. They would recite the first verse, “Hear O …
Weekly Torah Reading, Devarim, July 29. 2017
Mystery Man This week’s portion, Devarim, always precedes the reading of the book of Lamentations on the ninth of the Hebrew month of Ab, which commemorates of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. As the name indicates, Lamentations consists …
Weekly Torah Reading, Mattot-Mas‘ei, July 22, 2017
The Lex Talionis One of the most widespread legal principles in the ancient world was the lex [or “ius”] talionis, the law [or “right”] of retribution. A person who, for example, injured someone was to be punished by suffering …
Weekly Torah Reading, Pineḥas, July 15, 2017
Two Names for One Last week’s Torah reading ended with a certain Israelite hero slaying a flagrantly offending couple, thereby turning aside God’s wrath. The name of the hero is written Phinehas in English, although Phineas used to be …
Weekly Torah Reading, Balak, July 8, 2017
Leave Us Alone In this week’s Torah reading, the pagan seer Balaam is hired to curse the people of Israel, but every time he tries, he ends up blessing them instead. In the first of these blessings he …
Weekly Torah Reading, Ḥukkat ha-Torah, July 1, 2017
A Bit Too Confident This week’s reading relates that, toward the end of their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites ran out of water. They complained bitterly to their leaders, Moses and Aaron: “Why did …
Weekly Torah Reading: Koraḥ June 24, 2017
As Rich as…Who? This week’s reading centers on Koraḥ, the Levite leader who sought to foment a revolution against Moses and Aaron. Ultimately, Koraḥ went down in defeat—quite literally! The Torah reports that the earth “opened its mouth and …