Weekly Torah Reading Bereshit October 10, 2015
Childbirth and the Creation of Eve; also, Eve Was No “Helpmate” According to Leviticus chapter 12, if a woman gives birth to a male baby, she remains in a state of ritual impurity (tum’ah) for seven days. But if …
Weekly Torah Reading During Sukkot, October 3, 2015
God “Passed in Front of” Moses This week’s Torah reading (for the Sabbath that falls during the festival of Sukkot) returns us to a familiar passage in the book of Exodus, chapter 34. There, God is said to have …
Weekly Torah Reading Ha’azinu September 26, 2015
A Nation of Fools Before his death, Moses gives the people his prophetic, farewell song, known in Hebrew by its first word Ha’azinu (“Give ear!”). In this song, Moses recounts Israel’s recent history, starting with the exodus, but then …
Weekly Torah Reading Vayyelekh September 19, 2015
Moses Didn’t Want to Die In this week’s Torah reading, God instructs Moses that the time has come for him to die—in fact, He says this more than once. The reading opens with Moses relating that “the Lord said …
Weekly Torah Reading Nitzavim Sept. 12, 2015
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 5, 2015
Reuben, Where Art Thou? “Today,” Moses tell the Israelites, “you have become the people of the Lord your God” (Deut 27:9) Our Rabbis asked: What did he mean by “today”? Wasn’t Israel chosen to be God’s own people …
Weekly Torah Reading, Ki Tetze, August 29, 2015
Remembering 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 and …
Weekly Torah Reading, Shofetim, August 22, 2015
How to Make War This week’s reading, Shofetim, mentions a number of issues having to do with warfare. The first of these concerns the institution of kingship. Elsewhere in the ancient Near East, kings were virtually all-powerful: in Mesopotamia, …