joshkadosh 
Korah incites rebellion, shouting “All the people are holy!” – manipulatively throwing out a fact that now needs debate. But why assume that the holiest person should be the leader? And why actually accept that everyone is equally holy? Always distrust the words “all” “every” and “always”! Some people are sometimes holy, if they work […]Read Post ›
Monoamory is as difficult as it sounds, and so is monotheism. “Adonai is our God, Adonai is one.” Others declared “Baal is one”, “Zeus is one”, “One was Abraham.” You are the one: a declaration of commitment, certainly not metaphysics. With each “You” and “One”, the possibility of another is humbly acknowledged and repeatedly rejected, […]Read Post ›
It’s easy to preach causality: take enough precautions, you’ll stay healthy. Keep divine commandments and you’ll be rewarded, or punished if not. “If you listen to the Voice of God… I will not strike you with the plagues of Egypt. I am God the healer.” The first part is a simple reward-and-punishment formula. But ‘God […]Read Post ›
Tradition sees these coming six weeks as Shovavim, days of scoundrels; demonic forces unleashed into the world. The danger requires the gentle response of modesty, introspection and a willingness to change. This dark framing of the winter weeks clashes with the actual Exodus story we read in the Torah: coming out of the land of […]Read Post ›
We can let go of illusions, sometimes, and see ourselves as purely a channel for the world to manifest itself. We are a wick, the world is the oil, our life the flame. Or: a tree, sucking the earth and giving fruits. When Isaac “meditates in the field” , perhaps he sees himself this way. […]Read Post ›
Although God commands Noah to build a boat, he and his family enter it “on account of the flood-waters” – but not because of the divine commandment. The rabbis say he “believed and did not believe.” Both at once, not half-half! Some can be proud of holding contradictory opinions, having complex lives that deny fundamentalism. […]Read Post ›
The Sukkah is shaped like a hug, they say. The two-and-a-half walls corresponding to the upper arm and lower arm and hand wrapped around the beloved. Between lovers, the Hugger needs to mean something by the physical act in order to give it significance, but the Hugged doesn’t have to mean anything at all. Some […]Read Post ›
“It shall be, if/when you enter the land…” The promised land beckons, can only be spoken about in the future conditional. In the promised land, we will be blessed with plentifulness, we will be thankful and tell our story. Our story of what? Stories happen before their happy end. It will be good and now […]Read Post ›
Two commandments in conjunction: if, “when you happen upon a bird’s-nest,” you want some eggs, first shoo away the mother-bird. Also, “when you build a new house, make a fence around the roof.” The first is spontaneous and finishes with the rushing of wings, the second happens after long planning, avoiding the maybe-maybe-maybe of an […]Read Post ›
An unexplained murder, an unidentified corpse in the field. Who is guilty? The political and judicial leaders of the closest town. “Your elders and judges shall measure towards the city around the corpse.” The act of measurement gives a number, and together with ritual, the establishment can impose order on the chaos implied by death […]Read Post ›
The mourning chants in the scroll of Eicha pause for some pious reflection: “It is good to wait patiently until rescue comes from God… Let everyone put their mouth to the dust — Ulai, there may be hope.” Suffering patiently with dusty mouths might be worthwhile if the result is for the best. But all […]Read Post ›
Enraged by the depravity he saw, Pinchas stood and killed two people: the world holds its breath, the plague stops. This incident is described in Psalms: “Pinchas rose up and prayed [vayefalel].” This becomes the model for Jewish standing-prayer – but not only the standing should be significant. The actions of Pinchas were abhorrent, we […]Read Post ›
A thirsty desert people find a well and burst into song; or, a singing people dig an overflowing well. Either way, the deep well and the floating song connect: “Rise up, well!” they yell. The well is carved out of the barren rock by a ‘mechokek’ – either a law-giver or a pick-axe. Why not […]Read Post ›
An exhausted Moses asks for assistance, a mutinous nation asks for food. God gives both in excess: a month of meat, seventy-two new prophets. These two requests and two responses are often read as two stories, but the intertwined verses suggest a shared narrative: receiving food and receiving prophecy are both – receiving! Both involve […]Read Post ›
The tribe of Levi belongs to God. Forbidden to own land or to wage war, they are poets, teachers, gate-keepers. They are “given, given” – given to carry, given to sing; their presence wards off plagues, accompanying (melaveh) the world rather than grasping it. What makes them special? Biology? History? Or nothing. According to Maimonides, […]Read Post ›
Forty-nine days after Pesach, we celebrate the receiving of the Torah at Sinai. What exactly was revealed? One legend tells that Moses was shown each thing in the world, with forty-nine reasons to permit it and forty-nine reasons to forbid. The forty-nine step journey to truth and revelation doesn’t give clarity, just confusion! Ancient sages […]Read Post ›
Each moment gives birth to the next, with all the excitement, dread, predictability and surprise of a newborn. “And she shall count.” The mother counts days, weeks, months, years: not a countdown or count of anything in particular, it’s the counting itself that counts. After a sickness, too, they count: desperately trying to grasp Becoming […]Read Post ›
It’s a day before Pesach and Pesach begins at night. Moses said “around midnight” the plague will strike Egypt, and “at midnight” it struck. Because the world is exact, only as it must be, and humanity is vague, we try to understand what we ‘should’ be, confused by interpretation. Adam and Eve lost truth and […]Read Post ›
120 words of Torah 