“Speak to the Israelites, let them take for Me gifts; whosoever has a generous heart, from them take gifts.” Cryptic instructions: the takers are givers, the givers have hearts, the gifts are the ultimate kind with no hope of recompense, thanks or purpose. It would be easy to say that God dwelt in the act […]Read Post ›
Imagine the world without language. Impossible! We’re linguistic beasts, we have no existence as people without words. Still, imagine. The universe would be perceived as perfect unity, everything a part of a whole. (This sounds like the talk of mystics.) Yet we need language, despite the arbitrary symbols it uses, despite the illusion of distinctions […]Read Post ›
A true gift is impossible. Receiving thanks, or even the knowledge that the gift was given, negates the altruism implied in the gift. Maybe the collective donations to God’s sanctuary, commanded and with no possibility of repayment, are as close as it gets. Still, what to do when I wait for thanks from a beggar […]Read Post ›
According to one legend, when Moses is commanded to build a holy sanctuary for God, he is shown a vision of a building made of red, green, black and white fire. “How can I build that?” he asks. “You have your signs and I have my glory,” God responds. Living a spiritual life is to […]Read Post ›
120 words of Torah 