Technology and Our Covetous Inclinations
During a recent Zoom meeting, a participant remarked that she dreaded video calls, lamenting, “Seeing everyone else’s beautiful homes makes me feel bad about mine.”
The Enslavement of Debt, Then and Now
“When you acquire an eved Ivri, Israelite debt servant, that person shall serve six years – and shall go free in the seventh year, without payment” (Exodus 21:2).
What is Holy to God? Each of Us
In the second century, Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and Rabbi Eliezer, son of Rabbi Yosei, traveled from the Galilee to Rome to plead for the repeal of a royal edict forbidding Shabbat, circumcision, and the laws of ritual purity.
Evolving Justice
I was recently called to jury service in Los Angeles. As imperfect as this complicated, human system of law may be, the jury selection made me proud to be an American, especially as the judge instructed the potential jurors about the meaning of “presumed innocent.”
Morality in War, Then and Now
We begin our parashah in the fortieth, and thus, final year of Israel's desert trek toward the Promised Land. The people are encamped on the eastern side of the Jordan River, opposite Jericho.
Preaching on the Haftarah and Reassessing Tishah B’Av
Parashat Mas’ei is the concluding reading from the biblical Book of Numbers and is filled with a wealth of historical detail. This year, the Shabbat on which we read Mas’ei comes at the beginning of month of Av.
Destination: D'varim
I must confess that I do not have a great sense of direction. Thankfully, my new GPS offers me three choices of routes every time I enter a destination. In addition, I can customize my route based on whether I want to take highways or wish to avoid busy roads.
The Shaping Power of Words
When a bush aflame with a divine summons called Moses to the redemptive task, he tried to decline the charge with this demurral: "Please, O God, I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that you have spoken to Your servant..." (Exod.