Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Navigating the Book of Leviticus
It All Depends: Finding the Middle of the Torah
Finding the midpoint in the Torah has long been a matter of considerable debate. Some scholars say the middle of the Torah falls in this portion, Parashat Tzav. But the answer to the question, where is the middle of the Torah, depends on many mathematical, theological, and phylosophical factors.
The 13 Middot: God Is Ethical and So Are We
The Torah reading for Chol HaMo-eid Pesach includes the 13 Attributes of God. The Eternal One passes before Moses and proclaims (according to the prayer book version of the passage): “Adonai, Adonai, a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, and granting pardon” (Mishkan T’filah, [NY: CCAR, 2007], p. 496). Here, God self-describes as an ethical being.
Ethics versus Ritual
One of the great modern teachers of Judaism, Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, zichrono livrachah,urged Reform Jews to ritualize the ethical and ethicize the ritual. Rabbi Wolf's point was that Jewish tradition does not differentiate between ethical and ritual law.
The Ethics of Our Stories
Our discussion here will focus on the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. But before getting to the story itself, I wish to put a number of ideas in place.
Some Biblical Perspectives on Persuasion, Innocence, and Faith
Parashat Vayeira is as rich in patriarchal stories as it is challenging in its sometimes contradictory detail, connection between incidents, and thematically difficult narratives.
A Pillar of Salt: A Text Study
What was the essence of Lot's wife's transgression in Parashat Vayeira? Was it disobeying the instruction of the divine messengers? Was it simply looking back? Does the text suggest that something more complex is involved?
Rereading the Akeidah: Three Perspectives
Few episodes in the Torah have the power to fascinate, disturb, and even encourage us that the Akeidah, the story of the binding of Isaac, has. (Genesis 22:1-19) This tale of terror tests not only the central characters but readers as well.