Wholly Jewish: Noa: The Beauty of Taking Up Space
The Power of Our Dreams, Both Asleep and Awake
When Do We Know We’ve Completed the Struggle?
In Parashat Vayishlach, Jacob receives a new name that becomes the name of the Jewish people: Israel.
The Most Painful Parts of Joseph’s Story Can Teach Us about Ourselves
Soul-Making: Living in the Peaks, the Valleys, and Everything in Between
What Torah Can Teach Us about Overcoming Loneliness
The Greatest Threat to Civilization, as Taught by Torah
When reading Parashat Tol’dot each year, I am amazed how relevant these ancient stories remain today, including the last significant moment in Isaac’s life.
Letting Abraham's Example Guide Us, During Election Season and Beyond
Monotheism and the Problem of Truth
"You shall have no other gods beside Me!" This is the first of Aseret HaDib'rot, literally the "Ten Declarations" or "Ten Commandments" found in this week's parashah, Va-et'chanan (see Deuteronomy 5:2-18; we recited a slightly different version earlier in the year in Parashat Yitro, Exodus, chapter 20). Aseret HaDib'rot lays out the central terms of an exclusive covenant between God and Israel. After a brief prologue in which God self-identifies as the One who freed Israel from Egyptian bondage, the first declaration occurs in the form of a command that Israel take no other gods in addition to the God of Israel: "You shall have no other gods beside Me!"
If Then, You Really Listen and Heed My Commandments
"V'haya im shamoa — If then, you listen, yes, you really heed My commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the Eternal your God and serving [God] with all your heart and soul, I will grant the rain for your land in its season. . . . "
This section of our Torah portion is known as V'haya im Shamoa, and is included in the daily and Shabbat morning service in traditional prayer books right after the Shema and V'ahavta prayers. Reform siddurim omit it, perhaps it because it feels a bit simplistic. The message seems to contradict our understanding of nature and weather: if you obey God's commandments nature will be good to you, but if you stray and serve other gods the Eternal will punish you through acts of nature.