Category: Torah
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Birkat ha-Ilanot in the Southern Hemisphere
Birkat ha-Ilanot is a special blessing said once a year upon seeing blossoming fruit trees for the first time—the Talmud says, “in the days of Nisan.” But what if one sees such a tree for the first time in a month other than Nisan? What drew me to this topic is that Jewish law pertaining […]
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The Unbearable Darkness of Being: On Ishay Ribo’s Seder ha-Avodah
Ishay Ribo’s remarkable, melancholy version of the Seder ha-Avodah, the piyyut recited in the Amidah of Musaf on Yom Kippur, traces a different theology of teshuvah than that classically outlined by Rambam in Hilchot Teshuvah. With much of the song drawn directly from the liturgy (which itself relies heavily, often verbatim, on Mishnah Yoma), Ribo’s […]
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Chukkat: We Cannot But Be in Process
My thoughts for Chukkat 5781 for Yeshivat Maharat’s Divrei Torah: Parashat Chukat includes one of the Torah’s great mysteries: Moshe Rabbenu is told he willnot live to lead Bnei Yisrael across the Yarden and into Eretz Yisrael on account of histransgression at the (second) striking of the rock. But what was Moshe’s transgressionexactly? What could […]
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Chukat: Rabbi Zushya on Moshe’s Transgression
Originally published in a local newsletter, 5779. To Rabbi Zushya, an early Hasidic master who left behind no writings but many stories, belong two of the most darkly encouraging statements about human purpose: to him is attributed the saying, “Each person should have a coat with two pockets—one pocket with a note on which it’s […]
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Bechukotai: Wagering on the Meaning of Meaning
Parashat Bechukkotai is known for its aspect of tokhechah, admonition. This parashah details the consequences of pursuing God’s laws (chukkot) and commandments (mitzvot), including the positive but dwelling upon the negative, in terms of sheer number and detail. The parashah begins, “If you walk in my laws (im bechukkotai telekhu) and keep my commandments (et […]