The stress keeps piling on poor Moshe and Aharon. Week after week in Sefer Bemidbar, the Book of Numbers, they encounter challenges to their leadership. This week, the trouble is caused by cousin Korah, and Aharon’s priestly role is under attack. By the end of the parashah, he is still standing, but at the cost of Continue Reading »
It sure seemed like a great idea at the time. Sending scouts to check out the landscape is standard military operating procedure. So when Israel sends a reconnaissance team of 12, one per tribe, to Canaan, why does it fail so miserably? A close reading of the story in our parshah, Shelah-Lekha, led me to new ideas. Continue Reading »
At our preschool graduation this week, children in our 4-year-old class wore mortarboard hats, received diplomas, and ate cake, just as all graduates do. Though they probably didn’t notice, their ceremony included one more tradition from the end of the academic year. While they and their parents ate, mingled, and took pictures, the background music Continue Reading »
When I first started visiting Israel, years ago, and I would attend Shabbat services at Heichal Shlomo, the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, I would hear the prayer for the State of Israel read aloud in an oratorical voice. It would also include the Prayer for the Tzhalal (the Israeli Army). I had never heard Avinu Continue Reading »
