J.J Gross

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Dec 3, 2024, 8:23 PM

Yaakov morphs from sheltered dweller of tents into his mother’s son (Vayetze)

I call my columns on the parsha, collectively, “Re-reading Humash for the First Time”. Like so many of my peers, I was raised and educated in an environment that had lost any awareness of the boundaries between Torah and...

Dec 3, 2024, 8:42 AM

Like Yitzhak Like Esav: They’d give anything for a meal

As I was sitting in shul this past Shabbat, listening to the reading of Parshat Toledot, I realized something very interesting: A striking parallel between Yitzhak and Esav. וַיֶּאֱהַ֥ב יִצְחָ֛ק אֶת־עֵשָׂ֖ו כִּי־צַ֣יִד בְּפִ֑יו וְרִבְקָ֖ה אֹהֶ֥בֶת אֶֽת־יַעֲקֹֽב׃ וַיָּ֥זֶד יַעֲקֹ֖ב נָזִ֑יד וַיָּבֹ֥א עֵשָׂ֛ו...

Nov 27, 2024, 6:50 PM

Yitzhak and Rivkah: Dysfunctional Yet Dynastically Necessary Marriage #2

Why did Avraham send Eliezer to Aram Naharayim to find a bride for Yitzhak? True, the folk of Canaan were nothing to brag about. But then, neither were the people of his hometown – as evidenced by Lavan the master sneak, and the...

Nov 19, 2024, 1:39 PM

The Strange Mismatch of Yitzhak and Rivkah (Parshat Hayyei Sarah)

Last Shabbat (Parshat Vayera) I was invited to a private kiddush where one of the guests was the rabbi of a community up north – a classic haredi Rabbanut sinecure. He requested the host’s permission to give a dvar...

Nov 14, 2024, 5:28 AM

Do we expect too much of Avraham? Plus, Lot as Noah Redux (Parshat Vayera)

We’re all familiar with the contention that Noah was righteous only relative to the iniquities of his contemporaries. נֹ֗חַ אִ֥ישׁ צַדִּ֛יק תָּמִ֥ים הָיָ֖ה בְּדֹֽרֹתָ֑יו Noah was a righteous man, complete in his generations (Bereishit 6:9) In another time or place he would hardly...

Nov 5, 2024, 2:47 PM

The Paradox of a Nation Alone Through Which the World is Blessed (Lekh Lekha)

There seems to be an inherent contradiction in Bereishit 12:3 when God tells Avraham: וַאֲבָֽרְכָה֙ מְבָ֣רְכֶ֔יךָ וּמְקַלֶּלְךָ֖ אָאֹ֑ר וְנִבְרְכ֣וּ בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הָאֲדָמָֽה I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you. All the families of...

Oct 28, 2024, 10:53 PM

The Tower of Babel: God’s third and final attempt at social engineering

29God said, “Behold, I have given you every seedbearing plant on the face of the entire earth, and every tree that has seedbearing fruit; they will be yours for food. כטוַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֗ים הִנֵּה֩ נָתַ֨תִּי לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־כָּל־עֵ֣שֶׂב | זֹרֵ֣עַ זֶ֗רַע אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י...

Oct 21, 2024, 7:51 PM

Bereishit: Cain and Abel: A lesson how not to be a parent.

1Now the man (Adam) knew his wife Hava, and she conceived and bore Kayin, and she said, "I have acquired a man with the Lord." אוְהָ֣אָדָ֔ם יָדַ֖ע אֶת־חַוָּ֣ה אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וַתַּ֨הַר֙ וַתֵּ֣לֶד אֶת־קַ֔יִן וַתֹּ֕אמֶר קָנִ֥יתִי אִ֖ישׁ אֶת־יְהֹוָֽה: (Bereishit 4:1) Most of us go...

Sep 30, 2024, 10:06 PM

The Roots of Haredi Antipathy Toward Israel

Sunday, September 29th came three days before Rosh Hashanah, at the height of the Selihot period when religious Jews are supposed to be engaged in introspection, repentance and reconciliation with their fellow Jews. It is on this day that a...

Sep 24, 2024, 6:40 PM

Nitzavim: Torah was meant to be uncomplicated, then along came the Talmud

י כִּי תִשְׁמַע, בְּקוֹל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לִשְׁמֹר מִצְותָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו, הַכְּתוּבָה בְּסֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה: כִּי תָשׁוּב אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, בְּכָל-לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל-נַפְשֶׁךָ. 10 if you will hearken to the voice of the LORD you God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are...

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About Me

J.J Gross is a veteran creative director and copywriter, who made aliyah in 2007 from New York. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a lifelong student of Bible and Talmud. He is also the son of Holocaust survivors from Hungary and Slovakia.