Rachel Peck, at The Blogs

Apply for a Blog

Oct 8, 2024, 8:26 PM

Israel-Gaza War 5785: How the Arrogant Have Devoured Us

I write this between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Three times during these holy days, Unetaneh Tokef is chanted, reminding us that we must do teshuvah (returning or repentance) today, because we are not guaranteed tomorrow. But this year,...

Oct 2, 2024, 12:51 AM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Ha’azinu – Vengeance or Justice?

This week's Torah portion, Ha'azinu, records Moses' final speech to the children of Israel. In it, he affirmed that G-d would wreak destruction on Israel's enemies. "For I will raise my hand to heaven...sharpen the edge of my sword...I...

Sep 26, 2024, 11:22 AM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Nitzavim-Vayeilech – We’re Still Standing

This week, we read a double portion of the Torah, Nitzavim and Vayeilech. Nitzavim means "standing," with the meaning of standing erect. Vayeilech means, "and he went." Two opposite states of the people are described. In one, we...

Sep 18, 2024, 11:16 PM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Ki Tavo – Finding Blessing Amidst a Curse

In this week's Torah portion, Ki Tavo, we read a series of blessings and curses. Naturally, we all hope for much of the former and little of the latter. But this is not always the way of things. Sometimes,...

Sep 10, 2024, 7:10 PM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Ki Teitzei – Forgive, But Do Not Forget

This week's Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, skips around a lot. It talks about the laws of the female war captive, prohibitions against cutting down fruit trees during war, and various exemptions given from military service. But it also legislates...

Sep 5, 2024, 7:08 AM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Shoftim – How Can We Speak of Justice?

We suffered a horrendous blow this week, yet another heart-breaking loss. Six hostages were executed by Hamas at point-blank range hours before Israeli troops found them in the Gaza tunnels. There is unbearable rage and grief in all our...

Aug 29, 2024, 7:59 PM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Re’eh – Charity Begins At Home

This week's portion, Re'eh, tells how Moses wound up his overview of the years in the wilderness and began speaking about the laws the people were to abide by as they prepared to at last enter the Land of...

Aug 21, 2024, 10:08 AM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Eikev – How To Be a Partner

Last week, I talked about how, once in the Promised Land, the Israelites (and today, the Israelis) were called on to partner with Hashem in fighting evil and promoting goodness. This week's Torah portion, Eikev, illustrates that partnership is...

Aug 14, 2024, 9:49 PM

Israel-Hamas War 5784: Now we are partners in the firm

Display, in Jerusalem, of posters of Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7. (Mahmoud Illean/AP)

The Israelites left the wilderness to find a new reality: Instead of God's retribution, they had to fight evil themselves (Vaetchanan)

Aug 9, 2024, 12:39 AM

Israel-Gaza War 5784: Devarim – What’s Mine Is Mine and What’s Yours Is Yours

Devarim is the name of both the last book of the Torah and this week's Torah portion. In it, we read how Moses recapped the peoples' journey through the wilderness, reminded them of G-d's commandments given there, and warned...

Load more

About Me

I was born in Washington, DC, and raised in the suburbs, but now reside in the temperate rain forest of the Pacific Northwest. I am a retired editor and proud Zionist. After October 7th, with our beginning again the yearly cycle of Torah readings, I kept seeing wisdom from our Torah that related to the current war and felt moved to write about this. In addition to finding some of my posts here, you can find all of them at https://kosherkitty.wordpress.com/