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Menachem Creditor

Jun 25, 2026, 6:30 PM

Friendship Over Fear (Chukat-Balak)

There is no shortage of wisdom in this week’s double Torah portion, Chukat and Balak. But this year, I found myself returning to the teaching of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory, whose clarity often feels not only wise,...

Jun 19, 2026, 5:29 PM

Why Was Moses Not Destined to Enter the Land? (Chukat)

It is one of the most perplexing, even disturbing, passages in the Torah. Moses the faithful shepherd, who has led the Israelites for forty years, is told that he will not live to cross the Jordan and enter the...

Jun 12, 2026, 1:37 PM

The Rembrandt They Told Us to Throw Away

About a decade ago I found myself sitting in a conference hall in Birmingham listening to a discussion that had become familiar throughout much of the Jewish world. The keynote speakers included Naftali Bennett, then Israel's Minister for Diaspora...

Jun 12, 2026, 5:27 AM

Power versus Influence (Korach, Covenant & Conversation)

The Korach rebellion was an unholy alliance of individuals and groups united by their grievances with Moses’ leadership. There was Korach himself, a member of the tribe of Levi, angry (according to Rashi) that he had not been given...

Jun 5, 2026, 6:21 AM

Beyond the Fringe (Shelach Lecha, Covenant & Conversation)

Our Torah portion ends with one of the great commands of Judaism – tzitzit, the fringes worn on the corners of our garments as a perennial reminder of our identity as Jews and our obligation to keep the Torah’s commands: The...

May 21, 2026, 10:32 AM

What Counts? (Naso, Covenant & Conversation)

This week’s sedra begins with a continuation of the census begun in last week’s – the act that gives the entire book its English name: the book of “Numbers.” Two things, though, are puzzling. The first is the very...

May 15, 2026, 5:36 PM

Finding God in Tragedy

This essay is one of the winning submissions to the Rabbi Sacks Essay Contest. Drawing on the teachings and writings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l, students were invited to reflect on contemporary questions through the lens of his ideas....

May 15, 2026, 4:43 AM

Love as Law, Law as Love (Bamidbar, Covenant & Conversation)

On the face of it the connections between the sedra and haftara of Bamidbar are slender. The first has to do with demography. Bamidbar begins with a census of the people. The haftara begins with Hosea’s vision of a...

Tali Morgenstern

May 15, 2026, 12:15 AM

Rabbi Sacks on Avraham’s Silence and Protest

This essay is one of the winning submissions to the Rabbi Sacks Essay Contest. Drawing on the teachings and writings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l, students were invited to reflect on contemporary questions through the lens of his...

May 15, 2026, 12:13 AM

Engaging in Judaism and the Modern World, Without Losing Identity

This essay is one of the winning submissions to the Rabbi Sacks Essay Contest. Drawing on the teachings and writings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt”l, students were invited to reflect on contemporary questions through the lens of his...

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