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Jun 2, 2026, 12:31 AM

Talking to One’s Self – Naso 5786

So, it smashed everywhere. My beautiful blue bowl, my favorite bowl filled with warm oatmeal, fell off the table, spraying clay pottery and oatmeal all over the floor, the table, and my suit. I was a mess, and I was in...

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 21, 2026, 10:22 AM

A Commencement Address for Us All: Shavuot 5786

This is the season of commencement addresses. Across the country, graduates are putting on caps and gowns, there is one person in the family taking far too many photographs for the rest of the family’s liking, and distinguished speakers...

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...

May 7, 2026, 8:45 PM

The Chronological Imagination (Behar-Bechukotai)

I want, in this study, to look at one of Judaism’s most distinctive and least understood characteristics – the chronological imagination. Sometimes a modern discovery so changes our ways of looking at things that it allows us to revisit ancient...

May 4, 2026, 9:34 PM

Shares of Time – Emor 5786

A couple of months ago, I became a shareholder. Now, before anyone gets too excited, I should clarify: I bought one share. One share of Citizens Bank. It cost me $68.04. I am now a proud owner of Citizens Bank — or...

May 1, 2026, 6:48 PM

Faith as a Journey (Emor, Covenant & Conversation)

In its account of the festivals of the Jewish year, this week’s parsha contains the following statement: For seven days you shall live in huts . All those native-born in Israel must live in huts, so that future generations may...

Apr 24, 2026, 3:22 AM

Of Love and Hate (Acharei Mot – Kedoshim)

At the centre of the Mosaic books is Sefer Vayikra. At the centre of Vayikra is the “holiness code” (chapter 19) with its momentous call: “You shall be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” And at...

Apr 9, 2026, 10:10 PM

Fire: Holy and Unholy (Shemini, Covenant & Conversation)

The shock is immense. For several weeks and many chapters – the longest prelude in the Torah – we have read of the preparations for the moment at which God would bring His Presence to rest in the midst...

Mar 27, 2026, 7:06 PM

Violence and the Sacred (Tzav, Covenant & Conversation)

Why sacrifices? To be sure, they have not been part of the life of Judaism since the destruction of the Second Temple, almost two thousand years ago. But why, if they are a means to an end, did God...

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