Weekly Torah Portion

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Feb 14, 2025, 2:26 PM

The custom that refused to die (Yitro, Covenant & Conversation)

There’s an enthralling story about the Ten Commandments and the role they played in Jewish worship and the synagogue. It begins with a little-known fact. There was a time when there were not three paragraphs in the prayer we call...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

Feb 13, 2025, 11:55 PM

‘Knock, knock’ (Yitro)

"Jethro's Messenger" (AI image by author)

Manners must adorn knowledge and smooth its way through the world. -Lord Chesterfield After the miraculous escape of the Children of Israel from Egypt, Yitro, the father-in-law of Moses, sends word that he is coming to meet them at their...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Feb 10, 2025, 8:53 PM

The true purpose of Shabbat

In Parshat Yitro, we read the Ten Commandments. I would like to focus on the fourth commandment (Shmot 20:8-11) which teaches about Shabbat: Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it. You may work six days, and do all your work. But...

Feb 7, 2025, 6:14 PM

Beshalach: True Freedom

Photo by Peter Kang via Unsplash

Moving through the desert, the freed Israelites find their source of food in G-d’s manna, the ground around them being covered in dew overnight, waiting to be baked into bread. The Torah is very specific, however, that ביום הששי...

Alexander I. Poltorak

Feb 7, 2025, 4:26 PM

Collapse and Revelation

Moshe Splitting the Sea

The Splitting of the Sea as a Metaphor for the Collapse of the Wave Function in Quantum Mechanics And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

Feb 6, 2025, 8:06 PM

Tactical Deception and Clueless Pawns (Beshalach)

"Pillar of Fire against the Egyptians" (AI image by author)

Those who are skilled in producing surprises Are as infinitely varied as heaven and earth, And as inexhaustible as the great rivers. -Sun Tzu While God performs awesome miracles, He apparently also balances them with as many “natural” causes as possible. This...

Feb 6, 2025, 7:53 PM

‘Partly Cloudy’ Parashat Beshalach 5785

The Jewish People say goodbye to Egypt and as the Waze application was still in its infancy at the time, they need a way to navigate the long road to the Land of Israel. G-d takes care of this...

Alexander I. Poltorak

Feb 5, 2025, 5:47 AM

Manna in a State of Superposition of All Tastes

The Gathering of the Manna, Old Testament series, gouache on board, c. 1896–1902 by James Jacques Joseph Tissot (Public Domain)

And the house of Israel called the name thereof manna; and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey (Exodus 16:31). The taste of it was as the taste of a...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Feb 4, 2025, 8:05 PM

All of Israel are friends

In the first verse of Parshat Beshalach, Shmot 13:17 we read: When Pharaoh sent away the people, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Plishtim although it was the shortest route; for God said,...

Feb 2, 2025, 11:51 PM

Bo: Stories of Memory

Still from Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956), courtesy of Photofest

Finally, after so many years of bondage and cruel servitude, the Jewish people are days away from their freedom. In this moment of anticipation one imagines that their minds must have been filled with thoughts of what they will...

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