Moses is close to the end of his 36 day soliloquy summarizing the history and laws of the Jewish people. He is about to die. His hopes and aspirations of entry to the Promised Land have been dashed. We would have expected an expression of sorrow, if not personal bitterness, to punctuate his final words.…
In this week’s parsha, Vayeilech, Joshua’s appointment as successor to Moses is confirmed. Succession is a sensitive and challenging process fraught with both personal and political implications.
What does it mean to stand firm, especially against all odds. The Jewish people’s resilience is unparalleled- 3500 of history, far outstripping the longevity of any other nation, culture, race or society by far. What is the secret of such resilience?
You plan. You work hard. And success comes. What next? Enjoy the fruit of your labours. Take a much-deserved vacation. Relax. Not according to the opening verse of this week’s Parsha, Ki Tavo. When success comes, the first thing you do is give part of it away!
People argue. When the argument becomes fuelled by emotion, the argument can escalate into war. When societies and countries argue, the venom may reach a critical point that war erupts. Judaism is a pacific pathway.. Jews are noted for being peaceful, living in a neighbourly way wherever in the world Jewish societies are found. Gentiles…
Society may have the wisest judges but without an effective police force, the judges’ wisdom remains but empty words. And the converse is also true: having a strong police force without the wise direction of judges leaves society at the mercy of indiscretion.
There is a wonderful teaching in Pirkei Avot, the section of the Talmud devoted to the wisdom-teachings of the Masters of old. Therein it is asked, “Who is the wise one” – and responds – “he who is able to see that which is to be born”. Cryptic it may seem, but is telling us,…
You recall the wonderful experience of walking upon the shore of the sea watching a beautiful sunset over the distant horizon, and becoming aware of your feet sinking comfortably into the wet sand. You turn around and see the freshly embedded footprints carved out in the sand and become aware of other faded footprints left…
We are all familiar with the anecdotal traveller who argues vehemently with the gate steward to allow him onto the plane though he has arrived too late, but to no avail – and then that very plane crashes. This is the theme of this week’s Parsha, Va-etchanan, where Moses pleads with G-d to allow him…
The book of Devarim is basically a repetition of the previous four books. So why repeat what we already have received?
In this week’s double Parsha of Mattot/Massei the people of Israel are about to wage war to fulfil their inheritance of the Promised Land. All systems are go, when two of the tribes seem to baulk and say they want to stay where they are, on the eastern side of the Jordan river.
In this week’s Parsha, Pinchas, the 12 tribes of Israel receive their allocation of the land of Israel. It was via a lottery. To most people, a lottery means random chance. To Jewish people lottery means a decision from Above.
Some people just thrive on being prophets of doom. One such person was the King Balak in this week’s parsha of the same name. Noting the approach of the Jewish people into his fiefdom, he spreads the stories of Jewish successes against Egypt, the Midianites and the Amalekites, embellished with stories of supposed Jewish excesses.…
In this week’s parsha we read of Moses’ sister’s Miriam’s passing. It was in her great merit that the Jewish people in the desert had water to drink. Miraculous wells of water flowed wherever Miriam was to be found.
