Torah Commentary
Repeat That
Many of us who are parents know that we have to repeat things a lot. This is summed up in the all-too-familiar question, “How many times have I told you that?!” It can become frustrating and make you feel like your children aren’t listening. Then there’s the follow up question, “How many times do I have to say this until you get it?!”
A Perfect Itinerary
Life is a journey! Much like a train ride, life’s journey has stops along the way, but when the whistle blows, we move forward toward our destination. The Tanakh records many journeys. For example, Abraham journeyed to a land Adonai showed him, and B’nei Israel, the children of Israel, journeyed from Egypt to the land of promise.
The times they are a changin’
When I volunteered to prepare a study on this week’s Torah portion, I was thinking about Pinchas’ zeal for the honor and holiness of Hashem, or maybe about the covenant of shalom that Hashem would establish with Pinchas and his descendants forever. As I sat down to begin writing, however, the Ruach took me in an entirely different direction.
Donkey Wisdom
In this week’s parasha we meet the pagan prophet Bil’am, hired by Balak, king of Moab, to come and curse Israel. But Bil’am warns Balak’s messengers who come to hire him that no matter how much they pay him, he can only say what Adonai puts in his mouth.
Holiness and Difference
Korach and his allies can be cast as bad dudes who cause trouble—for whatever reason—and are dealt with. A careful reading of the story, however, leaves questions. And our tradition is all about careful readings—and questions!
Speaking Truth in Trust
A good report is not of any less value if our community rejects it, or if we suffer physical threats on account of it. Caleb and Joshua’s good report was based on long-term trusting.
Let's Discard Our Domesticated God
When daring to speak or think of the God of all that is or ever could be, it pays to be radically humble, a capacity which is itself beyond our grasp. But let’s at least realize that this radical humility is a destination toward which we should point ourselves, like Abraham leaving the idolatry of his father’s ways and his comfortable homeland for a yet undiscovered country.
Bless is More
On exhibit in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem are artifacts from the excavation of a burial plot from the end of the First Temple period. Among the exhibit is a small thin silver plaque the size of a thumb. Inscribed on it in Hebrew is the Birkat Kohanim, the priestly blessing we still recite today.
The Barren Place of the Word
In the wilderness God speaks. Torah is teaching us that it is in places of uncertainty, challenge, and temptation that we find God. The uncertainty we’re facing today can become the source of new understanding and nearness to God.
The Hero’s Journey Home
Our parasha starts off by explaining the year of the yovel, sometimes translated as Jubilee, but I like the way Everett Fox renders it: Homebringing. God’s realm is holy and good, and Shabbat, Yom Kippur, the Jubilee, the Tabernacle, the Messiah, these are all part of his plan for the holy realm to intercept the earth, as it was in Eden.