The Ten Commandments are probably the most well-known part of the Torah, and along with the prohibitions against murder and theft, the commandment to honor one's parents is probably the most well remembered of the Ten. As a child, I thought that this commandment was addressed to young children and their parents and that it required me to obey my parents - and my parents did not disabuse me of that interpretation! Read more...

The Ten Commandments are probably the most well-known part of the Torah, and along with the prohibitions against murder and theft, the commandment to honor one's parents is probably the most well remembered of the Ten. As a child, I thought that this commandment was addressed to young children and their parents and that it required me to obey my parents - and my parents did not disabuse me of that interpretation! Read more...

Only God knows if / when / where / why you were on a blind date. All I can remember from the last one I was on, about twenty years ago, is that it was in the lobby of the King David hotel in Yerushalayim. I have no recollection of the name of the person I was with or what he looked like. I do remember the shock on his face when he asked me: "If you could go back anywhere in time and history, where would you like to go?" I replied, "Can I take my toilet with me? Because if not, I won't go back further than indoor plumbing, but if yes, I'll give your question a second thought." Read more...

At one point or another each one of us has experienced a situation of feeling uncomfortable in a place we should feel comfort. A poignant example of this is visiting our parents' homes for an extended stay. After being on our own and enjoying our independent spaces, there is often uneasiness in returning to the space in which we were raised. Our rooms are either exactly the same (which can be a bit weird), or just the opposite-they have been transformed into offices, gyms, or are now the property of a sibling (which tends to touch a nerve). Read more...

One of the debates raging through the various contemporary trends within Judaism is the issue of revelation: in what way did God make divine will known at Mt. Sinai, and in what way do we come to know God's will for today? At one extreme are those who claim that each and every word in the Torah is literally God's words.  Not only the words of the Torah, but subsequent prophecies by Israel's prophets, and subsequent rulings by rabbinic sages are all understood as being given by God at Mt. Sinai to Moses and the assembled throng. Read more...