Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

It is almost universally accepted today that the mythology of Thanksgiving has no relation to history. On the one hand, the story as it is performed, practiced, and retold in American grade schools and town squares has some notion that a band of New England “Indians” (who are universally never named) helped the Pilgrims through their first winter, and as a sign of gratitude and thanks, were invited to celebrate a Thanksgiving feast together after the harvest. Read more...

One way to honor those who served in our nation’s armed forces and to thank them is to consider the ethics that should govern war. The United States from its inception has been the most pluralistic country in the world. Read more...

Jews tend to think that the whole world is Jewish – or, at least, that everyone thinks and acts as Jews do.  Simchat Torah is clear evidence that that is not so.    Read more...

The abiding theme of Sukkot, in Kabbalah, is the consecration of sacred space. The various main systems of Kabbalah concur that Divinity flows into the world through the instrument of ten emanations, or sefirot, stages in the descent of God’s energy into the world. The upper three of these emanations are purely cerebral, the levels of Wisdom, Understanding and Consciousness (Chochmah, Binah, Da’at, acronym: Chabad). The lower seven sefirot deal with the way that Divine energy is expressed in the phenomenal world. Read more...

I have long been intrigued by the concept of “forgiveness” both in general and within the context of Yom Kippur.  What does it mean “to forgive” someone, and what does it mean “to be forgiven?” My interest in the mechanism of forgiveness was particularly stirred when I watched Stephen Frears’ film, Philomena (2013).  Although much-fictionalized, the film was based on an actual investigation conducted by journalist Martin Sixsmith who claimed that the Irish Catholic Church had forced unwed mothers in their care to give up their children for adoption. Read more...