Thoughts on Parashat Shemot

Our people in our homeland are suffering. More than half a million Israelis have been displaced since October 7th forced to abandon their homes and to live in hotels across the country. Some of them were able to return to their homes, some of them are still displaced. Besides more than 1200 innocent civilians murdered in cold blood on that very day, already 509 Israeli soldiers, officers and reservists have been killed in the war with Hamas. All of that means suffering of many many more people. The war, with a possible threat of escalation on the northern front as well, affects everyone who lives in the country.[…]

Parashat Vayechi 5784

A new ‘secular’ year, 2024, is approaching. The end of the ‘secular’ year is a reckoning and evaluation time for many people in the world. For many of us, Jews, too. Although we count years in our own way we are still part of the general human population and we follow many of their patterns.

Having said that, I must acknowledge one basic fact: We live in a different world than we lived a year ago. Davar acher – as the rabbis of Talmud often say,[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Miketz

The story of Joseph is, to some extent, a story of meritocracy. We cannot deny that he was accompanied by Divine providence (or luck, as some would prefer to say), nevertheless the text of the Torah provides us with clear evidence that Joseph earned his position in Egypt:[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Toldot

The Torah is not a collection of ethical role models given us to simply follow. While the stories of the entire Hebrew Bible contain a lot of role models very few qualify as ethical ones. What we find there are often political and leadership role models – like Moses, Joshua, Kings – David, Hezekiah or Josiah etc. Thus, Jewish ethics is not the ethics of role models, like it is the case of Christianity. Jewish ethics is[…]