Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland
Why do good people suffer? Why do bad people flourish? This question pondered rabbinic and philosophical minds for centuries. It bothered their minds because this experience directly contradicts one of the pillars of our faith: the oldest and the most fundamental Jewish doctrine of justice – doctrine of reward and punishment, which[…]
It was in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, that Moses addressed the Israelites in accordance with the instructions that יהוה had given him for them. (Deuteronomy 1:3)
It has been 40 years since the Israelites left Egypt. Do you remember when Moses said that he is not a good[…]
Moses spoke to יהוה, saying, “Let יהוה, Source of the breath of all flesh, appoint someone over the community who shall go out before them and come in before them, and who shall take them out and bring them in, so that יהוה’s community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.” (Num 27:15-17)
A midrash comments on these verses as follows:[…]
Regardless of where we were born and how we were brought up, certain principles of human life and coexistence are instilled in us from childhood. They usually boil down to a certain theory of what is good/right and what is bad/wrong, and consequently what we are allowed to do and what we are not allowed to do. Over time we also learn that there is also a gray area between these two realms, and that certain behaviors and attitudes are morally relative. As we grow and gain more experience, practical life and certain patterns from the human environment cause us to look for solutions beyond the[…]
