FJRP Blog

Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland

Friends of Jewish Renewal in Poland logo
You are here: Home / Archives for Sermons

Harnessing the Divine Will

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Sermons

Thoughts on Parashat Balak

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[…]

The Chasm Between People and Their Leaders

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Sermons

Thoughts on Parashat Chukat

The Torah teaches us that because of rebelliousness and lack of faith, the generation of the Exodus – i.e. those Israelites who physically went out of Egypt – died in the wilderness. Our parasha for this week tells us that the same punishment is pronounced on its leaders, Moses and Aaron. It is all described in yet another story of Moses getting water from the rock:[…]

Korach

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Sermons

The Disastrous Consequences of Being Accustomed to Privilege

Poor Moses. The Book of Numbers doesn’t give him a moment’s rest. In the parsha Behaalotecha, read two weeks ago, opposition to his leadership was expressed by Miriam and Aaron. A week ago, the parsha of Shlach Lecha described a rebellion of Israelites incited against Moses by ten scouts who returned from a reconnaissance of the Land of Canaan negative about their chances of conquering it. This week Moses must face another rebellion among the Israelites. Our parsha describes this rebellion as follows:[…]

A Humble Mediator

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Sermons

Thoughts on Parashat Beha’alotcha

In the Bible, the Divine wrath is typically seen as a punishment, exerted on Israelites or other peoples. The same is true of this week’s Torah portion; however, there are nuances that make this story different from other biblical accounts of the Divine anger and punishment. The first thing worth noticing here is that if we slightly change the language and its underlying logic this particular Divine wrath can be[…]