Thoughts on Parashat Mishpatim 5786

“These are the ordinances (mishpatim) that you shall set before them…” (Exodus 21:1)

The parasha opens with a quiet but seismic shift. After the thunder of Sinai, after the revelation of the Ten Commandments—those absolute, unshakable truths—God does not move on to philosophy or poetry. He moves to mishpatim: concrete, practical laws about damages, theft, slaves, strangers, justice in the marketplace, protection of the vulnerable. These are not suggestions. They are not “my truth versus your truth.” They are the architecture of a just society, built on the assumption that good and evil are real, that right and wrong can be known, and that a people who have tasted horror have a sacred duty to remember it.[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Yitro 5786

Imagine you are an extremely devoted, ambitious person, the ultimate over-performer—the person who says yes to everything because “if you don’t do it, who will?”. So, you are a volunteer in a synagogue and you are packing mishloach manot at 10 p.m. You plan to deliver all of them tomorrow. Oh, I forgot to tell you that the synagogue you’re volunteering at is The Central Synagogue in New York. So… you need to deliver mishloach manot to roughly 3000 households… It’s early March… and it’s snowing. How does it sound? Ridiculous?[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Beshalach 5786

The Hebrew Bible is a unique and exceptional matrix of human history. This fact is much more evident in turbulent and unsettled times than in times of peace, and that may be the reason that in times of instability people reach and quote the Bible more often.[…]

Thoughts on Parashat Bo 5786

The wine problem

Moshe says: I don’t have a drinking problem.

His friend, Shmuel, says: You just finished the entire bottle yourself!

Moshe answers: Yes, but I shared the guilt with my mother.

Yes, it’s possible that Pharaoh who had a hardened heart problem shared his guilt with his mother. But even if he had any guilt, sharing it, let alone putting the entire blame on someone, doesn’t help. What helps is making real change and being firm about it. But Pharaoh most likely didn’t like the word “change”, especially if it was to be used in reference to any of his traits or decisions.[…]