FOSTERING A VIBRANT RENEWAL OF JUDAISM IN POLAND
Over the last few days I have been reading the book “The Power Of a Positive No” by William Ury. Reading the first chapter, I already realized that the topic of the book overlaps with the topic of this week’s Torah portion. But before I explain what this book and its concepts have in common with our parashah, let me quickly reflect on the latter itself, to summarize its theological message.[…]
Who was Korach? Korach is barely mentioned in the Torah: besides our parashah his name appears twice in the genealogy of the heads of the Israelite clans, right after the description of the calling of Moses in Exodus chp. 6. Ibn Ezra summarizes his place in the Israelite society in his comment to Exodus 6:21:[…]
The fate of human communities, including Jewish communities, is determined by many factors, objective – the historical, economic and social conditions in which people in a given era have to live, as well as subjective – e.g. specific decisions of community leaders or other individuals with power and influence on other people’s lives. The latter sometimes turn out to be crucial; it can determine the lives of many subsequent generations, therefore it is very important that human communities are led by reasonable, responsible and educated people.[…]
Sometimes when you read the Torah, you encounter sets of more general rules that belong fundamental principles of the brit:
If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit.
Your threshing shall overtake the vintage, and […]
A light of nations. That is what Israel is. That’s who we Jews are, or have believed about ourselves. A people chosen by God and history to survive, to be an example for the Nations of the Earth.
Perhaps this is why the UN, EU, Western countries, and the entire world has always had their eyes on Israel. But the hypocrisy the vast majority of them now show is tangible.[…]
Our perception of what is just and moral evolves over time and it has been the case for thousands of years. Our Torah portion for this week contains a pretty brutal story which, when juxtaposed with its rabbinic reception, is a good example of how our perception of events and moral principles attach to them evolve:
There came out among the Israelites a man whose mother was Israelite and whose father was[…]
