For 19th. October 2018. Beit Warszawa. Two words set the story in motion. Two unexpected words. The first eleven chapters of the Torah have been occupied with explaining the metaphysical basis of Existence: There is a Creator who Created, who got upset at what He had created (I shall use the term ‘He’ because this […]

Thoughts on Parashat Lech Lecha What is the meaning of a person’s life on an uninhabited island? Or let’s put it otherwise: what would have been the meaning of life of an astronaut who by chance had been lost on the moon, with a supply of food and air for, let’s say, 50 years, but […]

This week’s Torah portion Noah describes the great flood sent on Earth by the Eternal because of humanity’s sins. Only Noah and his family are saved by the Eternal from dying in the midst of the rising waters. What did Noah do to deserve such a privilege? The answer to this question can be found […]

Thoughts on Parashat Bereshit […] The Eternal approved Abel and his offering, but did not approve Cain and his offering. Cain was filled with rage; his face fell. The Eternal One then said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? Why your fallen face? Would you not do well to lift it? For if you […]

How Should We View Our Lives? During Sukkot we read the Book of Ecclesiastes, which seems to claim that human life is equally ephemeral as the Sukkot booths which we build. Kohelet describes the transient character of human achievements in the following way: [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]So, too, I loathed all […]