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The Curse of Political Violence

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Thoughts on Parashat Ki Tavo 5785

In the summer of 2012, during a multi-day Torah and Talmud study program called “Mini-Yeshiva” at the local Orthodox Jewish Community in Lublin, I met Rabbi Boaz Pash.A wonderful, warm, kind, smart and witty man, with enormous knowledge, who served as a rabbi in the kehila in Krakow several years earlier. Even though he was born in Jerusalem, his Polish was fluent, which is very impressive. I met with him later several times at different Jewish events in Poland, and was always impressed with the way he approached people. Why am I talking about him? His brother, Icchak Pash, also a rabbi, was murdered in the recent terror attack in Jerusalem, last Monday. This made me again realize how not-numerous, vulnerable and easy-to-hurt we are as people, and therefore relatively easy it is to destabilize our Jewish communities, inducing the largest of them – the one in Israel.[…]

The Mitzvah of Leket and Our Shared Humanity

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Thoughts on Parashat Ki Teitzei, 5785

Parashat Ki Teitzei, a portion rich with mitzvot that guides us toward a life of compassion, justice, and holiness. Among these is the mitzvah of leket, found in Deuteronomy 24:19, which reads: “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to take it; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” This verse speaks of a simple yet profound act: leaving behind what we might claim for ourselves—forgotten sheaves of grain—for the most vulnerable in society: the ger (stranger), the yatom (orphan), and the almanah (widow). Leket is not about giving from excess or charity born of pity; it’s about restraint, humility, and recognizing that what we “own” is never fully ours. It is ‘imprinted’ in the Hebrew language which doesn’t have the verb ‘to have’ or ‘to own’ something – everything we own IS given to us. The Torah commands us to let go, to leave room for others to thrive, and in doing so, we invite God’s blessing into our lives.[…]

Being A Polish Rabbi in the 21st Century: A Life of Service and Challenge

By Leave a Comment Filed Under: Freighted Legacies

Once, the term Polish rabbi was a reference to a ubiquitous type. Today, Rabbi Mati Kirschenbaum is a part of a unique modern phenomenon of modern urbane learned Jewish leaders with a wide range of skills. From pastoral work to engagement with modern culture, Rabbi Kirschenbaum has inspired the families Kol Tikvah.

Where possible, Rabbi Mati has lent a hand to the revival of Progressive Polish Jewish life.[…]

On What is Right and What is Wrong (Objectively)

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Thoughts on parashat Re’eh 5785

It all happened in early June, 2003, during finals weeks in the third year of my philosophy studies, at my university in Lublin. I was a very good student, an A-student, but I was not particularly disciplined back then. And precisely because of that I had to spend a whole night on studying for my final, yearly exam in Epistemology – the theory of cognition and knowledge. The oral exam was at 9 am, I got A- and went back to my dorm, to sleep.[…]