Quarantining In Jerusalem
In several instances, the Torah commands us to remember a specific event for posterity. Interestingly, two of the events that we are supposed to remember are associated with the unfortunately all too common word “quarantine.” Yet, they represent two different models for what the experience of quarantine can be. This week’s parsha enjoins us to […]
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The Temimut of Yerushalayim
During their time in the desert, the Jewish people did not have to agonize about their future. While they might not have known if they would travel or rest on a particular day, their general trajectory towards the Land of Israel was predestined and relayed to them by God on numerous occasions. Once they entered […]
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The Blessing of Jerusalem
Our parsha opens with Moshe presenting the Jewish people with a dramatic choice: Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing, if you will heed (“asher tishme’u”) the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today; and the curse, if you will not heed the commandments of […]
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Yerushalayim and the Sequence of Birkat HaMazon
Our parsha stirringly describes the beauty and resources of the Land of Israel, emphasizing that the Jewish people must properly thank God for granting them the Land and its bounty: “And you will eat and be sated, and you shall bless the Lord, your God, for the good land He has given you.” In our […]
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The Redemptions of Iyov and Zion
A powerful midrash describes that when Yirmiyahu returned to Yerushalayim after the destruction, he met a woman who was crying unconsolably. After a brief conversation, she introduces herself as the embodiment of “your mother, Zion,” who lost all of her children. Yirmiyahu immediately responds with words of consolation: From Iyov I took his children, similarly […]
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Connected to the Center
This week’s haftorah, the second of the special haftorot for the three weeks, is Yirmiyahu’s first prophecy of rebuke. The axis upon which this rebuke turns is that God has showered the Jewish people with His love and blessings and instead of loyalty and love the Jewish people betrayed God for foreign deities. One example […]
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Leadership: Jerusalem Style
When Moshe asks God to appoint his sucessor he describes the ideal Jewish leader: “Let the Lord, the God of spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go forth before them and come before them, who will lead them out and bring them in.” Rashi interprets the phrase “go forth […]
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The Eternal Hope Of Jerusalem
The Parah Adumah is the classic “chok” or mitzvah that is not comprehendible to even the wisest humans. It is a rule-breaking ritual that contains internal contradictions. Yet, despite our inability to fully grasp the mechanism of the ritual, we are still enjoined to study the details of Parah Adumah and uncover relevant life lessons […]
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Korach: The Opposite of Yerushalayim
Korach’s rebellion was a complex affair. While other negative episodes in the desert focused on a single complaint (lack of food, lack of water etc.) Korach and his group make several distinct claims. First, Korach seems to challenge the leadership on Moshe and Aharon on the basis that “the entire congregation are all holy, and […]
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Seeing the Good of Jerusalem
All of life is a mixture of good, bad and the neutral. Before the sin of Adam and Chavah eating from the Tree of Knowledge, they were able to walk through the garden and see the underlying divinity and positivity of every aspect of the this world. After all, God himself upon finishing creation declared […]
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