Sages and Saints: Two Versions of the Moral Life (Naso 5775)
Sacks, Rabbi Lord Jonathan ZT"L
"Is the aim of the moral life to achieve personal perfection? Or is it to create a decent, just and compassionate society? The intuitive answer of most people would be to say: both....
Parshat Bamidbar: Man Plans and The Almighty Laughs
Frand, Rabbi Yissocher
"Many times in life, we look at situations and we are certain regarding what the outcome will be, al derech hateva [based on natural expectations]. 'The Leviim who are not oppressed – they will prosper. The rest of the Jews will dwindle away.' The Torah teaches us that the...
"The prohibition of wronging others is one of the more challenging prohibitions in the Torah. It is easy to identify with the idea that murder, rape or theft are despicable acts that have no place in civil society, but it is much harder to internalize that wronging others in...
Parshat Emor 5766: Counting the Omer – The Fifth Dimension
Lapin, Rabbi David
"A complete twenty-four-hour period is not a complete day in the true sense of the word. Nor is a full seven days necessarily a complete week. A complete day is a day in which we fulfilled our Divine missions, we carried out Retzono shel Makom (the will of G-d)....
The Scapegoat: Shame and Guilt (Acharei Mot – Kedoshim 5775)
Sacks, Rabbi Lord Jonathan ZT"L
"There is another difference, which explains why Judaism is overwhelmingly a guilt rather than a shame culture. Shame attaches to the person. Guilt attaches to the act. It is almost impossible to remove shame once you have been publicly disgraced. It is like an indelible stain on your skin....
"The affliction of tzaraas is spiritual rather than medical in nature. The Talmud discerns (Arachin 16a) seven different causes for tzaraas, the most famous of which is lashon hara, improper speech. The other six are not as well known. One of them is tzarus ayin, which translates literally as...
"God 'spoke to Moshe from the Tent of Meeting.' Rashi explains that the voice of Hashem reached Moshe’s ears, but the Jewish people did not hear it….It was a powerful voice…...
In commanding Moshe to get the people to make the Tabernacle, God was in effect saying: ‘To turn a group of individuals into a covenantal nation, they must build something together.’...
Judaism’s greatness is that it takes high ideals and exalted visions... and turns them into patterns of behaviour.
Ritual is to spiritual greatness what practice is to a tennis player... They are the precondition of high achievement. Serving God is avodah, which means hard work."...
"The study of Torah requires intense concentration, and detachment from any outside concerns or distractions. This too is comparable to the Aron, hidden away in the Kodesh Hakadashim, the Holy of Holies in the Mishkan, which was off-limits to all but the Kohen Gadol (and even he, only once...
"One of the most famous phrases in the Torah makes its appearance in this week’s parsha. It has often been used to characterise Jewish faith as a whole....
