Weekly Torah portions / parashiot

Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle. The blessing, if ye shall hearken unto the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day (Deuteronomy xi, 27). More than one Jewish commentator reads the Hebrew of this verse to mean: “The blessing is that ye shall hearken.” Exegetically sound or not, the idea expressed…...

Originally published in The Jewish Gazette, 11 August 1972. We read in this week’s sidra of a special functionary called by the rabbis mashuach milchamah, ‘the one anointed for battle’. The duty of this high dignitary was to address the soldiers before they went out to do battle against their foes, reminding them of their religious…...

Originally published in The Jewish Gazette, 16 June 1972. The dramatic story of Korah’s rebellion against Moses begins with the words ‘And Korah took’. But the verb ‘took’ has no object. What did he take? Some English versions supply ‘men’ as the object of the verb, translating: ‘And Korah took men’. This is not, however, in…...

Originally published in the Jewish Gazette, 21 January 1972. The sidra begins with the reference to the hardening of Pharoah’s heart. The theological difficulties in God hardening a man’s heart have often been discussed but need not concern us here. The permanent significance of this part of the Exodus narrative lies in the idea that ideally…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 6 March 1998. In the rites for the consecration of the priests, the blood of the sacrifices is sprinkled on the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot. The symbolism is obvious. Right denotes, in the Bible and in the subsequent…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle. Among the numerous comments on the 10 plagues, none is more startling and provocative than that of the Chasidic master, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, of Kotzk. He is reported to have said that you have to hand it to Pharaoh. Lesser mortals would have given in at the mere threat of…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 12 December 1997. “And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother.”—Genesis 32: 4. In the Bible, the word malach sometimes means a human messenger—anyone sent to carry out an act on behalf of someone else. Hence the translation in the King James version—followed by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch…...

Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle.  A non-Jewish author once wrote that, while a good deal of the Bible was an exciting read, of much relevance to him, he failed to see any value in the opening chapters of the Book of Numbers. These were, he said, about as inspiring as a telephone directory. All those…...

Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, December 1954. But he refused. . . . (Gen. xxxix, 8.) A non-Jewish author wrote a book called “Sermons in Accents,” on the signs used in the Hebrew Bible to indicate the traditional cantillation. He rightly observed that, in addition to their musical value, the accents are a commentary to…...

Originally published in The Jewish Gazette. A favourite theme of the Jewish mystics is the purpose of man’s creation. The conventional view is that man was created in order to enjoy God’s goodness forever. After a period of struggle in this life he is rewarded by eternal bliss in the Hereafter. But this view fails to…...

Originally published in The Jewish Gazette, 3rd August 1973. The Hebrew name commonly used for the book of Deuteronomy is Devarim, “words.” In the book the most convincing appeal is advanced for Israel’s abiding loyalty to God. Moses’ plea is to the heart, but relies to the fullest extent on reasoned argument, passionate but clear logic,…...

Originally published in The Jewish Chronicle, 12th March 1954. When any man of you bringeth an offering unto the Lord . . . (Lev. i, 2). The rabbis note that the Hebrew words of the text, if read as they stand, can bear the meaning: “If any man bring an offering—it shall be his own.” A…...

Originally published in The Jewish Gazette, 1st March 1974. It has been noted that this week’s sidra, tetzaveh, is the only one, from the beginning of the book of Exodus to the end of Deuteronomy, in which Moses is not mentioned by name. It has also been noted that the sidra falls around the seventh day…...

Originally published in Judaism Today. The concept of chukat hagoy, found in the sidrah, has always been somewhat uncertain of application. In the context, the meaning would seem to be that the people of Israel are to reject utterly the sexual irregularities listed in the passage. The implication here is: these are the “ways of the…...

Originally published in Judaism Today, 4th June 1993. According to the talmudic sources, in Temple times the priests on Rosh Hashanah would position themselves so that the trumpet-blowers stood on either side, with the shofar in the middle. On all other occasions, the trumpet-blowers were in the middle, flanked by a shofar-blower on either side. In…...

Originally published in Judaism Today, 26th March 1993. Traditionally, the word vayikra, “And He called,” is written in the Sefer Torah and printed in the Chumash with a small alef [as here], giving rise to a host of ingenious interpretations. The Zohar, for instance, states that, since God’s call to Moses was outside the Holy Land,…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 11 December 1993. On the opening verse of the sidrah—“And Jacob sent malachim before him to Esau, his brother”—Rashi comments, in the name of the Midrash, “real malachim.” That is to say, although the word malach, “messenger,” can mean anyone sent to perform a task, the word in the Bible…...

Originally published in Judaism Today, 6th November 1992. THE SECOND Gerer Rebbe gave a novel, and surprisingly modern, interpretation of the words lech lecha, used in the divine instruction to Abram to leave his homeland and his father’s house. With a degree of homiletical licence, this notable Chasidic master wrote that the words may be rendered…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 17th September 1993. In the song of Ha’azinu, Moses compares his teaching to both rain and dew. In an agricultural society, the farmer prays for the rains to come “in their due season,” as expressed in the Shema. When the rains fail, it is catastrophic; but it is also disastrous…...

Originally published in the Jewish Chronicle, 15th January 1993. A midrashic comment has it that the “hard labour” to which the Egyptians subjected the Israelites involved, among other onerous tasks, making weak men carry loads suitable for strong men, and strong men carry loads suitable for weak men. To compel a weak man to carry a…...