Posts Tagged: rashi
Communal Effort Ensures Jewish Survival
I have always been intrigued by a troubling question: how would Rashi, the prolific medieval commentator on the Hebrew scriptures and the Talmud, have responded...
Russian President Putin Gifts Israeli PM Netanyahu Copy of First-Ever Bible Printed With Rashi Commentary
At their meeting in Sochi on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a copy of the first-ever Bible printed with...
Material Goods Do Not Make Us Happy or Fulfilled
“Your threshing season will last until your grape harvest, and your grape harvest will last until the time you plant. You will have your fill...
What Does It Mean to Love Your Neighbor?
Last week we returned, in our cycle of reading the Torah each week, to the iconic, indeed universal, “VeAhavta LeReyacha Kamocha” (Leviticus 19:18), which is usually...
Prophetesses of the Jews
Rabbenu Hananel, Rashi, and the Vilna Gaon -- the rabbinic sages who engaged in typology -- all enumerated seven identical Jewish prophetesses. These included a Matriarch,...
Prophets of the Jews
According to the Talmud, the Jewish people produced 48 prophets and seven prophetesses (Tractate Megillah 14a). In the Middle Ages, Rabbenu Hananel ben Hushiel (990-1053 CE)...
The Right and the Good
Buried among the epic passages in Va-etchanan – among them the Shema and the Ten Commandments – is a brief passage with large implications for...
In Judaism, Love is Not Enough
Judaism is supremely a religion of love: three loves. "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and...
Jewish Warfare: A Traditional Perspective
In the timely hour of battle between Israel and its neighbors, it is helpful to recall the timeless principles of warfare set out in the...
‘Your Money or Your Life?’
Judaism's most famous Prayer comes from this week's Parsha (Bible portion). Shma Yisrael Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Hear O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is...
In The Details
On the opening phrase of Mishpatim [Judgements]- "And these are the laws you are to set before them" - Rashi comments: "And these are the...
Travel Blessings and a Worry Free Return
For many of us, the end of summer represents the end of waking up late, being off schedule, vacation and "chillaxing." For others,...
Don’t Celebrate Ignorance
A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance. -- Saul Bellow Light travels faster than sound. That's why most people seem bright until...
