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Parsha BECHUKOTAI

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May 17, 2018, 8:26 PM

Is there a blessing for a new embassy?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the official opening ceremony of the US Embassy in Jerusalem, on May 14, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

I thank God for allowing Israel to stand 'erect with stature' we received through the nations of the world

William Hamilton

May 12, 2018, 1:06 AM

Where you stand depends upon where you’ve sat

Who was King David? Was he the young underdog against Goliath or the mighty warrior of battlefield prowess? Was he the abuser of power who attained Bathsheba or the righteous ancestor of the future messianic leader? Having spent the day with Michelangelo’s...

May 10, 2018, 6:05 PM

In search of the why

Nietzsche. (Wikimedia Commons)

If we trust that our lives have meaning, we can handle anything -- or risk being left to chance (Bechukotai)

May 10, 2018, 1:32 PM

Jacob’s staff

Parshat Behukotai sets up a seemingly straightforward dichotomy between keeping mitzvot and getting reward, versus not keeping mitzvot and being punished. What's striking is the ratio of the reward to punishment. While there are only a handful of verses...

May 10, 2018, 10:30 AM

“Life’s been good” Parashat Bechukotai 5778

For the unwashed few who have never heard of it, Apple Music is an incredibly large on-line music library containing nearly every song ever recorded. One of the nice features of Apple Music is that it learns your tastes...

May 9, 2018, 11:51 PM

Once Is Not Enough

We no sooner read the last pesukim of Devarim on Simchat Torah, concluding the public reading of Torah, that we turn our attention to the very first pesukim of Bereishit and start the cycle of reading and re-reading Torah...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

May 6, 2018, 11:03 PM

Bechukotai: Regretting Good

People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent. -- Bob Dylan There are two somewhat arcane commandments (among many) that always nagged me. I was always uncomfortable with them. I couldn’t make sense of them....

Ariel Ben Avraham

May 5, 2018, 11:28 PM

Parshat Bechukotai: Living life as the blessing of goodness (II)

“If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them…” (Leviticus 26:3) We have referred often to the conditionality derived from the consequences of the choices we make. Conditions appear based on the result or outcome of...

William Hamilton

May 19, 2017, 8:57 PM

Why Jerusalem matters

In a 1929 letter the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem charged Albert Einstein and British Lord Melchett with having designs on the Mosque area atop the Temple Mount. “Palestine without the Temple is to the Jews like a body without...

Joseph Isaac Korf

May 19, 2017, 8:10 PM

Anxiety Reversed – Depression Transformed

You ever get a feeling of dread and a pall of anxiety shroud you? You ever experience pain in the pit of your stomach from fear and despondency? You walk around in a haze. You worry over the next day....

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