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Parsha VAETCHANAN

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Aug 5, 2017, 10:35 PM

Her Son-Not Your Son

It is well known in Jewish law that a child is Jewish if his mother is Jewish. This is known as "matrilineal descent." I will try to explain the basis for this law. There are two places in the Torah...

Esther Goldenberg

Aug 4, 2017, 10:32 PM

Was it an Accident?

Once there was a man with a stick and a rock, some pretty awesome super-powers, and hundreds of thousands of whiny doubters at his back. Let's call him Moses. Moses and this multitude were in the desert. It's not a...

William Hamilton

Aug 4, 2017, 5:44 PM

Facing adversity, finding resilience

“It occurred to me” a mourner shared about her recent Shiva experience “that I was surrounded by platitudes as much as by people.” Well-intentioned Shiva sharing can veer toward formulaic phrases. “You’ll be ok.” “We’ve all been there.” “Be...

Rachel Anisfeld

Aug 4, 2017, 7:17 AM

Reflections on Parashat Va’ethanan: Why God Makes Me Feel Whole

Often in life, one feels some slight dissonance or discomfort, as if you are a square peg trying to fit into a round hole. There is your true self and then there is what you have to do to...

Aug 3, 2017, 7:57 PM

Philosophy or prophecy?

The 10 Commandments are read this week, but is that first one, ‘I am the Lord your God’ really a one of them? (Vaetchanan)

Aug 3, 2017, 1:46 PM

“Just Great” Parashat Va’etchanan 5777

Each summer, during the first week of Av, my wife and I spend a day or two in Alon Shevut attending Yemei Tanach (“Tanach Days”), a learning conference in which two or so thousand people come to learn Tanach...

Aug 3, 2017, 1:43 PM

The comfort of Shabbat Nachamu: God’s promise of return and redemption [Parshat Vaetchanan]

Curiously, our Sages refer to Tisha b’Av as a festival, a “Mo’ed”. How could this be? After all, it is the date on which both Temples were destroyed! And in contrast to the other fast days marking the destruction...

Jonathan Muskat

Aug 3, 2017, 1:41 PM

The Nechama of Shabbat Nachamu

This coming Shabbat is called Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of comfort or the Shabbat of consolation. The Haftorah for this week’s Parsha is the comforting prophecy of Yeshayahu, “Nachamu nachamu ami - comfort My people.” But what is the...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

Aug 3, 2017, 9:39 AM

Vaetchanan: The Foundation of Jewish Faith

If you don't have solid beliefs you cannot build a stable life. Beliefs are like the foundation of a building, and they are the foundation to build your life upon. -Alfred A. Montapert Perhaps the most well known verse to...

Aug 2, 2017, 9:32 AM

How do Jews love?

A Religious Jewish woman attends a prayer organized by the "Women of the Wall" at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The WOW organizes women's prayer groups at the Western Wall at the start of every new Jewish month (Rosh Hodesh). Jewish ultra orthodox communities oppose women's singing in the presence of men, reading from the Torah, and wearing the ritual garments and objects traditionally associated with men. December 08, 2010. Photo by Miriam Alster/FLASH90 *** Local Caption ***

The answer is: With everything they've got.

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