July 29, 2010 | Ekev

Bereshit

Speaking Truth to Power

Among the legends of the Jews are stories about the Golem, an 'unfinished', or artificial man. By Kabbalistic means, this Frankenstein could be temporarily animated to do one's bidding. Some of the Talmudic sages were reputed to have had this ability. Apocryphal stories claim that the great...

My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Bereshit (3)

Bill Maher is a very funny guy but when it comes to religion he not only goes overboard, he sometimes gets it wrong. Last week Maher, an outspoken atheist, joked that God couldn't be too powerful if, after creating the universe in six days, he was "pooped" on the seventh. However, as we see in...

Video divrei Torah from rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg

My Video dvrei Torah Let us make man in our Image according to our likeness (google)Voyager, Earth,100 million species & Genesis JewU 248 Youtube Creationism Evolution A Jewish View JewU 84 Youtube Torah Portion Breisheit Genesis JewU Youtube

My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Bereshit (2)

We start the Torah anew with Parshah Bereshit. At the climax of the creation story we get this curious statement: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” (Gen. 1:26) “Us?” Who’s “us?” God is One, and the rabbis are clear that no one was helping Him...

The Empathy of Israel

i Jacob wrestles an angel, at night, before meeting with his brother Esau. Jacob has not seen Esau for more than twenty years. Jacob fears that Esau may want to kill him. * The angel changes Jacob's name. The angel calls Jacob, Yisrael: Israel. For, the angel says to Jacob, of...

The Upheaval of Knowing of God is Creation

I i Jacob has a dream of a ladder going to Heaven, and of God's angels upon the ladder, and of God speaking to him.

When Jacob awakes he says: God was in this place and I did not know.

*
He renames the place where he slept. He calls the place: Beit...

Sodom

God punishes the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous. * Angels disguised as men come to Sodom. The men of the city…both young and old, all the people from every quarter, surround the house...

My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Bereshit

As we start the Torah anew with Parshah Bereshit, think about the very first verse. Should we read it as “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth?” Or as “When God began to create heaven and earth?” How about, “In the beginning of God’s creating of the heaven and the...

Lift Right Left

Ever have hagba (or know someone who had hagba) around this time of year? It's a good time to be a righty, as a full chumash worth of parchment is disproportionately wrapped around the right spindle of the sefer Torah. After this week, your left hand will need to only pick up Haazinu and Vezot...

About Ekev

My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Ekev

"Love, therefore, the Lord your God, and always keep His charge, His laws, His rules, and His commandments." (Deut. 11:1) This passage from Parshah Ekev is not unique. It is one of many places we are told to "love" God. But what does that mean? Rabbi Jakob Petuchowski wrote, "Jews study Torah...read more

About Daniel M. Kimmel
9908_profile

Joined: 10/02/2007

Daniel M. Kimmel is a Boston area film critic,...

Divrei Torah (117)
  

Parshat Ekev

The concept of teshuvah, repentance, is a given in traditional Jewish circles: One who sins before God has the inalienable right to repent and to be absolved. Nevertheless, an analysis of the Torah indicates that such a theology might be absent from the text. In this week’s portion, Ekev, Moses...read more

About Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
Missing

Joined: 08/08/2007

Shmuel is Rabbi of Ohev Sholom -- The National...

Divrei Torah (17)
  

Faces

Missing

Avi Shmidman

Joined: September 14, 2009

Divrei Torah (0)
  
Missing

hecdocourge

Joined: July 23, 2010

Ondalimit

Divrei Torah (0)
  
Missing

richardbarth

Joined: October 2, 2007

Divrei Torah (0)
  

More Faces