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E-Lights
Essays on the weekly Torah portion, the holidays and Jewish thought.
E-Lights Noach – Noach and the Bar Mitzvah Why did Noach, a tzadik, fail to influence even one person in 120 years? From obedience to empathy: the spiritual maturation of the soul. E-Lights Bereishis – Touching Perfection Why did Eve add a prohibition against touching the Tree of Knowledge? The etrog tree, means and ends, and the Messianic vision. E-Lights V'zot Haberachah – The Torah’s Final Words Who wrote the last eight verses of the Torah, and why do they have a different status? Moses, Joshua, tears, and the light of Moshiach. E-Lights Sukkot – The Sukkah: Between the Collective and the Individual Does the Sukkah commemorate the Clouds of Glory or the booths our ancestors lived in? Two opinions, and two dimensions of Jewish existence. E-Lights Ha'azinu – The Blessing of Torah Why does the Talmud say the First Temple was destroyed because the people “did not recite the blessing over the Torah”? Recognizing the Divine source of Torah. E-Lights Rosh Hashanah – When Shabbos Replaces the Shofar When Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos we do not sound the shofar. How, then, do we coronate G-d as our King? E-Lights Nitzavim-Vayeilech – The Rocket of the Tzadik Why yearn for a Messianic world without the struggle against evil? From the struggle against evil to the challenge of good. E-Lights Ki Tavo – Two Paths to Victory: Confronting Evil and Causing It to Flee Our enemies “will come out against you in one direction and flee from you in seven directions.” Two forms of victory, and the seven rabbinical commandments. E-Lights Ki Teitzei – The “Skeletons” in King David’s Lineage At first glance, there appears to be no thematic connection between the Torah’s prohibition against marrying an Ammonite or Moabite and King David’s declaration of gratitude to G-d for having afflicted him and ultimately saving him. E-Lights Shoftim – The Two Dimensions of Jewish Kingship One of the Biblical commandments mentioned in this week’s parsha is the appointment of a king. E-Lights Re'eh – The Broken Rung of the Ladder Rav Papa slipped from a rung of a ladder and nearly fell to his death. How did Chiya bar Rav know that the cause was withholding tzedakah? E-Lights Ekev – The Illness of Exile and the Joy of Redemption When G-d promises to “remove from you all illness,” He is promising far more than physical healing: the removal of the very essence of exile. E-Lights Vo’eschanan – The Wisdom of Moses Why should Moses' wisdom preclude him from entering the Land? A puzzling Midrash, and Joseph's essence that Moses carried through the wilderness.