Once there was a man who claimed that his dog was the greatest cantor in the world. So convinced was he of his pet’s musical abilities he brought the dog to the rabbi. The man said: “Rabbi, this dog is the best cantor in the world.” The rabbi scoffed. “Pease don’t...
A.N. Wilson chronicles the decline in the belief in God that characterized the great writers and thinkers of the nineteenth century in his book entitled God’s Funeral. Atheism of a pragmatic type already existed among the pygmy tribes of Africa in the sixth or fifth...
Among the special garments worn by the High Priest was one the Torah calls “tzitz.” This word has been translated into English as “frontlet,” meaning, a kind of emblem. And on it the words “Holy to God” were engraved. The “tzitz” itself was suspended on a blue cord on...
Tradition ascribes the writing of the Zohar, or Book of Splendor, to the imagination of second century scholar Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai who, along with son, confined themselves to a cave for twelve years. The pioneering work of twentieth century scholar Gershom Scholem...
In Don Isaac Abarbanel’s categorization of the laws of the Torah, he provides a valuable insight into sociology. Abarbanel (d. 1508) understands that mishpatim (statutes) [Exodus 21:1] are only one type of law. Testimonials (edot) and laws (hukim) are the others. The...
One of the lesser-known biblical commentators is eighteenth century Italian rabbi Isaac Samuel Riggio. But while his fame is limited, his insights are still valuable. A recurrent concern for traditional biblical commentators is the resolution of seeming contradictions...
The Talmud tells a story about Rabbi Joshua ben Hananiah who self-deprecatingly reports how a child once got the better of him. As Rabbi Joshua walked along a path he came to a crossroads. Unsure about which way to get to town, he asked a child standing there to point...
Inevitably, children will ask about the purpose of observing the Passover ritual long after the original events when the people Israel are securely ensconced in the Land of Israel. Anticipating this circumstance, the Torah advises parents: “When your children ask you:...
God assures Moses that the elders of Israel enslaved in Egypt will listen to Moses’ report of their imminent salvation (Exodus 3:18). So it comes as a surprise to The Kotzker Rebbe, Rabbi Menahem Mendl Morgensztern, to read that the elders “did not listen to Moses”...
After God reassures Moses that he will be successful in his mission to Egypt demanding the release of the enslaved Israelites, Moses returns to his father-in-law Jethro for whom he worked as a shepherd. Moses asks permission to be released from his duties: “Let me...