This week’s very short reading from the Torah tackles the question of what it means to be Jewish. We use the word Brit, covenant to describe this connection but there are several Brits in the Torah. There is the covenant with Avraham over the Land. Then there is the covenant of circumcision. Later comes the covenant at Sinai to the…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
Secrets
“The secrets belong to God, and the revealed things are for us and our children forever, in order to follow the words of the Torah” (29.28). Rashbam takes this to mean that God will punish on the basis of secrets that He alone knows. Humans punish according to human law that has been revealed on Sinai. Nachmanides, takes this to…
Not in Heaven
“The Torah, this mitzvah which I command you is not beyond unnatural or beyond you. It is not in heaven that we say who will go up to heaven to bring it down for us to teach us so that we can do it. It is not across the seas so we might say who will cross the sea and…
The Land of Israel
This book of Devarim keeps on referring to how special the land of Israel is. Its produce “A land of grain wheat and barley, wine, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and honey,” “A land flowing with milk and honey.” In Egypt and in Babylon produce came from irrigation. In Israel rains were the only source of fresh water and so the…
First Fruits
In the declaration on bringing the first fruits to be dedicated at the Tabernacle or Temple, one says “My father was a wandering Aramean.” It is true that the Midrash interprets it differently, to suggest that Laban the Aramean tried to kill our father Jacob.” This is clearly homiletics, not the literal translation. In the Pesah Hagadah, this quote is…
Warnings
There’s a very unusual ceremony in this week’s part of the Torah. When the tribes cross over the river Jordan and settle on the West Bank they were commanded to gather on the two Mountains Gerizim and Eyval which can be found near the city now called Nablus. To this day, they are considered holy by the Samaritans. Their Temple…