What does it mean to leave everything behind? To reject the ideas a person grew up with, and commit instead to new ideals? Is it possible to maintain anything of the past when embarking on a new life? When we first meet Rivka, she seems basically perfect. Avraham has tasked his servant with finding the […]
The story of Yaakov’s surreptitious acquisition of the blessings his father intended for Esav is well known. This episode, coupled with the Torah’s declaration of Yitzchak’s love for Esav, leads many readers to misinterpret Yitzchak’s feelings for each of his sons. While some assume that Yitzchak loved Esav more than he loved Yaakov, the text […]
Hi JITC- What is the Torah view of Marijuana use? Is there a difference between medical and recreational use? Thanks, T.K. Dear T.K.- This past summer, my wife and I vacationed in Utah. One of the tourist destinations recommended online was the Brigham Young University Museum of Paleontology (which is really fun to say). My […]
Unlike a lot of women I’ve spoken to, I have always loved Simchas Torah. As a child, I loved it for the dancing and excitement. I loved my shul’s longstanding tradition of giving out candy apples to kids on Simchas Torah night; it was the only food with caramel and nuts that I ever liked. […]
Midrashic tradition tells us there are no coincidences, at least in the way the Torah tells its stories. When one verse (Numbers 20:1) says Miriam died and the next reports a lack of water – there is likely a connection between those events that goes deeper than simple chronology. The Talmud (Taanit 9a) explains that […]
“A Living Library” may not have feet or hands, but it certainly has a beating heart thanks to the dedicated team at Sefaria. Sefaria is an online Jewish library providing Jewish texts stretching from the first book of Moses, all the way down to the commentators of the Rishonim and Achronim, and everything in between. It even […]
