Mitzvot
The Enactments of Mordecai and Esther
The Torah says nothing about Purim because the story of Esther did not happen until about a thousand years later. And yet, four mitzvot of Purim are observed today. How could new commandments be given to the Jewish people so long after the revelation at Mount Sinai?
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7-minute read
Rav Shlomo, Abraham, and the Pagans
We must remember that Abraham does not know that these men are angels and has no idea that they are coming to announce the birth of a son. All this happened just a few days after he had fulfilled the mitzvah of circumcision and most certainly he was in pain. Yet Abraham welcomes them.
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6-minute read
Earth Day and Genesis
When we piece all this together, we can truly agree with the Psalmist: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). Nature reveals to us not only the depth of God’s wisdom as is found in the Torah; it also reveals to us the glory of God in Messiah. Should we not seek to preserve and care for such a precious revelation?
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8-minute read
Be the Example
Sitting on my kitchen floor, wiping out a cabinet the night before Passover last year, I thought about how much we need examples. We need people who have gone before us and learned how to do this, but sometimes we don’t have them. We might need to be the ones to clear the path and be that example for someone else.
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7-minute read
The Copper Laver
Upon closer examination of matters that at first glance are tedious, such as the vessels associated with the Temple, we can find that nothing in Scripture is arbitrary or devoid of deeper spiritual meaning. There must be some deep significance to the seemingly insignificant utensil known as the copper laver.
8-minute read
The Devastating Effect of Canceling the Torah
Imagine if the President declared, "I have fulfilled every aspect of the Constitution of the United States perfectly. Now that it is fulfilled, its authority over this nation has been put to an end in me. Today I tell you, the United States has only one law: that you love one another."
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7-minute read
Toward Peace and Healing
The protracted conflict in Israel carries with it difficulties that are not always visible to the outside world looking in. The pain is real, deep, and pervasive on all sides of this issue, and I have embraced some who have wept as a result of losing those they love.
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6-minute read
The Dribble That Brought Me Naches
We sowed and sowed…and there was no reaping for a long time. But now, the due season has arrived and we are reaping. Chuck is now dribbling, shooting, and is on his way to being able to participate in a special needs basketball league. This makes me smile.
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7-minute read
Mind over Mitzvot?
Romans 14 is sometimes pushed as proof that disciples of Jesus need not worry about kosher laws or keep the Sabbath on the seventh day. Did Paul grant people license to eat truly anything? Can any day be kept as the Sabbath? In what sense is nothing unclean in itself?
6-minute read
Counting Up the Days
The Torah commands that Jews keep the festival of Shavu’ot (known to Christians as Pentecost), but does not give us a date for when we must do so. How are we to know? What if we don’t have a calendar to tell us when it occurs?
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6-minute read
Shabbat Sh'kalim
The Shabbat that precedes the first of the month of Adar (or, in the case of a leap year, Adar II) is known as Shabbat Sh'kalim. This is the first of four Shabbats with special Torah readings all happening before Passover. The reading for Shabbat Sh'kalim is found in Exodus 30:11-16, which tells the commandment of the half shekel historically collected before Purim.
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7-minute read
A Blessing for Bad News
Every experience life has to offer, from the mundane to the extraordinary, is ensconced in specific and verbally spoken blessings by the traditional Jew. There is even a blessing for when one hears exceptionally bad news, such as the death of a close friend or family member. But why?
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7-minute read
Jesus’ Kosher Jews
Peter’s vision of the animal-filled sheet has been used as a polemic against kashrut for centuries; very seldom is this story used by Orthodox Jewish thinkers as proof for strict kosher observance. Imagine our surprise when my friend and I dropped in on a Modern Orthodox rabbi’s Torah study that did just that.
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6-minute read
Celebrate Noach!
The Jewish people were given the Torah and the commandments contained therein. The sages believed that it was appropriate to beautify the commandments by going above and beyond what was required. Here is a fun and unique way to do just that.
3-minute read
Systematic Good-ology
Let’s not fall behind in doing the kind of work the Master spent so much time exhorting us to do—the Sermon-on-the-Mount kind of work, the work of learning to be good, the work of consistently making ethically sound choices. In doing so, we will grow to become more like Jesus.
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11-minute read
Torah and the Environment
Tikkun olam is the idea that we are preparing the world for the Messianic Era. Although it is the Almighty who will finally complete the healing process, we can prepare the world for the Messianic Age by doing our best with God's help to begin the work of restoration now.
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24-minute read