Rav Noam Blauer: Nitzavim When Teshuvah Feels Impossible

Torah Sparks

Rav Blauer writes about the challenges of angst and cynicism that impede our capacity to fulfill complete yeshivah. He writes that the problem is not just contemporary; it is actually described in ancient texts. He cites Tosefta Bava Kamma, which states that the crime of stealing from the masses is greater than stealing from the individual. He extends the concept to the contemporary issues of keeping a library book indefinitely, or using an accessible parking space without the proper placard. These are seemingly innocuous acts since there is no clearly defined individual who is hurt. Yet, the victims are in fact knowable.

Rabbi Sharon Brous: Yom Kippur Sermon

Torah Sparks

Rabbi Brous speaks of the Pope’s recent encyclical that incorporates a Dvar Torah on the Tower of Babel. The problem with the people who built the Tower of Babel is that they became uniform. The threat of AI is in fact related. The construction of the Tower of Babel is compared to the construction of the Second Temple and the walls of Jerusalem, led by Nehemiah when he returned from the Babylonian exile. The difference is that the people joined together in collaboration to create something special and productive, that did not compete with God.