Rachel Travis considers the madras, wherein a young Abraham questions his father’s faith in the carved and molded idols. Abraham is a rebel. Yet in the Torah, Abraham is 75 when God speaks to him for the first time, with an incredible challenge and promise.
DetailsRabbi Barenblat blogs on whether or not God should have created humanity. The question is challenging; most of our perception of reality is in opposing views. She questions why the need for polarization?
DetailsGod speaks the incredible words to Abraham, “go forth to the land that I will show you”, yet the Torah tells us very little about Abraham, other than his deeds. His few identified attributes—gentle, kind, gracious—don’t generally relate to the founder of a new faith.
DetailsRabbi Strimber is concerned with the conflict between the years that Noach spent anticipating the flood and building the ark, and the other fact that Noach did not believe that the flood would ever happened. This fact is understood because he didn’t enter the ark until the very last minute. The conflict is resolved by considering actual human nature; we can understand something on an intellectual level, without that reality touching our consciousness.
DetailsRabbi Sacks observes that the Tower of Babel narrative is only 9 verses, yet its historicity is interesting. The ziggurat, which is what the Tower was, represented the ancient Mesopotamian city states, where humans first settled. The buildings were remarkable for their design, size, and building materials.
DetailsRaemia Luchins writes about the complexity of the phrase “The earth had become corrupt before Hashem, and the earth was filled with chamas”. It seems simple, but it is actually describing a world “whose internal warning systems have stopped functioning.” In other words, the corruption came about gradually, reflecting cracks in the society.
DetailsDr. Moster considers the complexity of the grammar: b’reishit may refer to “in the beginning”, or “from the beginning”, or “the beginning”, depending on different historical translations into Aramaic or English. What is the true meaning of the prefix “b”?
DetailsRabbi Springer notes the rapid transition from “very good”—the work of creation—to “nothing but evil all the time” at the end of the parashah. She considers Isaiah 42:5-7, which starts with a focus on the creation of human beings, starting with Adam, and transitioning to “all people who come from this one person”. Isaiah focuses immediately on the creation of “people” instead of a single person.
DetailsRabbi Sacks is concerned about the disconnect between Adam’s blaming his wife for leading him into sin, and then giving her a new name. Another disconnect is God’s punishment of them by exiling them from Eden, and then providing them with clothes, a kindness. The change of mood in both instances doesn’t make sense.
DetailsDr. Kalmanofsky writes about the interplay between the Written and Oral Torahs, which established a basis for ongoing fresh interpretation. We honor our ancestors in this way. While the Written Torah is an anchor, dancing with the Oral Torah provides joy and art.
DetailsRabbi Margles cites Talmud Sukkah 12a, which instructs us to take the husks, bare vines, and dry stalks—leftovers—for the roof of the Sukkah. This seems contradictory to the mitzvah. For instance, we are instructed to choose the most beautiful etrog available, and decorate the Sukkah. She cites Rabbi Gershon Chanoch Henoch Leiner of Radzyn who taught about the spiritual significance of the holy refuse.
DetailsRabbi Sacks observes that Kohelet is “the man who had it all”, and yet, when looking back upon his life, he could only say that it was meaningless. His failure to find meaning is directly related to his obsession with “I” and “me”; the more he pursues his desires, the emptier his life becomes. The culture of narcissism leads to loneliness and despair, as Kohelet discovered.
DetailsRav 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.
DetailsRabbi 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.
DetailsRabbi Krieger observes that while the Torah stipulates the requirement to observe a day of remembrance, it doesn’t provide any information about what we are remembering, or judgment, repentance, and prayer. He cites Rabbi Isaac Luria, who wrote that the first human was created on the first of Tishrei; that is what we are remembering.
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