The Wisdom of the Serpent: the Art of Not Listening
What does it mean to be “wise as serpents”? The Psalm speaks of the deaf adder that stops its ears and does…
Spiritual Breakfast
- All
- Spiritual Breakfast 242
- Pocket notes 14
- Weekly Torah portion 9
- Judaism 8
- Vayakhel — Pekudei 8
- Theological turmoil 8
- Tetzaveh 6
- Terumah 6
- Ki Tisa 6
- Transcript 4
- Where is it written? 4
- Miscellaneous 4
- Holidays 3
- Jewish calendar 3
- Foundations of faith 3
- Ask a Jew 2
- Passover 2
- Sukkot 2
- Torah and psychology 2
- Vayikra 2
- Shabbat 1
- Simchat Torah 1
- Passover 1
- Announcements 1
- Mishpatim 1
- For Shabbat 1
- Yom Kippur 1
- Shemot 1
The Fear of Failure and Rejection: a View Through the Lens of the Torah
The fear of failure and the fear of rejection paralyse a person who sees himself as a random product of chaos. Judaism…
Light Through Matter
“The Torah has compassion for property” — this Talmudic saying reveals the Jewish view of the material world: every thing is created…
On Imperfection and the True Greatness of a Person
Being religious does not make a person flawless. The real miracle is not the rare falls but the daily steadfastness of those…
“But Seek First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness” (Matthew 6:33)
What does it mean to seek the Kingdom of God? In the light of Hebrew, a “king” is one who takes counsel,…
What We Take With Us: Three Eternal Assets of the Soul.
“You can’t take anything with you from this world” — in the material sense that is true. But Judaism speaks of three…
Jewish Law on Charity: the Wisdom of Measure
Jewish law advises giving between ten and twenty percent of one’s income — no more. This is not stinginess but wisdom: in…
“To Be Needed, Not Important”
A person is not a centre but a channel, a “conduit of light” between the Higher and the lower. One who locks…
Yeshuot: Salvation as a Path, Not a Point.
The Hebrew yeshuot — salvations, in the plural — is usually rendered in the singular in translation. But in the language of…
Conscience Versus the Law?
Did conscience really rise above the Law in the story of the woman brought to Jesus? An analysis of the Torah’s legal…
The Sacred Altar: Man’s Path to God (Terumah)
The Sanctuary is built on the principle of “terumah”, a voluntary offering, and is described from the inside out: at its centre…
“Terumah”: Sanctifying the Material as a Path to the Divine
The portion “Terumah” teaches us not to flee the material world but to sanctify it: the wooden Ark overlaid with gold inside…
