The Day Forgiveness was Born There are rare and special moments when the world changes and a new possibility is born, when the Wright brothers in 1903 made the first man-made flight, or in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon, or when, almost 6,000 years ago, someone […]
The Space Between What do porcupines do in winter? asked Schopenhauer. If they come too close to one another, they injure each other.If they stay too far apart, they freeze. Life, for porcupines, is a delicate balance between closeness and distance. It is hard to get it right and dangerous to get it wrong. And so it is […]
The Force of Forgiveness Judah has passed the test so elaborately contrived by Joseph. Twenty-two years earlier, it was Judah who had proposed selling Joseph into slavery. Now Joseph – still unrecognized by his brothers – has put him through a carefully constructed ordeal to see whether he is still the same character, or has […]
Three Steps for Mankind In his introduction to the Rabbinical Council of America’s version of the Artscroll Siddur, Rabbi Saul Berman has a lovely essay on the opening word of today’s sedra, Vayigash, “And he drew close.” Because the work is not widely available outside America, I summarize the essay here. It is our custom […]
The Great Experiment It is one of the most dramatic moments in Bereishith, a book full of dramatic moments. Judah has made a passionate plea for Benjamin’s release. Yes, the missing silver cup has been found in his possession. Judah does not challenge the facts. Instead he throws himself on the mercy of the Egyptian […]
Choice and Change The sequence from Bereishith 37 to 50 is the longest unbroken narrative in the Torah, and there can be no doubt who its hero is, Joseph. The story begins and ends with him. We see him as a child, beloved – even spoiled – by his father; as an adolescent dreamer, resented […]
