by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on July 6, 2012
Parashat Balak is the only parasha in the Torah which provides us with an outsider’s view of Children of Israel. As such, it affords us with a perspective not only on how others see us, but also on how others see, that is, on other ways of seeing.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on June 8, 2012
The Children of Israel have divided themselves into camps, dedicated the Mishkan, and arranged themselves around the Mishkan, so that God, both literally and figuratively, now “dwells in their midst.” The time has come, in this week’s parasha, to decamp and move forward.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on May 18, 2012
Yom Yerushalayim and Shavuot are celebrated a week apart. These celebrations mark two tremendous gifts that have been bestowed upon us: the gift of a unified Jerusalem as part of the State of Israel and under Jewish control, that we received only 45 years ago, and the gift of the Torah, that we received over 3000 years ago.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on April 20, 2012
When we read Parashat Shemini, we are in the middle of the counting of the Omer–a process of seven weeks of seven days–until we finally arrive at Shavuot. This counting marks the time – in Rabbinic thought – from the Exodus to the revelation of God and the receiving of Torah at Har Sinai.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on February 10, 2012
After crossing the Red Sea, seeing the drowning of the Egyptians, experiencing the first hardships of the desert, and receiving the quail and the manna from God, the Children of Israel have finally arrived at their first destination, Mt. Sinai. While the Land of Israel still awaits, their initial demand to leave Egypt was to worship God, and that worship takes place here, in the desert, at the foot of Har Sinai: “When you take this people out of Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain.”…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on January 13, 2012
The beginning of the book of Shemot sees the Children of Israel enslaved, oppressed, and at the risk of decimation. The foundation for their salvation is laid in the birth of Moshe, his being saved by Pharaoh’s daughter, and his venturing out to see the affliction of his brothers. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on January 1, 2012
How exactly can a finite human being, rooted in her physicality, connect to an infinite, non-physical God? This question is one that the Torah grapples with throughout the second half of the book of Shemot. God commands for the building of a physical Mishkan to house the Glory of God enveloped in the cloud. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on December 23, 2011
Yosef is known throughout Rabbinic literature as “Yosef the Tzaddik.” This phrase alludes to the verse in Amos (2:6), “their selling the Tzaddik for silver”, which is understood to be referring to brother’s selling Yosef for the 30 pieces of silver. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on December 16, 2011
Yosef’s brothers, not content with the treachery of throwing him in the pit and then selling him to the Ishmaelites, proceed to engage in a cover-up. Using the very cloak that was the target of their jealousy, they dip it in the blood of a kid goat, and send it to their father: “And they said, ‘This we found. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on December 2, 2011
Give truth to Yaakov, loving-kindness to Avraham…” (Micah 7:20), the prophet Micha asks of God, and thus, in kabbalistic literature, Avraham comes to represent the attribute of chesed, loving-kindness, while Yaakov represents the attribute of emet, truth. While it is not at all difficult to see how Avraham is associated with loving-kindness – witness his welcoming of the angelic guests – it is quite challenging to see Yaakov as embodying the principle of truth. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on November 18, 2011
After the climactic event of the akeida, the Torah turns its attention to more quotidian matters, the death and burial of Sarah and the finding of a son for Yitzchak. In this shift, and in this transition to the next generation, a number of the major characters move off the scene. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on November 11, 2011
In a parasha that contains the stories of the birth and binding of Yitzchak, and the overturning of Sodom, I wish to write about a seemingly trivial point. The pasuk states (Breishit 18:1): וַיֵּרָ֤א אֵלָיו֙ ה בְּאֵלֹנֵ֖י מַמְרֵ֑א And the LORD appeared unto him in the palace of Mamre Mamre, I believe, is the unsung hero in Vayeira. …
3700 Henry Hudson Parkway, 2nd Floor
Riverdale, NY 10463
Phone: (212) 666-0036
Fax: (212) 666-5633
Email: office@yctorah.org
Click here to sign up to receive updates from YCT straight to your inbox.
