ParshaNut: 54 Journeys into the World of Torah Commentary

this is not a question of what he “deserves,” for it is not meant as a “kindness” to him, per se. He must go free. He has no choice.

the foundational Jewish act: recognizing the one divine source of all of creation.

The obstacle to spiritual enlightenment, according to this model, is not physical pleasure, but social pleasure. It is not temptations of the flesh that will keep me away from God, but the bonds of friendly and familial obligation. How can I cultivate a deep relationship to the Divine, if I am balancing it with all my other relationships?

the indeterminacy of it all appeals to me.

we remember that we are only alive because others have died.

How did we fail him? How did we fail him?

we remember that we are only alive because others have died.

Most of the time, we do not have the aid of a rhyme to call our attention to the ways we sound exactly like those whom we hate the most.

when we speak of God, we are speaking of “the life force and spirituality that is in each creation.” And that includes us. In this theology, we are one with God. Our separateness is just an illusion. Moses stands outside of the Tabernacle because he senses the presence of God and assumes that he is other than that presence. But in truth, Moses is a