TORAH/BIBLE
A PAINFUL ISRAELI U.N. VOTE
Last Monday, the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemned Russia 93–18. Sixty-five nations abstained. Conscience forces me to protest Israel’s vote against. According to news.un.org, the resolution “called for a commitment to ‘the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders’ and the…
Read MoreEGYPT’S PHARAOH AND AMERICA’S
The Torah and the Israel-Gaza war offer lessons about denying reality and risking terrible consequences. In Exodus, God strikes Egypt with ten plagues, concluding with the slaying of the firstborn. Pharaoh had continually refused to let Israel go. At first, he hardening his own heart. Then God hardened it. The biblical scholar Richard Elliot Friedman…
Read MoreTRANSFERRING POWER
The Hebrew Bible can teach Americans a lot about our transfer of presidential power. We’re witnessing an historical event. President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, withdrew his candidacy. No presumptive nominee had ever done that. Biden endorsed Vice-President Kamala Harris. In 48 hours, Harris won the support of the Democratic leadership, brought the…
Read MoreDEFINING AMERICA
I’ve written about America’s regional differences and similarities—physical and cultural. A difficult question nags. Short of a defensive war, what defining aspect of America can put the United back into the United States? I’ve exchanged thoughts with an American friend in Poland, who teaches university classes on American life. We agree that “freedom” is too…
Read MoreCHRISTMAS AND “SEX EDUCATION”
A British TV dramedy about high-school teens involved in endless sex ultimately reveals a lot about the challenges Christmas often poses. Carolyn and I just finished season four (the final) of Netflix’s Sex Education, starring Gillian Anderson and a wonderful cast. Each season starts with copious sex but soon segues into the subject of relationships with…
Read MoreVIOLENCE AND CHOICE
In 1992, Rodney King, a Black man viciously beaten by Los Angeles police a year earlier, asked during violent riots, “Can’t we all get along?” Last week’s Torah portion, “Genesis,” and this week’s, “Noah,” address this sorry aspect of human nature. Gen. 1:26 states: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after…
Read MoreTHE RABBIS AND THE CONSTITUTION
Given the nation’s political turmoil, Rabbinic thinking can shed light on “loose construction” of the Constitution. A personal experience reinforced that concept. In 1998, I traveled to Israel with a group from New York. On the way to our hotel, we stopped at Mount Scopus for a sweeping view of Jerusalem. It struck me that…
Read MoreLOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR MEANS WHAT?
Jesus preached a version. Hillel said it before Jesus. But Hillel was picking up on the Torah. Still, after 2,000 years and more, many people don’t have a clue. Americans of all faiths are familiar with the injunction of Leviticus 19:18—”Love your neighbor [sometimes translated fellow] as yourself.” This seemingly simple verse poses complex challenges, starting…
Read MoreTHE HANDWRITING ON THE WATER
You may be familiar with the phrase “the handwriting on the wall.” It comes from the Hebrew Bible. We find a parallel in this week’s Torah portion. Both are worth looking at. The Book of Daniel (chapter 5) presents a mysterious hand writing strange words on a wall in the palace of Babylonian king Belshazzar.…
Read MorePOST-THANKSGIVING THANKS
Not everyone stuffed themselves with Thanksgiving turkey yesterday. I ate fish. I had my reasons. Getting older, Carolyn and I sometimes celebrate holidays differently. As to yesterday, our kids wouldn’t be coming over. Another couple, Joan and Joe, faced the same situation. Neither Carolyn nor Joan wanted to cook.* So we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at…
Read MoreADAM, EVE AND THE MIDTERMS 
Adam and Eve relate directly to the principal owner of the San Francisco Giants and America’s upcoming midterm elections. Let’s start at the beginning. This week, we begin the annual Torah reading cycle. It commences with the initial portion of Genesis—B’reishit. “In the Beginning” is one of several translations of that first word. The portion…
Read MoreHOW MUCH IS ENOUGH? 
What constitutes the great American sin? Consider an antecedent in this week’s Torah portion, “V’Etchanan” (“I implored”)—Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11. My commentary involves door-to-door sales, carried interest and mega yachts. Re Torah, Moses implores God to let him lead the Israelites into Canaan. God, angered by Moses’ previously striking a rock, rather than speaking to it, to…
Read MoreFAITH GONE AWRY 
This week’s Torah portion, “Shelach-Lecha” (“Send” or “Send for Yourself”), shares something with Texas Republicans’ 2022 platform. It’s frightening. Numbers 13 tells of twelve Israelite chieftains sent by Moses to scout out Canaan, the land God promised to Israel. On returning, ten “spies” display a grievous lack of faith. They concede that the land “does…
Read MoreNUMBERS—BIBLICAL AND AMERICAN 
The British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli is cited for mentioning “lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Numbers can confuse us. This is true of Torah and American gun violence. This week, we begin the Book of Numbers. One year after the exodus from Egypt, God commands Moses to conduct a census of Israelite males age 20…
Read MoreFREEDOM AND WATER 
The Israelites fleeing Egypt, and Albert Sobel, the transgender protagonist of my novel Lola Flores, share something in common. Their freedom requires traversing or immersion in a body of water, source of life. Following the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Reed Sea. “Then Moses held his arm over…
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