This chapter of יְשַׁעְיָהוּ – Isaiah looks like a song to me. A song of promise that we need right now so desperately. Does it always seem that times are as difficult as they can be, or they are, indeed, more challenging than before? I suppose that this is not a politically correct chapter mentioning women…
Tag: Isaiah
קוּמִי אוֹרִי, כִּי בָא אוֹרֵךְ; וּכְבוֹד יְהוָה, עָלַיִךְ זָרָח. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
This week’s Haftarah brings me back to Jerusalem, of course. Jerusalem, as a city of prophets and a place for G-d’s vision to come alive, a city with blood, tears, hopes and joy all intertwined with each other in one giant ball of cosmic energy too tight and ready to burst out. It always seems…
שִׂמְחוּ אֶת-יְרוּשָׁלִַם – Rejoice you with Jerusalem
This Shabbat we will mark the start (Rosh Chodesh) of the new month of Elul, This time is supposed to bring us all to a calm and self-searching mood. This is not easy at all when each one of us is busy with life, minor and major problems, thinking about holiday meal planning and the like….
Isaiah – יְשַׁעְיָהוּ – Haftarah – הפטרה
Tradition has is that Haftarah readings were instituted during the times when public reading of the Torah was prohibited in Israel by non-Jewish authorities of the land. The sages then used this “trick” of reading the books of the prophets as to not leave the people without the word of G-d altogether. The specific portions…
Life after Pardes in Jerusalem
Well, every good thing comes to an end, and I am firmly settled back in the land of the USA, the city of New York, the supposed “center of the world” or so it deems itself. For me, of course, this phrase does not ring true. The only real center of the world is Jerusalem,…
Parshat ha Shavuah Verses Vaetchanan / ואתחנן
Fittingly, after the 9 of AV, we are reminded by Moshe Rabbeinu what we have to do in order to stay alive on the “good land”. ו וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם, וַעֲשִׂיתֶם–כִּי הִוא חָכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם, לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים: אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְעוּן, אֵת כָּל-הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה, וְאָמְרוּ רַק עַם-חָכָם וְנָבוֹן, הַגּוֹי הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה. 6 Observe therefore and do them; for this is your…
Noshing Across the Nation 