"Torah" Tagged Content
Why Blood Is the Stuff of Life
Blood as a life force can be scary. Yet our verse, “do not stand idly by while your neighbor bleeds,” suggests another perspective.
Moral Evolution in the Torah
We can look back at where a society was, and how much we’ve grown.
Counting During COVID
Perhaps we will remember this time by the actions we took, not the time spent in our homes. Perhaps we will measure this time in phone calls, in virtual connectivity, in mask-clad smiles.
The Torah is True – Even if It’s Not Fact
Some truths are true because they are the stories that shape our perspective on the world. Torah is the inspiration for, and the vessel that holds, this Truth.
A Foot In the Door: How One Deed (Good or Bad) Leads to Another
Once we have set down a certain path, human nature makes it increasingly difficult to reverse course.
How Tech Innovation Both Defines and Challenges Our Identity
So often, the discourse describes technological change as something that is being done to us whereas, in fact, we are the source of technological innovation and experimentation.
The Torah of Space Exploration
We humans are naturally curious creatures — we are born to explore. A mission to Mars excites us because we simply don’t know what we’ll discover, or how exactly it will add to our knowledge, or what new technologies will arise as a result. Even if we don’t immediately sense its benefits, it still has value, because the journey of learning is its own reward.
Getting our B’nei Mitzvah to Understand (and Love) Torah Study
Too often, preparing students to become bar or bat mitzvah feels like “studying for the test.” And as anyone who has ever “studied for the test” knows, the day after the test, all the information goes in one ear and out the other. Instead, becoming bar or bat mitzvah should truly be about making a transition — namely, from being a child in the Jewish community to becoming an adult. And so as our 13-year-olds grow and develop, and as we celebrate their entrance into the Jewish community, we have an opportunity and a responsibility to teach them skills for life-long learning.
Why Can Judaism Embrace Science So Easily?
While some people think of science and religion as being inherently in conflict, I think it’s because they tend to define “religion” as “blind acceptance and complete certainty about silly, superstitious fantasies.” Quite honestly, if that’s what religion really was, I wouldn’t be religious! In fact, it’s not “religion” in general, but that particular definition of religion that is so often in conflict with science. Instead, my experience with Judaism has been that it embraces science quite easily. So why is that?
What We Can Learn from Wandering in the Wilderness
We spend much more time wandering in the wilderness than living in the Promised Land. In fact, that may be why the Torah was given in middle of the wilderness — to remind us that while the Promised Land is wonderful, we learn our greatest lessons on the journey along the way.