Nachamu Nachamu Ami: On Being Comforted

This week we read the Torah portion Va'etchanan, but unlike my usual source of the Torah to drive my weekly thoughts, this week I look to the Haftorah instead. Isaiah's words open the reading with "Nachamu, nachamu ami" ("Comfort, comfort My people [says Gd]" Isaiah 40:1). These are not inci…

The Second Telling

We begin this week’s Torah reading highlighting an odd contradiction conflicting with a standard unofficial rule of the Torah. The Torah is famously stingy with words, our sages teach that not a single letter is wasted, that entire laws hang on an extra vav or a seemingly superfluous phrase.…

From Zealotry to Justice

This week's Torah portion grants Pinchas (Aaron’s grandson) an unusual reward. After Pinchas acts alone, decisively, violently, to stop a plague of moral collapse, Gd does not simply commend him, Gd gives him a brit shalom, a covenant of peace (Numbers 25:12). The pairing is jarring. Why doe…

From a Curse to an Unintended Blessing

In this week’s double portion Chukat-Balak, a sorcerer named Balaam is hired by Balak, the Moabite king, with one explicit purpose: curse the Children of Israel (Numbers 22-24). Balak doesn't want diplomacy or military victory, he wants Israel destroyed through words, through spiritual sabot…

Korach, Catastrophe, and the Question of Blame

This week's Torah portion, Korach, tells of a rebellion that ends with tragic consequence, the earth opens, fire descends, and a plague follows. But a brief interaction that has always struck me with distress isn't the rebellion itself. It's what happens the next day. The “whole Israelite co…