Nov 21
Esau is a character derided by the Jewish tradition. Depicted as a brute, unintelligent and powerful man of the field, Esau is often seen as the opposite of the rabbinic ideal: his twin brother Jacob. Yet Parshat Toldotsuggests that we not be so quick to dismiss him. Esau’s experience, after all, may very well mirror our own.
Few things are prettier than a rainbow. The picturesque spectrum of color across an ashen, rain-filled sky elicits feelings of calm, gratitude and awe in even the most jaded of people. But a rainbow is more than just a sight of beauty. The Jewish tradition pushes us to see each rainbow as a prismatic vision of a more perfect world.
Only months ago, our attention focussed on revolts and protests across the Arab world: millions of people demanding an end to the yoke of oppression and dictatorship. Like uncontrolled wildfire, the flames spread from Morocco to Iran, Yemen to Syria. The future of the Arab world – its potential, its promise – was altered imeasurably.
Atonement Day came and went this year. The Jews pled their case before their Creator, begging for a line in the Book of Life. I am still breathing. I count my blessings, and move on.
On my final day in Senegal, I left the comfort of Thies, the friendship of my friends in Darou Mouride and Keur Songo, the routine of waking up each morning and spending the subsequent hours confronting the horrors of abject poverty. I left all these things and more and headed back towards the nation’s capital, Dakar.
I’m up for a few days in Northern California, visiting my old college romping grounds, catching up with long-missed friends, and enjoying a the passing moments of a cool Pacific winter. Read more
Shortly after the presidential election, I got a call from my dad.
“Do you remember your first interaction with a black man?” he asked. I did not. So he began to tell me a story.
I was three. He and I walked down the street. I probably had a red wagon in tow – it went everywhere in the neighborhood with me. I probably wore black and white saddle shoes – my mother made me, I will resent it till the day I die. Read more
Socialist enclaves. The revival of an ancient language. Oases in the desert. A Hebrew metropolis. A Jewish Democracy. Bamba, nargilla, El Al.
This day, Israel, the Jewish State, the Third Jewish Commonwealth, turns sixty. I’m sure the country is replete right now with flags and parties and many a drunk Jew. Read more
“These are the things that people eat the fruit of in this world but the principle remains for the world to come, and these are them: honoring one’s father and mother, acts of loving kindness, attending a Beit Midrash morning and evening, hospitality to strangers, visiting the sick, welcoming a bride, attending to the dead, devoted prayer and making peace between two people, but the study of Torah is equal to them all.” [Based on Shabbat 127a] Read more
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