Weekly Torah Reading, Ki Tavo, September 17, 2022

(Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8) The Seventy Languages   In this week’s reading, the Israelites are about to enter the promised land. At this crucial point, they are given an odd instruction: On the very day that you cross the Jordan River, set …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Ki Tetze, September 10, 2022

Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19   The Slave’s Lot   Most people know that slavery was an accepted institution in many parts of the ancient world. In Israel, there was no debtors’ prison: among other ways, a person could become a slave if …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Shofetim, September 3, 2022

Kings, Think Twice!    “The ancient Near East,” wrote the Egyptologist Henri Frankfort, “considered kingship the very basis of civilization. Only savages could live without a king. Security, peace, and justice could not prevail without a ruler to champion them. …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Re’eh, August 27, 2022

Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 No Slashing This week’s reading contains an odd interdiction: “You are children of the Lord your God,” God says. “You shall not gash yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead” (Deut 14:1). Ancient scholars …

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Weekly Torah Reading, ‘Ekev, August 20, 2022

Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25   Not Only Bread This week’s Torah reading includes a famous saying. Human beings do not live “by bread alone,” that is, we don’t survive merely by the material things of life. Rather, we survive thanks to the …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Devarim, August 6, 2022

  Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22   An Ox and a Donkey Know This week’s Torah reading, from the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy, is always read on the Shabbat preceding the Ninth of Av (Tish‘ah be-Av), a day of mourning that …

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Weekly Torah Reading (In Israel), Mas‘ei, July 30, 2022

Weekly Torah Reading (in Israel), Mas‘ei, July 30, 2022 Numbers 33:1-36:13   The Lex Talionis One of the most widespread legal principles in the ancient world was the lex [or “ius”] talionis, the law [or “right”] of retribution. A person …

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Weekly Torah Reading (in Israel), Mattot, July 23, 2022

Numbers 30:2-32:42 Taking Care of Business   In this week’s reading, Moses is commanded to punish the Midianites for their role in leading Israel astray with the Midianite women. The blunt language hardly requires explanation. “Exact revenge from the Midianites,” …

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