Weekly Torah Reading, Re’eh, August 11, 2023

God’s Children Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 This week’s reading contains an odd injunction: “You are children of the Lord your God,” it 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 5, 2023

The expression “Not by bread alone” has certainly gotten around. It is, among other things, the name of a website promoting a farmer’s market in Green Bay, Wisconsin; an anthropologist’s book about the Inuit and Eskimo peoples; the title of …

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Weekly Torah Reading, ‘Ekev, August 5, 2023

Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25   Eat What I Say   The expression “Not by bread alone” has certainly gotten around. It is, among other things, the name of a website promoting a farmer’s market in Green Bay, Wisconsin; an anthropologist’s book about …

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Weekly Torah Reading, ‘Ekev, August 5, 2023

Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25 Eat What I Say The expression “Not by bread alone” has certainly gotten around. It is, among other things, the name of a website promoting a farmer’s market in Green Bay, Wisconsin; an anthropologist’s book about the Inuit …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Devarim, July 22, 2023

Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 “How Could This Happen?” This week’s Torah reading is taken from the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy. It is always read on the Shabbat preceding the Ninth of Av, a day of mourning that commemorates the destruction …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Mattot and Mas‘ei, July 15, 2023

Numbers 30:2-36:13 The Right to Revenge   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 who, for example, injured someone was to be …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Pineḥas, July 8, 2023

Numbers 25:10-30:1   The Return of Pineḥas   This week’s Torah reading is named for its hero, Pineḥas (usually rendered in English as Phinehas or Phineas). His quick action in killing a flagrantly offending couple (Numbers 25:7) earned him a …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Balak, July 1, 2023

Numbers 22:2-25:9   Dwelling Apart?   In this week’s Torah reading, the pagan seer Balaam is hired to curse the people of Israel, but every time he tries, he ends up blessing them instead. In the first of these blessings …

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