Fall 5762/2001 Vol. 62, No. 1 FEATURES Dimensions of Torment: A Young Man’s Story of Surviving Depression Nathaniel Helfgot Are We Still a Holy Nation? A Symposium Shattering the Idols: The Struggle for Holiness in a Secular Age Jonathan Sacks Too Distracted: Understanding the Lack of Kedushah in Our Lives Lawrence Kelemen A Modest […]
We are repeatedly summoned in the Torah “to be holy.” The exhortation
features prominently at the beginning of parshat Kedoshim where it is based upon the Creator’s own holiness. We are to be “holy” for He is “holy.”1
A sad and poignant commentary on the state of society today is the popularity and acclaim of two books regarding the sexualization of society and the objectification of women. In Reviving Ophelia1, a study about the growing emotional problems of adolescent girls today, psychologist Mary Pipher decries the threat to our youngsters based on the spread of what she terms “lookism,” the evaluation of a person on the basis of appearance.
The confrontation between Jewish life and values and the surrounding culture takes many forms and the ensuing conflicts have varied from generation to generation. At times, the conflict was practical, as it was in the American experience a century ago, when there were almost insurmountable obstacles to observing Shabbat and kashrut
Misconception: During duchening (when the Kohanim bless the congregation), one should not look at the Kohanim mainly because it can lead to losing one’s vision. Ways to avoid this include covering oneself with a tallit or turning around and facing sideways or backwards.
At Mount Sinai, when God first hinted to us what it would be like to live Torah lives, He promised: “You will be a kingdom of priests and a goy kadosh–a holy nation.”1 Now, 3,300 years later, what adjectives most accurately describe our daily experience? Many might sum up their existential reality with terms like “harried” and “pressured.”
The man painting our apartment in Israel took out his lunch, washed his hands and recited the Hamotzi. Then he touched the bread and kissed his hand as if he were touching a sefer Torah or a mezuzah. Never having seen this before, I asked why he did it. He looked at me, bewildered. “This bread is kadosh (sacred). I just said Hamotzi lechem min ha’aretz. Hashem brought this bread from the earth. Since Hashem brought it forth, it is kadosh.”
It can happen in the best of families” is an expression often heard in regard to rebellious teenagers. Indeed, when a teenager goes “off the derech,” we tend to blame the teenager himself, bad friends or negative influences. We tell ourselves that even a youngster from a “good home” can be swayed by a decadent culture.
By Peter Abelow One of the marvels of touring modern Israel is being able to see the Tanach come alive as one visits sites where Jewish history unfolded 3000 years ago. We can walk on the ground where our ancestors walked, touch the walls that our forefathers built and see the landscapes of Eretz Yisrael […]
When you lived in the rocky cave, there did you acquire your splendor and your beauty (From the poem Bar Yochai by Rabbi Shimon Lavi).