Jeremy Rosen
ARTICLES BY: Jeremy Rosen
The Origins of LaShon Hara
Miriam and Aaron complained to Moshe about his wife, calling her Isha Cushit, a woman of Cush ("Numbers," Chapter 12). The word Cushi in modern Hebrew usage refers to a person’s...
The Torah and the Power of Reconciliation
This week’s Torah reading consists of seemingly disparate themes -- but really, they all connect in a parable of alienation and reconciliation. Everything was prepared for...
Threats Don’t Work; Values Make People Do the Right Thing
I have always resisted threats, and felt it counterproductive to employ them to enforce or encourage people to become religious. We know that warning troubled children...
The Cost of Alienation and Assimilation on Judaism
It is one of the most problematic stories in the Torah. A young man, who was the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man,...
Judaism and Ethical Warfare
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine raises important moral issues about warfare. Some people believe that all violence is wrong under all circumstances. Pacifism has a...
Shabbat Acharei Mot: The Danger of Extremism
Previously in Leviticus Chapter 9, the two sons of Aaron -- Nadav, and Avihu had watched and participated in the dedication of the priests and...
Don’t Let Your Seder Be a Bore
The text of the Haggadah that we use on Passover goes back a thousand years, although its origins are Mishnaic -- 2,000 years ago. It...
Failed Priests and Prophets — and Reflections on Modern Israel
There seems to be a permanent state of conflict in all religions -- between religious authority and individual spirituality, or mysticism. Religious authority values conformity, control,...
Shabbat Tazria: Purity
Having dealt with the sacrificial system and its ceremonials, the Torah now turns to human beings and how they should take steps to care for...
The Lesson of Ukraine
The brutal violence of Russian President Vladimir Putin (against Ukraine as well as dissidents in Russia) cannot be justified on any moral grounds whatsoever. The...
Shabbat Vayikra: The Power of Ethical Leadership
The Book of Exodus -- which we have just completed -- provides us with two examples of leadership. First, there is Pharaoh, an omnipotent autocrat,...
The Binding of Isaac
I was reeling from the inhuman aggression of the maniacal, "Strangelove" Putin on an independent country causing the deaths of hundreds of children when I...
Shabbat Vayakhel: Oral Law
There are many ways of looking at the Bible -- as history, theology, literature, and archeology. The most significant for Judaism is the interaction between...
Drinking an Idol
The focal point of this week's parsha is the Golden (or more literally Molten) Calf, and the betrayal of God at the very moment God is trying...
