Jonathan Sacks
ARTICLES BY: Jonathan Sacks
Parshat Naso: Sages and Saints
Parshat Naso contains the law of the Nazirite -- the individual who undertook to observe special rules of holiness and abstinence: not to drink wine...
Parshat Bamidbar: Leading a Nation of Individuals
Bamidbar begins with a census of the Israelites. That is why this book is known in English as "Numbers." What is the significance of this...
Parshat Bechukotai: The Birth of Hope
This week, we read the Tochecha -- the terrifying curses warning of what would happen to Israel if it betrayed its Divine mission. We read...
Why Did the Torah Criticize Slavery, But Allow It to Continue?
There are, it is sometimes said, no controlled experiments in history. Every society, every age, and every set of circumstances is unique. If so, there...
Parshat Emor: Three Versions of Shabbat
There is something unique about the way parshat Emor speaks about Shabbat. It calls it a mo’ed and a mikra kodesh when, in the conventional...
Parshat Kedoshim: Every Jews Can Be Holy, Not Just the Priests
Something fundamental happens at the beginning of this week's parsha, and the story is one of the greatest, if rarely acknowledged, contributions of Judaism to...
Parshat Acharei Mot: Think Fast — and Slow
If we put together recent discoveries in neuroscience with Midrashic tradition, we may be able to shed new light on the meaning of the central...
Parshat Metzora: The Power of Speech to Create — or Destroy
As we saw in Parshat Tazria, the Sages identify tzara’at -- the condition that affects human skin, the fabric of garments, and the walls of...
Parshat Tazria: The Sacrifices of Childbirth Don’t Demean Women
At the start of this week's parsha, there is a cluster of laws that challenged and puzzled the commentators. They concern a woman who has...
Parshat Shemini: The Need for Both Hope and Humanity
It should have been the great day of celebration. The Tabernacle, Israel’s first collective house of worship, was complete. All preparations had been made. For...
Parshat Tzav: Only Demagogues Teach People to Hate the ‘Other’
This week's sedra, speaking about sacrifices, prohibits the eating of blood: Wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. If...
Parshat Vayikra: How to Find Meaning in Your Life
The US Declaration of Independence speaks of the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Recently, following the pioneering work of Martin...
Parshat Pekudei: The Origins of Jewish Philanthropy
Pekudei has sometimes been called the accountant’s parsha, because it begins with the audited accounts of the money and materials donated to the Sanctuary. It...
Parshat Vayakhel: The Beauty of Holiness — or the Holiness of Beauty?
In Ki Tissa and in Vayakhel, we encounter the figure of Betzalel, a rare type in the Hebrew Bible -- the artist, the craftsman, the...
