In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, Jacob fights with the angel of Esau in a prefiguring of future struggles between the Jews and their enemies. Esau is the grandfather of Amalek, the source of all antisemitism. Antisemitism is fueled not only by hatred of Jews but by the erasure of truth, enabling millennia-old falsehoods and…

Where does faith in God and in Torah come from? There are many places—our tradition itself is certainly one source— the beauty of living a Jewish life itself is a fountain for, and practice of, faith. Additionally, there are “proofs” that medieval Jewish thinkers express such as the proof from design, that just as the…

This coming week the Mayor of Washington, D.C. will lift the mandatory mask mandate.  According to the Mayor, the city is getting out of the business of mandates and leaving it up to individuals, organizations and businesses to make decisions regarding the best way to protect themselves and their constituents, utilizing “layered mitigation strategies.”  …

One of Judaism’s greatest strengths is its ability to utilize every emotion.  For example, many people try to avoid sadness, but Judaism has a day, Tisha B’av, entirely focused on a sadness so deep that we sit on the ground and cry, feeling as if we have lost a loved one.  Purim, in contrast, utilizes…

In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, Yaakov leaves Lavan’s house and learns that Esav his brother who wanted to kill him is coming with 400 men.  He sends his family ahead and prepares them for war and then Yaakov crosses back over the river Yabbok alone in the night.  There he has the famous struggle…