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Yom Kippur Haftarah: Isaiah 57:14-58:14
When is Yom Kippur 2017? Click here to find out. It is noteworthy that the ancient rabbis chose this particular section of the book of Isaiah for Yom Kippur morning. On the most important fast day of...
View ArticleHaftarah for Bereshit
This week’s Torah portion tells the story of the world’s creation, and the Haftarah provides its own sort of commentary on the Torah’s first portion. Isaiah introduces God at the beginning of this...
View ArticleHaftarah Noach
The weekly Haftarah is often a single-minded metaphor for the week’s Torah portion. Yet in Haftarat Noach, Isaiah employs metaphors of his own on several layers. He speaks of the exiled nation of...
View ArticleHaftarah for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh
The haftarah selection is from Isaiah 66:1-24. When Shabbat coincides with the beginning of a new Hebrew month (Rosh Chodesh) we read a special maftir about Rosh Chodesh sacrifices at the end of the...
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Biodiversity is God’s Glory
Reprinted with permission from the column “The People & the Book” in The Jerusalem Report, February 19, 1998. This article is a commentary to the Haftarah for the weekly Torah portion “Yitro,”...
View ArticleHaftarah for Vaetchanan
The haftarah selection is from Isaiah 40:1-26. The Shabbat after Tisha B’Av is known as Shabbat Nahamu–the Shabbat of comforting. The special name for this Shabbat is derived from the first words of...
View ArticleHaftarah for Ki Teitzei: Summary
In slight anger, for a moment, I hid My face from you; But with kindness everlasting I will take you back in love. (Isaiah 54:8) This heartfelt promise from God to Israel represents the overall message...
View ArticleGod is Suffering
As a spiritual advice columnist, I am frequently asked why God allows suffering. My answer is simple: God doesn’t allow suffering, God is suffering. To understand what I mean, consider four verses from...
View ArticleDeutero-Isaiah: A Prophet of Comfort
“Comfort, oh comfort my peopleSays your God,Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,And declare to her That her term of service is over, That her iniquity is expiated,For she has received at the hand of the...
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