by katie@betalef.org | Aug 24, 2022 | Torah Reflections
Re’eh: Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17 “Waking up From Our Collective Amnesia” See! I place before you today a blessings and a curse. The blessing, that you listen to the mitzvot of the Eternal your God, that I enjoin upon you today; and the...
by katie@betalef.org | Aug 17, 2022 | Torah Reflections
Eikev: Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25 “You Are a Stiffnecked People!” In the middle of our Torah portion Moses, once again, admonishes our people for our intractable stubbornness: “Know, then, that it is not for any virtue of yours that the Eternal...
by katie@betalef.org | Aug 10, 2022 | Torah Reflections
VaEt’chanan: Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11 “The Blueprint of a Spiritual Journey” This week’s Torah portion is awash in an abundance of themes. It includes Moses’ plea to God to upend His death sentence so that he, too, may enter the Promised...
by katie@betalef.org | Jul 13, 2022 | Torah Reflections
Balak: Number 22:2 – 25:9 “How Gemilut Chasadim Changes the World” One of the most popular writings of the Hebrew Bible is Pirkei Avot. Mistakenly translated as “Ethics of the Fathers,” it truly means: “First Principles.” The second principle...
by katie@betalef.org | Jul 6, 2022 | Torah Reflections
Chukat: Number 19:1 – 22:1 “The Dissolving Power of the Light of Truth” Since we left last week’s Torah portion and opened our books again to study this week’s, thirty-eight years have passed. The generation of Israelites who had known the...
