What Midrash Can Teach Us About Our Current Social and Political Turmoil
There is a lot to be learned from the margins, and from the spaces and silences between words and sentences.
There is a lot to be learned from the margins, and from the spaces and silences between words and sentences.
Spoiler alert: Morgan Freeman does not play God in Exodus: Gods and Kings.
Especially during this time of year, when many of us disguise ourselves for the holiday of Purim, the idea of masks is usually associated with people. Even in politics and everyday life, we talk of people masking their real intentions or hiding behind a façade.\n
The mind of the midrashist drifts effortlessly over the face of the Tanakh as verses from the Torah conjure up similar verses and phrases from other sacred books. Thus, our parasha’s descriptions of the thanksgiving offerings and the free-will offerings call to mind a phrase found in Psalm 50: “The one who sacrifices a thanksgiving offering honors me.”
When I think of Torah, the first thing that comes to mind is a divine, rigorous system of laws that guides an ethical and holy way of life. The last thing I think about is whimsy and romance
It is too easy to label Korah evil and dismiss his claims. There is nothing in the pshat, the simple reading of the biblical text, to castigate Korah as the embodiment of evil. In fact, it is suspicious how ready everyone is to get rid of him. What are we covering up? What truth does Korah know?
My daughter, the animal lover, has a father who isn\’t. A hamster is the biggest pet I\’ve gotten talked into so far. It lives in her room, and basically I wouldn\’t even know it was there except for one thing — it\’s nocturnal.
This week\’s Torah portion creates a picture of the 12 tribes of Israel marching over the wilderness terrain in well-organized troops, the divisions of Judah to the east of the tabernacle, Ephraim on the west, and the other tribes assigned to positions in between. An army of men, women and children who once marched hunched over from intolerable service to Pharaoh were now marching upright, in formation, in service of God, with banners streaming above them, as it is written: \”The Israelites shall camp each with his standard, under the banners of their ancestral house\” (Numbers 2:2).