Time Might Not Be on Bashar al-Assad’s Side
He can win battles, but can he win everything?
October 7, 2016
How American Presidents Re-enact the Torah’s Final Commandments
Renewing the covenant.
In this week’s Torah reading of Vayeilekh, Moses—approaching the end of his life—gives the Israelites the Pentateuch’s final commandments. The first (known as Hakhel) is that every seven years the king should gather the people on the holiday of Sukkot and publicly read the Torah to them. The second, as understood by the rabbis, is for every individual to take part in the writing of a Torah scroll. While the first ritual is not mentioned explicitly elsewhere in the Bible, there are multiple instances, notes Jonathan Sacks, where something similar happens, and each constitutes a renewing of the ancestral covenant with God. With this in mind, Sacks explains why these are the last mitzvot in the Torah:
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Login or SubscribeOctober 7, 2016
With Its Latest Condemnations of Netanyahu, Is the White House Preparing the Ground for Abandoning Israel at the UN?
Israel has done exactly what the U.S. wanted.
The Gaza Women’s Flotilla Wasn’t Motivated by a Desire for Peace
A boatload of anti-Semites.
How American Presidents Re-enact the Torah’s Final Commandments
Renewing the covenant.
The Jews of Corsica Get a New Synagogue
A frequent refuge from persecution.