Deuteronomy 22:13-21 A New Bride Accused This text is often described in terms of what should be done in the case of a woman who is married and found not to be a virgin. In fact, it is about what to do when a private matter is dealt with in a public and inappropriate way. […]
The Case of Divorce, Remarriage, Divorce and Returning to the First Husband Deuteronomy 24:1-4 Deuteronomy 24 since it is often used as the definitive case regarding divorce. Ironically, it is in the section regarding theft, and it is about a very particular circumstance: A man takes a wife and marries her.She finds no favor in […]
The cost of mis-interpreting the Bible has been largely borne by women. Women’s voices have been under-represented in many of the loudest conversations about the sections of Scriptures that impact them most. This has further left women out of the conversation, as their very right to speak has been called into question. This is not […]
“Teach your sons” in Deuteronomy 6:7 (Reposted from my previous blog) Deuteronomy 6 is the beginning of a sixth chapter exposition of the command, “you shall have no other Gods before Me.” The major idea of the chapter is that learning, remembering, reflecting, and acting upon Torah will keep the community’s heart firmly planted and […]
It amazes me both how much Torah has shaped Western culture and how much misinterpretation of Torah has shaped Western culture. A recent reading of Jane Austen got me thinking about the fact that even in the last century English women could not inherit land, and the kind of desperation that caused. I don’t know […]
Growing up, I learned that Hanukkah, Passover, and Purim spoke of the need, motive, and way of social justice. Keeping the feasts and telling the stories kept us focused on the need to see and lift the oppression of others. We were moved to do so because we ourselves had suffered. We were compelled to […]
Julius Sprauve Elementary School was an all-black school, until my brother Aaron and I arrived. We were not well received. It got worse when the mini-series “Roots” came out. The vivid depiction of slavery raised deep feelings in my classmates. Their anger was leveled at my brother and me. I learned that time does not […]
Colosians 3:3-4 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. When it comes to the Spiritual life and the spiritual disciplines, our hiddenness is at odds with the world. The World […]
I just learned of the death of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Rabbi Sacks was a great teacher, and a wonderful ambassador for Judaism around the world. Any time I listened to him, I learned, grew, and was challenged. One thought of his, highly paraphrased, seems so appropriate now. He taught us, the question of why bad […]
“Robbie ,the Bible consists of two kinds of literature, history and myth. It is the job of the reader to distinguish between the two.” So said my grandpa as we sat at the dining room table. He was a bit taken aback that his grandson had taken to the reading of the Bible. The Bible, […]
