Torah

Torah, as the foundation of Judaism, offers a vision of a liberated, meaningful life and the tools by which to achieve it. It lays down the revolutionary idea that true freedom is a state that you reach, not by pursuing your heart's desire, but by channelling your passions towards the service of God and other people.

Although Torah narrowly refers to the Five Books of Moses, traditional Jews use the word Torah to describe the entire body of scriptural and rabbinic literature. In this sense Torah is a very dynamic concept, describing what is essentially an epic conversation that spans thousands of years and the entire globe.

Covering literally every subject under the sun, this oral tradition of Judaism gives us an exhilarating way of looking at everything we do in life, how everything we do has knock-on effects way beyond the immediate visible results. It can and should bring us to a fine tuned sensitivity to everything and everyone around us.

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Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Torah”

• Toldot The Generations Illustration by Phillip Ratner

  
  IsraelSeen.com — Authority: 120
  ” and he went up and kissed him, saying, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of the fields that the Lord has blessed.“May God give youOf the dew of heaven and the fat of the earth,Abundance of the new grain and wine.Let peoples serve you,And nations bow to you;Be master over [...]
  4 hours ago

• Chassidic Parashat Toldot

  
  Shearim — Authority: 143
  B"H Yesterday, a few hundred Haredim were demonstrating outside INTEL in Jerusalem. The chip manufacturer decided to work on Shabbat and the Edah HaCharedit is making another fuss. After all those demonstrations during this summer, I am a kind of sick of the subject and I am not going to report any further about ...
  5 hours ago

• This weeks portion: a Torah journey with Rebecca

  
  Velveteen Rabbi — Authority: 572
  This fall Im taking a class called "Torah Journeys" with Rabbi Shefa Gold. Reb Shefa is teaching us her method of intensely personal exegesis, as appears in her excellent collection of parshaniyut, Torah Journeys . Weve each been asked to engage in a "Torah journey" of our own around a Torah text of our choosing; I ...
  1 day ago

• Why is Ahavath Torah Synagogue Inviting Wafa Sultan?

  
  loonwatch.com — Authority: 122
  Wafa Sultan The Ahavath Torah Synagogue in Stoughton, MA has invited anti-Muslim bigot Wafa Sultan who has called Islam and Muslims “backward,” “primitive,” the Qur’an “evil” and whose has been exposed to be a fraud who has lied about her biography and history, (click here to learn more about ...
  1 day ago

• Toldot: Where the Wild Things Are

  
  Frum Satire: Jewish Comedy — Authority: 520
  Well, what would you call it when your brother is a big, red, hairy hunter…and you have to dress up to pretend to be him? Y-Love and his crazy baritone voice give us a take on Toldot from — ok, here comes the inevitable pun — a new generation. Parshat Toldot from G-dcast.com More Torah cartoons at ...
  2 days ago

• Modeh Ani Lifanecha

  
  Schmoozing with Elya & Ellie Katz — Authority: 121
  BS”DPosted in Torah Tagged: Modeh Ani
  2 days ago

• The Best Sicha Ever, on Parshas Toldos, part 1

  
  A Bochur In Lubavitch — Authority: 131
  Before I begin, there are a few things you must know. I didnt know if I should write this, since it could very well be my Dvar Torah at my Shabbos Day meal. Then I realized its selfish, because most of my readers will not be eating with me, so why deny them a great sicha , just so I can wow a few others? This ...
  2 days ago

• The First FFB

  
  On The Contrary — Authority: 100
  This is an oldie but a goodie (the rabbi formerly known as Yehupitz recalled it to me). it never actually appeared on this blog, but on the short lived "Maven Yavin" blog. It also brings me back to a less cynical point in my life (I wrote this 4 years ago but developed the kernel 13 years ago already). Here it ...
  2 days ago

• Vision, part 1

  
  A Bochur In Lubavitch — Authority: 131
  First of all, I must say that Toldos is a powerhouse parsha with tons of great sichas and talking points. I wont be able to get through all of them this week for you, but trust me that its a favorite of pulpit Rabbis everywhere. Two of the greatest sichas of all time (a personal list of approximately 20 sichas from ...
  2 days ago

• This weeks portion: birthings

  
  Velveteen Rabbi — Authority: 572
  BIRTHINGS (TOLDOT) Eleh toldot Yitzchak these are Isaacs generations this is the history but generations shares a root with birthings seems to me this portion ought to begin these are the birthings of Rivka, tales of pregnancy and uncertainty a belly slowly swelling twins jostling for space in ...
  2 days ago

• Real Talk Parsha: Toldot

  
  Most Recent Posts — Authority: 569
  By Shais "MaNishtana" Rison And this week we have the parsha on the forefather with the worst PR agent in the history of the Bible. Not only does Isaac only squeeze out just one section, but his spotlight gets stolen halfway through by Jacob and Esau. I mean think about it. You say Abraham and you think, "Oh yeah, ...
  2 days ago

• Senate [health] bill weighs in at 2,0074 pages

  
  Stupidica — Authority: 172
  In the Battle of the Health Bills, the Senate wins out, bulk-wise – weighing in at 2,074 pages. The House health reform bill was a mere 1,990 pages when introduced. That means the Senate bill -- like the one in the House -- runs more pages than War and Peace, and has nearly five times as many words as the Torah. The ...
  2 days ago

• Senate bill weighs in at 2,074 pages

  
  Stupidica — Authority: 172
  In the Battle of the Health Bills, the Senate wins out, bulk-wise – weighing in at 2,074 pages. The House health reform bill was a mere 1,990 pages when introduced. That means the Senate bill -- like the one in the House -- runs more pages than War and Peace, and has nearly five times as many words as the Torah. The ...
  3 days ago

• UNIVERSAL TORAH: TOLDOS

  
  Rick's Caf American — Authority: 163
  UNIVERSAL TORAH: TOLDOS By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum Torah Reading: Gen. 25:19-28:9. Haftara: Malachi 1:1-2:7. "AND THESE ARE THE GENERATONS OF ISAAC" In the holy structure built by the patriarchs to reveal HaShem to the world, Abraham is the initial thesis: expansive energy, revelation, kindness -- CHESSED. Isaac ...
  3 days ago

• Gender Discrimination

  
  Samuel J. Scott — Authority: 132
  Israeli police and Western Wall officials reportedly expelled and briefly arrested a woman who was wearing a tallit and tried to read from a Torah scroll. Orthodox blogger Dov Bear states, and I agree, that the woman was doing nothing wrong under Jewish law.As he writes:The kotel is a place of prayer. The role of [...]
  3 days ago

• The Vort - Esav’s Cry - Toldot

  
  Jewschool — Authority: 479
  On a pshat level, the story of Yaakov, Eisav and the birthright presents the ethically sensitive reader with many questions. Eisav is foolish and irresponsible, but without the classic rabbinic midrashim that demonize him, does he truly deserve to have his birthright stolen? Yaakov is clever and crafty, but ...
  3 days ago

• Go out and do something Profound , with Torah !

  
  Godssecret's Weblog — Authority: 130
  “The study of Torah” Does not refer to a cerebral, academic approach to thousands of words on parchment. This is not its end and purpose at all though intellect is a tool to “connect” The Torah is understood as the medium through ...
  4 days ago

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  Gruntig! — Authority: 443
  
  4 days ago

• Playing Parsha Catch-up

  
  Memoirs of a Jewminicana: Aliza Hausman — Authority: 505
  Parshat Toldot from G-dcast.com More Torah cartoons at www.g-dcast.com African-American/Puerto-Rican convert and Modern Orthodox rapper, Y-Love ( Yitz Jordan ) From selfish babies to thirsty camels, this narrator, Australian author Goldie Goldbloom is quite a treat. Parshat Chayei Sarah from ...
  4 days ago

• Manners versus Convenience

  
  Israel Chronicles — Authority: 121
  Im a usually very well mannered person, at least I think so. The times that Ive been caught drinking straight out of a bottle (a 2 liter one) seem to make that fact obsolete, and I did send out my thank you notes for things rather late, but on the whole, I try to be respectful of others. Yet, here is where I hit a ...
  4 days ago

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