Rosner’s Torah Talk: Parshat Behaalotcha with Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie

Not every young man is destined to become a great Torah scholar. And pretending otherwise harms both the individual and the community.

Historically, Jews have been accused of controlling politics, the banks and the media. I haven’t read yet that they control the weather, but that wouldn’t be any more bizarre than the other charges.

Once a society begins treating Jewish fear and/or pain as inherently dishonest, Jewish trauma as inherently political, or Jewish victimhood as uniquely undeserving of empathy, it creates a moral exception around Jews.

When we fall short — as individuals, as a people, whether everyday Jews or the Prime Minister himself — we must have the courage to face it honestly, call it what it is, and do better.

As America’s 250th birthday approaches, the history of Christian Zionism in early America highlights the importance of today’s ecumenical allyship.