Letters
Letters to the Editor
Iran-Contra could make one believe that in Washington, D.C., it\’s not what you did, it\’s who you know. There was even an element of self-dealing on the part of the first President Bush, who set free insiders who would, as a result, never be tempted to disclose anything damaging about Bush\’s own record as vice president under Reagan.
In Parshat Naso, we are introduced to the rituals concerning the sotah, a wife who is suspected of adultery.
For many, perhaps most, American Jews today, the words that open this week\’s Torah portion stand at the center of the their understanding of Judaism.
Imagine a foreigner hearing some American idioms for the first time, and the ensuing confusion.
I chose not to attend Tarbut\’s trial of King David. Billed as \”the people against King David,\” it promised to be a trial that was \”3,000 years in the making.\”
Our Torah portion employs an enigmatic turn of phrase that appears quite instructive in this regard. As God commands Moses to solicit the necessary stuff to build the Sanctuary, He demands that the Jews \”take for Me a portion.\”
There are stories that one needs to hear many times in order to remember them, in order to file them in a manner that they can be retrieved when needed.
Last Rosh Hashana began with the most terrible noise. Terror, trauma, tragedy and evil triumphant filled the air. In addition, Israel and Jews worldwide were subjected to the vilest outburst of anti-Semitism since the 1940s.
Inspirational speeches are sometimes improved by leaving out the words.