Posts by Julia Blum

The Watchers The second Parashat Shavua of the year is Noach (Noah). Last time, we spoke of Genesis 3 as the crucial chapter for understanding Christian theology: indeed, if we ask any Christian today, “Why is there sin in the world?” almost undoubtedly “The Fall” would be the answer. However, it was not always so. “If […]

Joy of the Torah Sukkot is zman simchateinu, “the season of our joy” – and the joy of Sukkot – reaches its climax during Simchat Torah. Simchat Torah (lit. Joy of the Torah) is the holiday that follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah reading, and […]

 Chol Hamoed We are still within the “intermediate days of Sukkot” (Feast of Tabernacles), and it’s probably a good time to clarify this expression: what does it actually mean when we say, Chol Hamoed (“intermediate days of Sukkot”)? In Leviticus 23, we read about Moadei Adonai – the Biblical Feasts, the special times of the […]

My dear readers, you may remember that my Rosh Hashanah post this year was called: “Between the past and the future”.  I believe this title would be appropriate for each of these Fall Festivals: while they all are reminders of something that had happened or had been commanded by God – at the same time, […]

We are approaching the most solemn day of the Israel calendar – Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In previous years I have written about the spiritual significance of this special Day—about the liturgy and Torah reading of Yom Kippur (you can find these articles in the archives of this blog). This year, however, I’ve […]

Biblical Background Rosh Hashanah is a two-day celebration, which begins on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei (usually falling in September). “Rosh” is the Hebrew word for “head,” “ha” is the definite article (“the”), and “shanah” means year. Thus Rosh HaShanah (רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה‎,), means Head [of] the Year, referring to the Jewish new year […]

Family Dynamics As Isaac grew older the complicated structure of his family started to become a reality in his world: he realized that his old parents, as kind and loving as they were, could not play with him at all. It is at this point that he probably turned his attention to that really cool […]

Ishmael – Son of Promise? We have seen so much pain of this woman already – but think about this long-dreaded day when Hagar’s baby was born. Of course, Abraham’s joy knew no bounds. Of course, Hagar was extremely happy, as well. Clearly, only Sarah did not share in this joy. At that point, she […]

Why? Last time, we saw Sarah make her painful decision. Why did she do it at that particular time—after ten years of living in the Land? What happened that triggered this scheme? The Midrash says: “This is the allotted time for a woman who had lived ten years with her husband and has not borne […]

As we have already noticed, we don’t hear much from Sarah during the first years of her life in the Land. In fact, she doesn’t say anything at all, until the story with Hagar begins. The very first words we hear from Sarah open this story: So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has restrained […]