Entries for November 2012

“Tis the season,” advertisers say, to buy, buy, buy! They’ll use many techniques to encourage us to do so.  These will certainly include extolling – and exaggerating -- the benefits of their goods and services, while remaining silent about defects and limitations.  There’s nothing surprising about this; “Buyer, beware!” is, and likely always has been, a necessary marketplace motto. But, how does it square with Jewish ethics, especially when Jews have been accused of “sharp business practices” for millennia?  We can learn Jewish advertising values from this week’s Torah portion. ...

Whenever a smoke-alarm in our home chirps, I schlep an extension ladder from our garage, slide it open to maximum length, and hold it securely against the wall.  My wife shimmies up to the high-ceiling to change the battery. Why her and not me? This week’s Torah portion teaches us that ladders are for angels! I refer, of course, to ...

Today is “Thanksgiving Day” in America.  In 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed an annual “day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.”  By so doing, he transformed the longstanding custom of individually-declared American “days of thanksgiving” into an annual observance.  While gratitude is not uniquely Jewish, it is central to Jewishness.  The very word ...

[To listen to this D'var Torah, click here /Portals/45/Toledot_1.mp3] According to Jewish tradition, the Torah contains no unnecessary words.  But what about Genesis 28:5 in this week’s portion, Toledot?  It mentions Isaac, Jacob, Laban, his father Betu-el -- and Rebekah.  It’s perfectly obvious from previous chapters who Rebekah is; yet, the Torah identifies her here as “Rebekah, mother of Jacob and Esau.” Why are we told what we already know?  My answer: ...   

Why do Jewish brides veil their faces? In this week’s Torah Portion, Chayyei Sarah, Rebecca, who has never met Isaac, agrees to travel to his home and marry him.  When she first sees him from afar, she takes her veil and covers herself.  (Gen. 25:65).  This biblical story is the source of our “bedecken” wedding veil ritual. But why did she do it? ... 

The supermarket chain Alpha Beta used to end its TV and radio commercials with the tagline “Tell a Friend.”  Its marketing department knew that, both for good and ill, our friends greatly influence us.   ...