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Naomi GraetzThe Times of Israel (Blogs) |
It’s always amazing how the weekly Torah portion lines up perfectly with the evening news. Think about it: massive protests against injustice,...
This week marks my 205th blog—yes, I’m counting. Over time, I’ve tried, when possible, to connect the parsha with something personal or...
THE LIGHT OF THE MENORAH AND THE SHADOWS OF CRITICISM My late sister, Menorah Rotenberg, was born toward the end of June. I often imagine my father...
Almost four years ago, in June 2022, I began writing a blog for the TOI. At the time, I did not imagine it would become a weekly practice—one in...
This week we begin the book of Bamidbar—literally, “in the desert.” The English title, Numbers, reflects its opening census, but the Hebrew name...
The closing parshiyot of Sefer Vayikra confront us with two deeply unsettling themes: human power over others and divine power over us. In Behar, we...
Parshat Emor includes many disturbing passages—texts whose implications still reverberate today. When I used to teach English, I would explain to my...
It is a custom to connect the double Torah portions Acharei Mot (“after the death”) and Kedoshim (“holy ones”) together—and their...
On May 2, 1968, my parents and my husband left me behind in Alonei Yitzchak to attend the IDF parade in Jerusalem for Israel’s 20th Independence...
Reading the double parsha of Tazria–Metzora this week feels especially personal. These portions describe wounds, skin afflictions, and the grueling...
We are living in a constant state of tension. Since Purim, time has seemed to accelerate unnaturally. And now it is the day after Pesach—we all...
THE CONSTANT FIRE: BEYOND RITUAL TO RESPONSIBILITY We expect to see in any synagogue an ark, a place for the Torah reader (the bimah), and a ner...
Transitions matter. They are the moments when one chapter closes and another begins, when certainty gives way to possibility—or to anxiety. The...
The irony of this week’s double parsha is not lost on me. I am writing these words from the mamak—the merhav mugan komati, the safe room on my...
After much procrastination, I left my hometown of Omer and arrived in Tivon—a two-and-a-half-hour drive. I sent all my furniture, clothing, dishes,...
This Shabbat is not only Parshat Tetzaveh; it is also Shabbat Zachor. The reason it is called that is because we read a passage from Deuteronomy and...
It’s happening. On Wednesday, I’m making the big move up North, to what in Hebrew is called דיור מוגן—“protected living.” Last week...
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