David Cardozo Academy

Imagine that civilization was going to be destroyed within five years, and that you were tasked with deciding what literary treasures to preserve? That is the background of the Tanakh that we have today. The Talmud records the bare bones of discussions where scholars fought for the inclusion of those writings that were dear to them, often against ferocious opposition from their colleagues. Amazingly, of all the possible things to include, the famous Rabbi Akiva chose a collection of b***y wedding songs! What lay behind such an odd choice?

Rabbi Akiva’s Time Capsule - The Song of Songs in Context - David Cardozo Academy Imagine that civilization was going to be destroyed within five years, and that you were tasked with deciding what literary treasures to preserve?

This week's parashah tells us of the giving of the Laws to Moshe on Mt. Sinai, and it's aftermath. But what exactly is Divine Law? And do human beings have any say in what the Law is to be? An incident much later in the Torah hints at the dynamic relationship between the Children of Israel and the Laws of God.

The Tragic Loss of a Divine Law - David Cardozo Academy What exactly is Divine Law? And do human beings have any say in what the Law is to be? The incident of the Daughters of Tzelofchad hints at an answer.

This week's Thought to Ponder is by Calev Ben-Dor. In it, he explains how Moshe Rabbenu's inability to countenance injustice ultimately led to the greatest tragedy of his life.

The Tragedy of Moshe Rabbenu's Fight for Justice - David Cardozo Academy Moses was a warrior for justice, but his inability to countenance injustice was also the source of Moshe's greatest tragedy.

This week's Thought to Ponder is by Calev Ben-Dor.

We have come to believe that for Jews, the diaspora was a place of danger while Israel of safety. But the fact the biggest murder of Jews in one day since the Holocaust took place in Israel is simply unfathomable.

We are still trying to come to terms with this tragedy, still struggling to create order out of chaos. Where was the army? Where was—or is—the government? Where was God?

In this week’s parsha, L**h L**ha, God speaks to Abraham and tells him to leave his birthplace on the long walk to freedom towards the Land of Israel.
But why Abraham? What was so special about him? Why did he merit to be the father of a nation?

The Midrash Rabbah brings an interesting answer to this question: Avraham saw the chaos in the world and asked “can it be that there is no one guiding the world?”

Judaism begins in dissonance. It begins with questions, with confusion.

We—Israel’s citizens and Jews around the world—are riven with cognitive dissonance as to how such a tragedy could have happened.

And yet, it is precisely through our anger and confusion that the divine-human interaction takes place. God’s response provides the strength for the individual to continue despite the destruction they have witnessed. It provides him with resilience amongst the pain and grief.

Questions in Light of a Palace in Flames - David Cardozo Academy The fact the biggest murder of Jews in one day since the Holocaust took place in Israel is simply unfathomable. Where was God?

Can war with Hamas help Israel decide what it is? - opinion We have only one way to comprehend the positive meaning of this otherwise apparently negative anomaly: the way of faith and the assignment of a universal moral-religious mission.