Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses Contradiction In Ki Tisa: Stiff-Necked Appeasers September 14, 2017 Sherry Oz No Comments We were supposed to be dead. If the Holocaust did not finish us off, the Arabs should have done us in. But we won war after war, each of which…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses Enemies of the Jews – Parashat Va’ethannan: Deuteronomy 7:1-11 October 29, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments This passage, the last part of Parashat Va’ethannan, bothered me and I struggled with the implications of taking the words literally. These lines relate to how following the commandments (mitzvot…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses Descendants of Esau and Jacob: Naming Names and Telling Tales (Genesis 36:1-43) October 9, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments In psychotherapy, it is generally proposed that the beginning of coping consists of naming the problem or issue with which one is having difficulties. But giving a name is insufficient.…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses Esau versus Jacob: Naming Names and Telling Tales (Genesis 36:1-43) October 2, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments Why are the generations of descendants of Esau merely listed in these 43 verses with no stories told about any of them? In contrast, in the next parasha, we are…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses “Chosen” People? Tolerated, Perhaps. (Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy 32: 19-28) September 23, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments Ha’azinu has put the term, “Chosen People” into a new perspective for me. And I can’t say that I like it. In my previous post, I wrote about the power…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses Power of choice (Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy 32: 19-28) September 22, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments After having escaped from Egypt, we Jews faced a number of critical points at which our collective decisionmaking skills were challenged. Perhaps the most dramatic example was at Mount Sinai…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses Joseph’s Brothers Prostrated Themselves – Are We? (Bereshit 42:1-7) September 12, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments I grew up believing that Jews bow down only to the One God, our Creator, and never to another human being. The Purim story tells us that Mordechai refused to…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses What Has Deuteronomy Got to Do with Bullies on Facebook? (Deuteronomy 19:15-21) August 27, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments The Torah verse in Deuteronomy, discussing false witness, may be particularly relevant to us now in the modern virtual era when bullies can tell lies that spread farther and faster…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses Is Our Only Hope Via a Strong Arm Policy? (Exodus 13:17-14:31) August 13, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments The Pharoah finally let the Israelites leave, and there was a short way to Israel and a long way. The short way was through the land of the Philistines (Pelesht),…
Random Reflections Reflections on Random Torah Verses First Inspiration – Deuteronomy 33-34: Understanding Being the Parent of Adult Children August 8, 2015 Sherry Oz No Comments Moses climbed Mount Nevo, from which point he could watch as the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. He blessed each of the tribes of Israel, het…