A Quick Torah Thought

Is it not strange to take another person and wave him in the air, as if he were a flag, a kite or a hat? Aharon and his sons, to consecrate the Levites and prepare them for their new role, waved them one by one! Literally, lifting them off the floor, shaking them up and down - perhaps just once, because there were over 22,000 of them - and then put them down on the floor, and then, they were able to serve.  The closest analogy I can think of is Simba being lifted by the baboon in the Lion King; this cub is meant to serve - this Levite is meant for God, and for his people.  But is there not something dehumanizing, debasing - some element of objectification - in lifting a person up, almost reminiscent of the akeida , or the molech . Service is meant to preserve one's dignity, or humanity, and not objectify the person, highlighting his strengths as a human, rather than stripping him of his unique individuality. Fascinatingly, and I think deploringly, whenever the Hareidi communit...

A few years back I taught at a secular school; not long before, I was advised by my rabbi to take a course in pedagogy in the field of sexuality among teenagers - and he added, that I would be remiss in my professional responsibilities if I did not do so.  In the first meeting, among the very embarassing questions we were confronted with - one struck me in particular: Who thinks that adultery in a marriage is unforgivable? I (save a few very modestly dressed Arab women - I could see their eyes, but not much more) was the only Jewish person who said yes.  This past week's portion speaks to that very reality. A relationship founded on trust and integrity, is cast in doubt and proven lacking.  A woman warned by her husband to not place herself in isolation with another man is seen behind close doors in a way that arouses suspicion, and great envy and jealousy on his part. The couple is escorted by two scholars to the High Temple, where she is compelled to swear to her innoce...

The initiation of Hoshea was unlike that of any other prophet. Yeshayahu was touched by God on his tongue; for Yirmiyahu, it was a seraph placing a burning coal on his mouth after he besmirched the Jewish peoplel and Yehezkel was asked to eat a scroll of elegies and dirges, which fittingly tasted like honey in his mouth. Hoshea was told: Go marry a whore.  Not just that - have kids with her, and name them after the fate of your people. First, "Yizrael," I will re-plant the seed of Israel, then " Lo Ruhama, " I will not have mercy on her, and then, " Lo ami ," she will no logner be my nation.  The story unfolds with the prostitute, after becoming Hoshea's lawfully wedded wife, then seeking paramours elsewhere, venally bribed and enticed by the comfort offered by other men.  Hoshea lambasts her, alegorically, Hashem lambasting his nation for their unfaithfulness and licentiousness, but then, after she seeks out greener pastures - and fails to find them -...