Angel for Shabbat

Here are two views on fairness; with which one do you agree more?

A. It is only fair that those who are wealthier should share with those who have less. The essential health of a society is based on compassion and caring, a spirit of responsibility for all members of society.

B. It is only fair that people should be allowed to keep what they earn through their own hard work. The essential health of a society is based on respect for individual rights and individual choices.

Angel for Shabbat, Parashat Shelah Lekha
by Rabbi Marc D. Angel

By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

Aaron the High Priest was commanded to light the menorah. The Torah describes his action with the word "beha'aloteha," when you raise the lights. Rashi comments that Aaron was supposed to kindle the lights so they would rise on their own. Symbolically, this image applies to the role of parents and teachers: they are supposed to educate and inspire the young so that the children/students are able to rise on their own. The goal is to fashion responsible human beings who can act properly on their own.

Thoughts for Parashat Bemidbar

The Kotzker Rebbe (1787-1859) was an insightful Hasidic master whose wisdom continues to impact on thinking Jews of our times. He made an important observation based on the fact that the Torah was originally given and taught in Midbar Sinai, the wilderness of Sinai.

By Rabbi Marc D. Angel

This is the period of the anniversary of the passing of Mr. Edgar J. Nathan 3rd, who died in May 2013. Edgar was a distinguished attorney and communal leader and served as Parnas (president) of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York from 1968 to 1991. A descendant of early members and leaders of the Congregation going back to Colonial American days, he was the personification of a wise and thoughtful gentleman, a man of gravitas and steady good judgment.

I recently received a communication from an individual who had been very active in his synagogue, but who has grown increasingly disillusioned. He feels that his congregation is controlled by a small clique of wealthy individuals who have little regard for the feelings of members of the congregation. He finds that the rabbi of his synagogue is not easily accessible and is not a particularly spiritual person (e.g.

In the opening pages of his book “The Upright Thinkers,” Dr. Leonard Mlodinow reports an incident in his father’s life as an inmate in a Nazi concentration camp. The elder Mlodinow was then a young Polish Jew, who had not received formal education past seventh grade. In the camp, he met an older inmate, a mathematician, and they struck up a friendship.

This week’s Parasha includes one of the most perplexing episodes in the Torah. The Israelites complain bitterly that they have no water to drink, that they will die of thirst, that they should have remained in Egypt rather than suffer such a terrible fate. God tells Moses and Aaron to gather the people, to speak to a rock, and that water would come forth from the rock to quench the people’s thirst.

When Moses approached the end of his career, he asked God to appoint a new leader for the Israelites, so that “the congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd” (Bemidbar 27:17). He wanted to be sure that his successor would be someone who would lead the people as a shepherd who tends his flock.

A shepherd is often lonely. A shepherd often loses sleep. A shepherd watches over the entire flock, especially the weaker sheep and the stragglers. A shepherd keeps the flock in order, making sure that all are accounted for. A shepherd leads the flock with thoughtfulness and devotion.

Religion has two faces. One face is that of saintliness, idealism, holiness and selflessness. But the other face is one of hatred, cruelty, selfishness and egotism. Within the world of religion, one can find the most exemplary human beings; but one can also find inquisitors and terrorists. In his play, “The Father,” August Strindberg has one of his characters state: “It is strange that as soon as you begin to talk about God and love, your voice becomes hard and your eyes full of hate.”

It’s not that there are two types of people, pious and wicked. Rather, saintliness and ugliness are intermixed within individuals. The righteous struggle to keep the ugliness out; the wicked strive to promote their own evil agendas. Often, the wicked camouflage themselves in the cloak of piety.