Today’s Word
What Lies Behind
Till I came to the sanctuaries of God, understood what would be their end. Psalm 73:17 (Robert Alter translation) End – The amazingly insightful Hebrew word aharit commonly refers to what comes after, later or behind. We have noted Wolff’s description of the “backwards” nature of its temporal connection. We think of the future “ahead”…
Contagious
But in vain I kept my heart pure and in innocence washed my palms. For I was afflicted all day long, and my chastisement, each new morning. Psalm 73:13-14 (translation – Robert Alter) Afflicted – There are two kinds of purity in Scripture: ritual and moral. Some prescriptions address ritual impurity without any suggestion of…
Missing Out
But in vain I kept my heart pure and in innocence washed my palms. Psalm 73:13 (translation – Robert Alter) In vain – “I’d like to believe what you believe,” he said. “You seem to have a kind of stability in life. But if I decided to live like you, I’d miss out on a…
Kashrut
Don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking . . Colossians 2:16 (The Complete Jewish Bible – David Stern) Eating and Drinking – David Stern correctly notes that Paul is not talking about all eating and drinking. He is addressing the assembly in Colossae, an assembly consisting of Jews and…
The Stumbling Block
A man does not fully understand the words of the Torah until he has come to grief over them. Babylonian Talmud, Gitten 43a Come to grief – Rabbi Huna commented with these words when he acknowledged his own error in interpretation concerning a debate over the conditions of betrothal. Rabbi Huna called for a public…
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