Since the universe is basically words (see Genesis 1), everything--marriage,
community building, international relations, cosmic harmony--is a question of
proper grammar.
Exodus 35:1-40:38 Torah Reading for Week of March 18-24, 2001 
Forty-eight wall panels and three layers of roof coverings; 4,386
pounds of gold; eight priestly garments and seven days of initiation; and five
lessons from the contrast, union and interplay of community and
individuality--in the twinned Torah readings of Vayak'hel and Pekudei.The Parshah in a Nutshell Full Parshah Summary with Commentary More on the Parshah from the Chassidic masters
I believe in love. I believe that when we feel loved and are able to love, the finest within us emerges and the worst retreats. I believe that words spoken without love, no matter how well-intended, will not penetrate, and that with love, even the clumsiest of words will find their mark. As parents we need not be poets or therapists, teachers or rabbis. We need to love. The love of which I speak is not the instinctual love of parent to child. I speak of a love born of intimacy, the kind of love we develop with our spouses, the kind of love that grows with years and with effort, the love that stems from communication and openness.
My father was so deep in meditation that he drew the attention of many
passers-by. Whenever I observed him in this state I yearned to know what
thoughts were engaging his mind, and what world his mind was now surveying. At
length a deep sigh inadvertently passed my lips.At this my father stopped short and looked me through--all the way through--and said: "Why do you sigh? If a man is bound up on high, he doesn't fall down below."
He maintained his stride, in midair, oblivious to his impossible situation and in defiance of the law of gravity, until eventually it occurred to him that the object of his chase was nowhere in sight. He screeched to a stop and turned to look back. He saw the edge of the cliff far behind him, and began to realize that he was in major trouble. He slowly looked down and only then, when it was crystal clear to him that he was standing on thin air, did he fall.
some random thoughts 
Folklore would have it that the proponents of the "science argument" are scientists: physicists, chemists, biologists and engineers with lab coats and complicated equipment. Arranged against them--again according to folk wisdom--are the bearded, black-hatted rabbis whom the Jerusalem Post labels "ultra-Orthodox" and whom most of us consider to be Torah scholars ifonly because of their dress. It may have been like this at some time in the past. Today, the debate continues--but the debaters have changed. |
 The Parshah in a Nutshell
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