A Letter in the Scroll: Understanding Our Jewish Identity and Exploring the Legacy of the World's Oldest Religion

Once a year he would confess the sins of Israel, and taking two goats, would sacrifice one and send the other, the “scapegoat,” into the wilderness.3 Already, though, before the destruction of the Temple, the priesthood no longer commanded the respect of significant sections of the population. For several generations it had become enmeshed in polit

There is no answer to the question, “Why do the innocent suffer?” at the level of thought. The only adequate answer is at the level of deed, in the long journey toward a world in which the innocent no longer suffer. To be sure, there is acceptance in Judaism. We call this tzidduk hadin, coming to terms with suffering and loss, saying that “all that

He meant this: Now that there was no Temple and no High Priest, atonement need no longer be vicarious. The sinner could obtain forgiveness directly.

At Sinai God made a pact with a people, thus creating covenantal politics.

A covenant is made when free agents, respecting one another’s freedom, bind themselves by a mutual promise to work together, to be loyal to one another, and to achieve together what neither can achieve alone. Keeping such a promise is called “faithfulness,”

why Abraham was chosen—not because he was righteous, which he surely was, but because he would be a teacher.

Today a view prevails that all ways of life, all lifestyles, are equally valid. Judgment itself is held to be morally wrong because it assaults the principle that each of us should be free to live as we choose. There is a kernel of truth in this—namely that each of us is unique, and there are many different ways of living well. But as for the rest,

However, this power can be brought into being only if individuals are prepared to hand over certain of their rights of property and liberty.

However, there is a secondary effect of hatred: It can sometimes enter the minds of those who are hated.3 Jews not only began to behave in a new way, they began to see themselves in a new way.