Tag Archives: Judaism

#TieBlog #Matot-Masei

3 Jul

Journeys around the world

“These are the journeys.” The last Parashah of the Book of Numbers, Masei, enumerates 42 stations in the desert where the Israelites stopped along the way. Rashi asks the obvious question, why? Aren’t these superfluous details? The answer he provides, derived from the Midrash, is that it was a sign of God’s compassion. No one should say that God decreed the Israelites wander for 40 years without rest. This week’s tie shows travel around the world in slightly more luxurious environs than those experienced by our ancestors in the desert. Summer is a time many people travel. If you are, enjoy the oases God has provided wherever you go.

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28 Jun

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Pinchas is the Torah’s “Dark Knight.” He is a vigilante who takes the law into his own hands. When the Israelites were seduced into a mass orgy by the Moabites, God and Moses are incensed. Pinchas is too and pushes the envelope by stabbing to death a prominent Israelite man and Moabite woman who are copulating in public. Parashat Pinchas begins with God rewarding Pinchas, grandson of Aaron the High Priest, with a Brit Shalom, a Covenant of Peace. The rabbis struggle to justify this reward when Pinchas acted outside of any legal jurisdiction to take such action. In the Jerusalem Talmud the rabbis go so far as to say that Pinchas should have been excommunicated were it not for God’s own intervention. Batman is a similarly complex figure who stands for justice but operates outside the established legal system. A Batman tie, therefore, seems apt this week.

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#TieBlog #Korach

6 Jun

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Korach is grumpy about something. This Levite is jealous of the power and prestige of his cousins Moses and Aaron and stages a rebellion. With an assist from God, the rebellion fails miserably, and Korach and his comrades are swallowed by the earth. A few years ago during a family trip to Disney World, in one of the shops I found this tie featuring Grumpy from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It occurred to me that I coukd wear it for Parashat Korach whose namesake is the grumpiest person in the Torah. To be fair, Grumpy the Dwarf is not a sinister character; his name reflects more his disposition than his character. Still, one gets the sense Korach was an unhappy–and most especially grumpy person. Shabbat Shalom–and be happy!

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