The Heart of Torah, Volume 2 Quotes

“To be sure, Moses does instruct the people in how to worship God, but he also teaches them torts, because biblical religion is, to a great extent, about learning to live with others.”
― Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, Volume 2: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

“From the perspective of Jewish ethics, there are few (if any) graver crimes than violating the dignity of another human being. “In hurting another person I am not just running afoul of the will of God—though I am also surely doing that. At some level, I am also assaulting God, who, Jewish theology insists, is profoundly invested in the dignity of God’s creatures.”19 Conversely, as R. Abraham Paley (twentieth century) teaches, “being careful with and attentive to the honor of your fellow is the acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven.”20”
― Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, Volume 2: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

“Tanakh is in part the story of God’s struggle to subdue the forces of chaos, both cosmic and historical, so that human life can flourish.”
― Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, Volume 2: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

“Tanakh is in part the story of God’s struggle to subdue the forces of chaos,”
― Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, Volume 2: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

“God’s love may extend even to people we (perhaps legitimately) cannot stand.”
― Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, Volume 2: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy