menu_open
Steve Rodan

Steve Rodan

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Moses vs. Madison Avenue

How does a nation fall so fast? The Israelites were preparing to begin the last leg of the journey to Canaan. The voyage would take three days....

01.06.2023 8

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Learn from Frank, or be Frank

It’s the eighth day of the Tabernacle and the Israelites understand that this time, Moses will not break down the structure at the end of the day....

24.05.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The End of the Desert

The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert, in the Tent of Meeting on the first day of the second month, in the second year after the exodus from the...

18.05.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Crime and Punishment

As we conclude Leviticus, the Torah takes a detour from the numerous commandments of the Tabernacle and Land of Israel. Unlike just about every other...

11.05.2023 50

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Count Up

Funny, how the Torah can say the darndest things. Here we are in our weekly Torah portion, Emor, reading how we take from the first reaping of the...

04.05.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Sorry, there is neutrality around here

Most nations can exist without doing anything other than being. They go on year after year whether rain or shine. Sometimes war breaks out and they...

27.04.2023 30

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

It All Comes from the Inside

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the person afflicted with tzara’ath, on the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought...

20.04.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Fathers and Sons

Nadab and Abihu were rising stars. The two elder sons of Aaron were seen as doers — managing the new Tabernacle and preparing for its inauguration...

13.04.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Hooray for slavery!

Let’s face it, with all this talk and walk for democracy, slavery has been given a bad rap. The fact is that most of the world consists of slaves....

03.04.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Graveyard Shift

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: That is the burnt offering which burns...

30.03.2023 8

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

It’s No Sacrifice At All

And He called to Moses, and the Lord spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When a man from...

23.03.2023 6

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Not the liberated, but the liberator

Picture this: Moses and Aaron put out a call for donations for the Tabernacle. There is a need for everything required in construction and storage —...

16.03.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Domination of the Majority

Moses was summoned to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, stone tablets that would define the Israelites’ commitment to G-d. And while he was on Sinai...

08.03.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Ones With a Wise Heart

And you shall speak to all the wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, and they shall make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him,...

02.03.2023 40

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Give a Little; Take a lot

The Lord spoke to Moses saying:” Speak to the children of Israel and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him...

22.02.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

G-d Wants You to be Free

And these are the ordinances that you shall set before them. Should you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall work [for] six years, and in the seventh [year],...

16.02.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Key Is Justice for the Poor

It came about on the next day that Moses sat down to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from the morning until the evening. When...

09.02.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The First Encounter With Amalek

Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. [Exodus 17:8] It was a tough few weeks for Moses and Aaron. First, they had to organize the exodus of...

02.02.2023 20

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Pros and Cons of Darkness

The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch forth your hand toward the heavens, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, and the darkness will become...

25.01.2023 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Great Debate

When we last left Moses, he was engaged in a bitter exchange with G-d. The former shepherd had followed G-d’s commandment to the letter and did not...

19.01.2023 5

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

And the tables begin to turn

And a new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. [Exodus 1: 6] How do you turn from friend to enemy? How do you destroy a people who saved...

11.01.2023 6

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Secret My Father Couldn’t Reveal

And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years, and Jacob’s days, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty seven years. [Genesis...

04.01.2023 6

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

What do you care, brother?

Then Judah approached him and said, “Please, my lord, let now your servant speak something into my lord’s ears, and let not your wrath be kindled...

28.12.2022 4

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Man Who Stayed True

It came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh was dreaming, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. As Joseph languished in jail,...

22.12.2022 6

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Dreamer; the Fixer

These are the generations of Jacob: when Joseph was seventeen years old, being a shepherd, he was with his brothers with the flocks, and he was a lad,...

15.12.2022 30

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Three Ways to Leave Esau

After 34 years, Jacob was coming home a rich family man. Waiting for him was his brother Esau, who never stopped hating him. Esau rounded up 400...

06.12.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

The Godfather of Haran

You could say a lot of nasty things about Laban, but he was not a stupid man. Once Laban laid his eyes on his nephew Jacob, he saw dollar signs. The...

01.12.2022 10

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

Two Brothers; Two Paths; One Family

And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms will separate from your innards, and one kingdom will become mightier than...

23.11.2022 5

The Times of Israel (Blogs)

Steve Rodan

a6c7b8e81b17a752e3e33ef447606d69