Yehonatán Elazar-DeMota

03/08/2026

The new Spider Man film (2026) tells a story about two ideas that stay with us long after the movie ends. The first comes when Jean Grey tells Peter Parker that he must choose whether he is Peter Parker or Spider Man. She then reminds him that once he figures out who he is, he must be that person on purpose. The second appears on Aunt May's tombstone, which reads, "When you save one life, you save the whole world." That thought closely reflects the teaching of the Mishnah and the Talmud that whoever saves a single life is considered as though he has saved an entire world. Together, these ideas remind us that life is about discovering who we are and using that identity to serve others.
Jean Grey's words bring to mind the story of Shimshon. From before his birth, God had chosen him for a special purpose, but for much of his life Shimshon struggled to live according to that calling. He often acted according to his own desires instead of the mission God had given him. Only after losing everything did he fully embrace his identity as the deliverer of Israel. Peter Parker faces a similar struggle. He wonders whether he should simply be Peter Parker or accept the responsibility of being Spider Man. In the end, he realizes that he cannot separate who he is from what he has been called to do. Like Shimshon, his true identity is not just about his name but about faithfully living out his purpose.
The second theme gives that purpose its direction. Aunt May's words remind us that every human life has infinite value. The Sages taught that saving one life is like saving an entire world because every person carries within them endless possibilities, relationships, and future generations. Throughout the movie, Spider Man repeatedly risks himself to protect others, even when there is no reward or recognition. His greatness is not found in his powers but in his willingness to place someone else's life before his own.
The movie reminds us that identity and responsibility cannot be separated. Knowing who we are is only the first step. We must also choose to live that identity every day through our actions. Shimshon learned that lesson late in life. Peter Parker learns that embracing who he truly is means accepting the responsibility that comes with it. When we know who we are and use our gifts to protect and serve others, we fulfill one of the highest ideals found both in the movie and in Jewish tradition.

31/07/2026

Last night I watched the new Odyssey film. It involves the moral world surrounding the fall of Troy, reflecting a characteristically Greek understanding of divine law associated especially with Zeus. Zeus is not primarily the giver of a comprehensive moral code comparable to the Tora, but the guardian of a cosmic and social order involving oaths, hospitality, supplication, justice, and the proper treatment of strangers. Warfare therefore exists within a moral universe, even though Greek heroic culture permits forms of violence that the modern viewer may find disturbing.
Victory at Troy does not necessarily prove the moral innocence of the victors. Sacrilege, arrogance, cruelty toward captives, and violations of sacred obligations can provoke divine punishment after the battle. The Tanakh similarly refuses to equate military victory automatically with righteousness. Israel can defeat its enemies when acting within the divine command, but it can also suffer defeat because of its own wrongdoing, as at Ai in Joshua 7. Perasha Ki Teṣe places warfare under legal restrictions concerning peace offers, fruit trees, captives, and the conduct of the camp. The major contrast is that Greek martial ethics emerge from a combination of divine custom, heroic honor, and the dangerous consequences of hubris, whereas biblical warfare is increasingly framed as an activity subordinated to an articulated divine law that judges Israel as well as its enemies.
The Greek gods also present a striking contrast with the God of the Tanakh because they possess intensely human emotions and participate personally in human conflicts. Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hera, and the other Olympians become angry, jealous, affectionate, vindictive, protective, and partisan. Their relationships with mortals frequently resemble the politics of a royal court, and the Trojan War itself becomes simultaneously a human and divine conflict. The Tanakh also describes God through the language of anger, jealousy, compassion, love, regret, and even grief. God is described as a warrior in Shemoth 15:3 and as jealous in Shemoth 20:5, while Beresh*th 6:6 speaks of divine grief over human corruption. Yet Hebraic philosophy places an important distance between these descriptions and Greek mythology. The God of Israel is not one emotional personality competing with other gods within the cosmos. He is the creator and sovereign of the cosmos itself. Biblical anthropomorphic language therefore communicates the divine relationship with humanity, while the Greek gods actually inhabit a divine society whose rivalries and passions help generate events in the human world.
The deepest similarity between the two traditions lies in their rejection of the idea that military power alone establishes justice. Troy can fall and yet the victorious Greeks can subsequently suffer because victory does not exempt them from divine judgment. The Tanakh develops the same principle even more explicitly. David may be God's chosen king and a successful warrior, yet Nathan can condemn him for the killing of Uriah in 2 Shemuel 12. The prophets later apply the principle internationally. Assyria can function as the instrument of divine punishment and then itself be punished for its arrogance and brutality in Isaiah 10. In both worlds, therefore, the warrior stands beneath a higher order that he cannot escape merely because he has won. The crucial difference concerns the nature of that higher order. In the Greek world, justice operates within a cosmos populated by powerful divine personalities whose wills, honors, and rivalries intersect with human affairs. In the Tanakh, ethical judgment ultimately proceeds from one God whose authority transcends both Israel and its enemies. Thus the Greek question is often whether the warrior has violated the order protected by the gods, while the biblical question becomes whether the warrior, even when fighting for a legitimate cause, has remained subject to the moral demands of the God who judges victor and vanquished alike.

29/07/2026

Rice: Mezonoth or Adama

Although the prevailing halakhic opinion today, following the Rambam and the Shulḥan ʿArukh, is that cooked rice is blessed בורא מיני מזונות before eating and בורא נפשות afterward, Ḥakham Yaʿaqob de Oliveira a"h preserved a more nuanced interpretation of the Talmudic passage. He explained that the term מעשה קדרה in Berakhoth 37a does not refer to ordinary boiled rice, but specifically to rice prepared as a cake or as a thick porridge into which bread is dipped during the meal, as was customary in the Middle East. As he writes:

“Assim também o arroz: se for feito bolo, ou como um mingau, no qual pode ser mergulhado o pão durante a refeição, conforme costuma-se no Oriente Médio, sua bênção é ‘...borê mine mezonôt’...”

According to this reading, the Gemara's ruling of Mezonoth applies only to these processed forms of rice, whereas ordinary cooked rice retains its natural blessing of בורא פרי האדמה, while all forms of rice conclude with בורא נפשות, not מעין שלוש.

17/07/2026

Baḥya ibn Paquda's Duties of the Heart:

My God, do not leave me to myself, not even for the blink of an eye
Have mercy upon me through Your loving-kindness, and do not deal with me according to my shortcomings. Guide me in the path that is upright in Your sight, and direct my heart to love You, fear You, and serve You with sincerity.

Purify my thoughts from falsehood, my tongue from deceit, and my actions from hypocrisy. Let my inward self be like my outward self, and let my hidden thoughts be no different from what I reveal before others.

Grant me a heart that trusts in You alone, that is content with what You decree, and that seeks no support apart from You. Remove from me anxiety over what is beyond my control, and let me rest in confidence that all Your judgments are righteous and all Your ways are good.

Teach me wisdom so that I may know You, understanding so that I may obey You, and discernment so that I may distinguish truth from error. Open my heart to Your Torah and strengthen me to fulfill Your commandments with joy and love.

Forgive my sins, overlook my transgressions, and receive my repentance with compassion. Do not allow my failures to separate me from You, but let every stumble become a reason for me to return more completely to Your service.

Keep pride far from me. Clothe me instead with humility, patience, and gratitude. Let me recognize my own weakness so that I may always depend upon Your strength

Bless me with a pure heart, faithful companions, honest speech, righteous deeds, and the desire to bring honor to Your Name in all that I do.

When prosperity comes, let me not forget You. When hardship comes, let me not despair of You. In every circumstance, let my soul remember that You alone are my Creator, my Sustainer, and the One in whom I place my trust.

Complete Your work within me, and do not remove Your kindness from me. Lead me in this world according to Your will, and in the World to Come grant me the delight of drawing near to You.

For You are the God of mercy and compassion, and in You alone I place my hope forever. Amen.

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