An excerpt from Transition, Faith and Free Will (Hukkat-Balak, July 12, 2003)
We best understand the beauty and the depth of humanity when we are focused on our homes and communities. It is when we stray from our tents … that our faith is tested and our free will gets us into trouble. Our tents shelter us from much more than the elements. The writers of the Torah understood that a strong, ethical, humane individual can only be an extension of a strong, ethical, humane community.