(This Angel for Shabbat column is sponsored by Yossie and Linnie (Tovli) Simiryan, in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the passing of Reb Shlomo Carlebach.)

After going to battle to save his nephew Lot, Abraham meets with the king of Sodom. The king offers Abraham the booty from the war but Abraham declines to take anything for himself. Abraham introduced his response with the words: "I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth..." Most commentators take this to mean that Abraham took an oath.

Our last University Network Newsletter offered you a free copy of Rabbi Marc Angel's new book, "Maimonides, Spinoza and Us: Toward an Intellectually Vibrant Judaism." The book is due out early in November. In order to receive your copy, you need to send an email to [email protected], and give your current mailing address with your request for a copy of the book. Many of you have already done this, so you need not do so again. However, if you haven't yet requested your copy, please do so asap. THIS OFFER IS GOOD ONLY UNTIL NOVEMBER 1.

"This is the book of the generations of man (Bereishith 5:1)"

Shalom and best wishes for the New Year. Happy Succoth.

I hope you've received the new issue of Conversations, the journal of the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals. Its theme is: Orthodoxy: Family and Gender Issues. Please let me know if you have/have not received it. It's an important issue and I think you'll find it of great interest.

Thoughts for Shabbat Teshuva and Yom Kippur

by Rabbi Marc D. Angel

Dr. Bruno Bettelheim wrote that "today's popular conviction is that life is a rat race." People have become so engrossed in the battles to get ahead materially in this world, that they tend to put aside the claims of the soul.

As we compete in the rat race, we may not even realize how thoroughly we have abandoned our inner freedom, our quest for ultimate meaning. We want to win the rat race even if it means compromising or abandoning the values that imbue life with genuine meaning.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and fulfilling New Year. May you go from strength to strength.

Suppose that two people were walking by a synagogue on Rosh Hashana just at the time when the shofar was being sounded. The synagogue windows were open, so that both people outside heard the shofar. The first one thought: I wish to be included among those who are fulfilling the mitzvah of hearing the shofar. The second one simply kept walking, having heard the shofar but without paying any particular attention to the sounds. Did either, or both, or neither of them fulfill the mitzvah of shofar?

The first section of this Shabbat's Torah reading expresses God's concern lest the Israelites revert to idolatry. As in so many other sections of the Torah, we are warned not to worship false gods. This is a grievous sin with terrible consequences.

Best wishes to you as the academic year is getting underway. The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals is here to be of service to you; it fosters an intellectually vibrant, compassionate and inclusive Orthodox Judaism. If you have questions or issues you'd like to discuss one-to-one, please feel free to contact me: [email protected]

"...lest his heart become haughty against his brethren..." Devarim 17:20