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Fake News and the Resurgence of Antisemitism

May 18, 2020 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How can we make sense of the resurgence of antisemitism from both right and left a mere 70 years after the Holocaust? Together we鈥檒l examine foundational texts that gave rise to hatred of Jews and Judaism and reflect on what we can learn from them about how best to respond to today鈥檚 manifestations.

The Nature of Peace

May 15, 2020 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai

The description of peace and prosperity in this week鈥檚 Torah portion seems particularly fitting for our current situation.

What Should an Educated Jew Know? When and Why This Question Emerged in the 18th Century鈥攁nd Continues to Confound Us

May 11, 2020 By Jack Wertheimer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

What should a literate Jew know about Jewish civilization and its foundational texts? And what obligation do Jews have to acquire knowledge so they can function well in society at large? For reasons we will explore, these questions surfaced intensely during the Haskalah, the Jewish Enlightenment. How they were answered then and how these questions continue to reverberate in our time will be addressed in this online class.

Live from 91快播

May 8, 2020

2021 Judge Simon H. RifkindVirtual Award Luncheon for invited guests Wednesday, April 14, 202112:00 Noon (Eastern Time) Program | Sponsors

Opportunities in Jewish Time

May 8, 2020 By Abigail Uhrman | Commentary | Emor

I had to think twice about what day it was today. In fact, since we鈥檝e been sheltering at home, there have been many days when I have had to think twice. Like most families with children, I have our daily schedule posted prominently in our kitchen to add some much-needed structure to this time, but still, the days seem to stretch on. When Friday rolls around, though, there is a welcome interruption to our normal rhythm as we begin our Shabbat preparations. Despite the benefits of our carefully orchestrated routine, and there are many, Shabbat offers us a 25-hour window to think, do, and be differently than the rest of the week.

Life Under Siege: The Talmud鈥檚 Take on Trying Times

May 4, 2020 By Sarah Wolf | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How do we understand the relationship between the multiple complicating factors that arise in moments of communal hardship, such as questions of political leadership, unreliable news sources, physical privation, and economic disparity? The interplay of these challenges is at the core of a Talmudic story about the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. Through an exploration of the values and priorities portrayed in this story, this class will help shed new light on the tensions of our present moment.

Time for Kindness: Parashah Inspiration and The Book of Ruth

May 3, 2020 By Matthew Berkowitz

Holiness Through Restraint

May 1, 2020 By Joshua Rabin | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

I am a rabbi who works with teenagers, and you cannot talk to adults about teenagers without the conversation quickly focusing on smartphones and social media. And it quickly turns depressing.

Beyond the Flag: The Religious Dimensions of Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t

Apr 27, 2020 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t, Israel Independence Day, commemorates a historical event 鈥� the declaration of the new State of Israel. From the beginning, however, it was also framed as a religious holiday. We will look at how, drawing on the liturgy of Hannukah, Purim, Shabbat and Passover, a holiday ritual was created, one that provides the religious language with which to speak of a fundamentally political event.

Living Outside the Camp

Apr 24, 2020 By | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

For many of us, the Torah portions of Tazria and Metzora have never felt so relevant. While in years past there was a great sense of distance from the confusing descriptions of biblical skin afflictions, the quarantine of afflicted Israelites, and the complex post-illness purification process, it feels difficult to escape their prescience during our current global pandemic. As we all struggle with the challenges of social distancing and the uncertainty of the future, I believe that insights into the details of our parshiyot can provide us with points of reflection for our present reality.

Counting the Omer, Counting our Blessings

Apr 23, 2020 By Matthew Berkowitz | Shavuot

Counting the Omer, Counting our Blessings

Apr 23, 2020 By Matthew Berkowitz | Shavuot

Imagining a New World When Your Old One Collapses: The Rabbinic Response to the Destruction of the Temple

Apr 20, 2020 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In 70 CE, the Jewish world changed catastrophically. The Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the Judaism prescribed by the Torah became impossible. Into this gap, the rabbis emerged to create a new, vibrant Judaism that required no particular center in any place. What is the system they created and how does it fill the gap left by the destruction?

How Do We Mourn?

Apr 17, 2020 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Shemini

In these dark times, we are faced not for the first time with the question: how do we deal with unbearable pain? There are no easy answers. For some, the solution is to find a way not to feel it, and one way to do that is to drink oneself into oblivion.  

Matzah鈥檚 Majestic Meaning

Apr 8, 2020 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Pesah

I don鈥檛 know why we ask the first of the four seder questions鈥斺�淥n all other nights we eat both hametz and matzah but on this night only matzah.鈥� The Ha lahma anya paragraph that immediately precedes the questions already answers it. The opening words, 鈥渢his is the bread of affliction (lahma anya in the Aramaic) that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt,鈥� suggest that the Israelite slaves in Egypt, who presumably had no time to bake bread, ate matzah. And that is why we eat matzah on Passover. So why ask the first question?

91快播 Seder Supplement for the COVID-19 Pandemic

Apr 6, 2020 By 91快播 | Collected Resources | Pesah

Selected thoughts on the Haggadah in light of the COVID-19 crisis.

Kollot Online Lectures, Spring / Summer 2020

Apr 6, 2020 By Matthew Berkowitz

Passover in the Time of Coronavirus

Apr 3, 2020 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol | Pesah

What a difference a year makes鈥攐r a week, or a day. Last year at this time, reflecting on a period of rising anti-Semitism in America and Europe, I wrote that 鈥渄iscussion at your seder table will be different from all Passovers past.鈥� This year, many of those discussions will happen virtually, and attendance at physical seder tables will likely be limited to close family or friends. Many people may be sitting at the seder table alone. The plague is upon us, striking every part of the world without regard to national border or religion. The holiday will not be the same, because we are not the same.

A Covenant of Salt

Mar 27, 2020 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Vayikra

Covenant is a central concept in Judaism. The Torah and later tradition make clear that the people Israel have a special relationship with God, and Jews have acquired the epithet 鈥渢he chosen people鈥� (though Jewish particularism need not preclude other peoples having their own unique relationships with God). Rabbi David Hartman, 锄鈥漧, titled his exposition of Jewish theology A Living Covenant. Rabbi David Wolpe, in a speech at 91快播, proposed highlighting the mainstream ideological approach of Conservative Judaism by rebranding it as 鈥淐ovenantal Judaism.鈥�

Seeds of Song

Mar 22, 2020

An allbum of piyyutim found in Siddur Lev Shalem, with music composed, adapted, and/or performed by 91快播 cantorial and rabbinical students.