91快播

Unity and Leadership

Jun 13, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

At the very beginning of this week鈥檚 parashah, Moses organizes a mission to scout out the land of Canaan.

Piyyutim: Poetry of the Soul

Jun 12, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

There is an exquisite irony that the same element of our liturgy鈥攖he traditional poems (piyyutim) within the siddur that are used in many of our services鈥攊s identified with both the greatest tedium and the most profound spiritual depths. We encounter Adon Olam and Yigdal every day and Lekha Dodi and El Adon every Shabbat. In the cycle of the year, there are the piyyutim for rain and dew (Geshem and Tal) associated with Shemini Atzeret and Pesah; Akdamut for Shavu鈥檕t; and of course numerous poetic compositions adorn the liturgy of the Yamim Nora鈥檌m (High Holidays).

Shema鈥�: The 鈥淪ecrets鈥� of the Eyes

Jun 6, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

Much of our liturgy and liturgical experience is verbal and analytic, based upon precisely what words we say and the meaning(s) found and embedded in those words. In these essays, we have also looked extensively at the way in which music, melody, and vocal quality add levels of meaning and experience. However, we are not disembodied minds and souls, and there are more than a few occasions when the disposition of the body is engaged to greater or lesser extent in the experience of liturgy. Most dramatically, we might think of the prostrations on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but even in the daily experience, we think naturally of standing for the 鈥楢尘颈诲补丑, among many other customs and practices.

The Working Life

Jun 6, 2014 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

In my family, we are not the retiring type鈥攁lthough we do tend toward shyness.

Balancing God鈥檚 Will and Our Own

Jun 6, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

Parashat Beha’alotekha gives us insight into the Israelite trek through the wilderness.

Can the Center Hold?

May 30, 2014 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Naso

鈥淭hings fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world鈥�
鈥擶illiam Butler Yeats, 鈥淭he Second Coming鈥�

Last week, 91快播 presented an honorary degree to Philip Roth, one of the greatest American writers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The famous author must have received this recognition from an iconic Jewish institution with a certain measure of irony and satisfaction. After all, when his first book was published more than 50 years ago, an outraged American rabbi wrote to the Anti-Defamation League asking, 鈥渨hat is being done to silence that man?鈥�

The Blessing of Happiness

May 30, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Naso

One of the centerpieces of Parashat Naso is the Priestly Blessing.

Finding Direction to Move Forward with God

May 23, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bemidbar

This Shabbat opens the fourth book of Torah known as Sefer Bemidbar, the book of Numbers.

Mah Nishtanah . . . A Seder for Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t

May 16, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

In recent weeks, Medinat Israel (the State of Israel) was celebrated by citizens, residents, and the worldwide Jewish community with an array of observances for Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t (Israel Independence Day). In synagogues of the Conservative/Masorti Movement, morning minyan included the Hallel prayer and a special Torah reading, affirming the understanding that the establishment of Israel is not merely an item in the political history of the mid-20th century, but a vital step in the spiritual story of our people and, perhaps, the world. The 鈥淧rayer for the State of Israel,鈥� included in the Shabbat morning service in almost all synagogues, speaks of Israel as 鈥�reishit tzemichat ge鈥檜lateinu鈥� (the beginning of the flowering of our redemption).鈥淩edemption,鈥� here, must be understood as the Messianic Era of universal peace and understanding.

Walking Together with God

May 16, 2014 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Behukkotai

I saw a strange thing on my walk to minyan the other morning.

Between Heaven and Earth

May 16, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behukkotai

Fertility of humans and of the land is the essence of divine blessing.

Peacemaking and the Quest for Holiness

May 9, 2014 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Behar

The book of Leviticus could not be clearer on the point that extraordinary action is called for as part of the Israelite鈥檚 calling to be 鈥渉oly unto the Lord your God.鈥� 

Shemitah, Freedom, and Covenant in the Face of Assimilation

May 9, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behar

Parashat Behar opens with the commandment to observe the sabbatical cycle (for six years, one may plant crops and work the land and then, in the seventh year, the land must rest鈥攚hat is known in halakhic terms as shenat shemitah, 鈥渢he year of release鈥�); shemitah or 鈥渞elease鈥� is observed today in the Land of Israel.

Slivers of Memory (Yom Ha-sho鈥檃h V鈥�-ha-gevurah)

May 2, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Yom Hashoah

Several decades ago, many ceremonies commemorating the Shoah attempted to tell the entirety of the story, with numbers that defied comprehension and broad-sweeping trends of history that submerged the experience of individuals in the story of a world run amok. In more recent years, I have observed that the experience and testimonies of individuals have become more prominent, perhaps serving as holographic slivers that represent the wider context. As survivors of the Holocaust are fewer in number each year, we turn to the writings, art, songs, and recordings born out of those years.

Call Them by Their Names

May 2, 2014 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Emor

When I鈥檓 at a hotel over Shabbat, I have a set Friday afternoon ritual.

Pride, Power, and Corruption in the Name of God

May 2, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Emor

In the wake of religious fundamentalism that plagues our world today, why aren鈥檛 religious leaders vocal in their opposition to bloodshed and corruption in the name of God?

Shema鈥� (Part 1)鈥擶hat We Know and What We Don鈥檛

Apr 25, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

Ask almost any group of Jews to identify the most important Jewish 鈥減rayer鈥� of all, and at the top of the list will almost certainly be the Shema鈥�. Technically, it is not a prayer, for it is not addressed to God, but to the community of Israel. But that is a technical quibble, so (for now) let it pass. Traditionally, we say the Shema鈥� twice each day within the formal liturgy, and also just before going to sleep.

Being Holy in the 21st Century

Apr 25, 2014 By Gerald C. Skolnik | Commentary | Kedoshim

If I were challenged to present a one-sentence, pithy articulation of the overarching responsibility of a Jew in this world, I would be hard pressed to find abetter phrasing than the second verse of this week鈥檚 Torah reading, Parashat Kedoshim: 鈥�Kedoshim tih鈥檡u, ki kadosh Ani Adonai Eloheikhem鈥�(Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy).

The Kosher Golden Rule

Apr 25, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Kedoshim

Two great questions are often asked in our community: What is our obligation to our fellow Jews?

The Song of Songs: Lovers Absent and Present

Apr 18, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

This Shabbat, Hol Hamo鈥檈d Pesah, we read Shir Hashirim, the Song of Songs, the provocative and enigmatic cycle of lusty love poetry that is embraced (though not without challenge) by the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Dr. Francis Landy of Calgary University wrote a powerful and lyrical treatise on the Song of Songs entitled Paradoxes of Paradise, which opens with the reflection of Rabbi Akiva鈥斺�淎ll the Scriptures are kedoshim, holy, but Shir Hashirim kodesh kodashim, the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies鈥濃�攔adically deploying the term otherwise used to describe the holiest place in the Temple.