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Seeing the Image of God
Nov 12, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah
After a 20-year absence from home and family back in the Land of Israel, Jacob journeys home. And like any of us en route to the home of our family of origin, anxiety and uncertainty (along with anticipation and joy) play core roles in the experience.
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The Anomaly of the Night: Fear, Power, Divine Presence (Shekhinah), Part 2
Nov 6, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
To the human heart and soul, night and morning are profoundly different, even though an astronomer would see them as equivalent observed consequences of the orbit of the earth around the sun. The first blessing of the evening service (Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat, 28) praises God for establishing the natural cycles: 鈥淵ou roll away light as darkness sets in, and darkness as the light dawns.鈥� The morning service offers a tight structure of two blessings before, and one after, the Shema鈥� on the themes of Creation, Revelation, and Redemption (to be explored here in a future essay). Although the texts are a little different in the morning and the evening, the themes are identical.
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Being in the Land
Nov 6, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayetzei
Parashat Vayetzei opens with Jacob鈥檚 flight from the Land of Israel.
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Rachel Leans In
Nov 5, 2013 By Michal Raucher | Commentary | Vayetzei
Recent conversations in popular feminism revolve around trying to capture what it means to 鈥渉ave it all,鈥� and, if that鈥檚 even possible, how to achieve it.
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In Search of God
Oct 29, 2013 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Toledot
Through the unexpected and serendipitous Shabbat meal invitations that often seem to come about when one is studying in Jerusalem, I found myself many years ago sitting at the festive Shabbat table of an ultra-Orthodox family one autumn Friday night.
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Night: Fear, Power, Divine Presence (Shekhinah)
Oct 29, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Transitions are times of vulnerability, anxiety, even fear. The mezuzah guides us through the transition between our home and the outside world. The words of the challenging, non-Israelite Prophet Balaam welcome us into the synagogue: 鈥�Mah Tovu (How beautiful are your tents O Jacob).鈥� I wrote several reflections on the prayer texts that support us , giving thanks for soul and body restored to strength and vitality for another day.
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The Challenge of Tomorrow鈥檚 Blessing
Oct 29, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Toledot
Parashat Toledot opens in life and closes with the threat of death.
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Life: Quantity Vs. Quality
Oct 23, 2013 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
鈥淎nd the span of Sarah鈥檚 life was 127 years鈥攖he years of Sarah鈥檚 life鈥� (Gen. 23:1; my translation). Whenever I read this verse, I feel a deep sadness that is only intensified by the story that follows. Let me explain.
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Mizmor LeDavid (Psalm 23)鈥擳ime, Text, Melody
Oct 23, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Psalm 23 is beloved in much of the English-speaking world for affirming a certainty of the divine presence鈥攅ven in times of dread and adversity鈥攊n the most hauntingly beautiful language. The paean to the Psalm by 19th-century American pastor Henry Ward Beecher is widely cited.鈥淭he twenty third psalm is the nightingale of the Psalms. It is small, of a homely feather, singing shyly out of obscurity; but oh! it has filled the air of the whole world with melodious joy, greater than the heart can conceive鈥� (Life Thoughts).
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Ahuzah: Settling Down
Oct 23, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
At the opening of this week鈥檚 parashah, Abraham is occupied with arrangements for the burial of his beloved wife, Sarah.
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A Hand to Hold
Oct 16, 2013 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Vayera
Her beautiful 16-year-old Ishmael lying whimpering nearby from mortal thirst and her own death close at hand, Hagar鈥攊n Genesis 21:15鈥�18鈥攊s about as pitiable as one might imagine.
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Prayer: Invitation and Outcry
Oct 16, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM), with many organizations and agencies working together to spread awareness and the understanding that this scourge is endemic in modern society鈥攁nd that no religion and no sector of society is exempt. My friend and colleague Rabbi Lisa Gelber, associate dean of The Rabbinical School of 91快播, was invited by FaithTrust Institute to write the 鈥淯niversal Prayer鈥� for the call of unity that opened DVAM, and the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence (which convened the call) then created to frame the prayer on a flyer. The prayer has found wide acceptance and recognition.
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In Every Moment, the Choice Is Ours
Oct 16, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayera
Sight and vision play an important role in the two opening narratives of Parashat Vayera.
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What’s in a Name?
Oct 9, 2013 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
What鈥檚 in a name? Quite a lot, but you need to know the story.
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Words of Prayer: New and Old
Oct 9, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
鈥溾�� is a lighthearted song made famous by a pair of Orthodox artists in the 1980s called the Megama Duo (start at 3 minutes and 22 seconds in the linked video). The song would never have become as (in)famous as it was if the experience of 鈥渘ot being able to find the place鈥� was unfamiliar. But, on the contrary, we have all been there, and it鈥檚 good to laugh at, and with, ourselves. When we do find the place in our prayer books, we see lines and paragraphs and pages of text, and it is often hard to find ourselves in the words.
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God As an Ally
Oct 9, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
A journey of four thousand years begins with God鈥檚 command to Abraham.
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Why Did God Flood the World?
Oct 1, 2013 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Noah
The end of Parashat Bereishit finds God regretting the creation of humankind and resolving to wipe it out along with 鈥渂easts, creeping things, and birds of the sky鈥� (Gen. 6:7). A note of optimism creeps into the concluding verse (6:8), however, with the statement that Noah, whose birth and naming were noted in 5:29, 鈥渇ound favor鈥� with God.
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The Noah of Genesis and the Noah of the Rabbis
Oct 1, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Noah
Parashat Noah, the Torah reading for this coming Shabbat, is renowned for the annual debate on Noah鈥檚 character that is sparked by the opening verse.
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Simhat Torah: Which Way When the Circle Ends
Sep 23, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Simhat Torah
The annual celebration of Simhat Torah brings great joy to so many of us of all generations, and it is a fitting and triumphant conclusion to the long and multifaceted season of intense Jewish observance and focus that began (a little before Rosh Hashanah) with Selichot. In Israel and in congregations observing a single day of festivals, Simhat Torah is blended with Shemini Atzeret, offering the intense experience in the morning of Hallel, Hakkafot (processions with dancing) and Geshem (the prayer for Rain).
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Bereishit with a Capital Bet
Sep 22, 2013 By David Marcus | Commentary | Bereishit
With this week鈥檚 parashah, we once again commence the cycle of reading the Torah from the first chapter of Genesis, which begins with the Hebrew word bereishit.
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