Before the Deluge

Oct 16, 2015 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Noah

Parashat Noah raises difficult questions about the relationships between the natural world, humanity鈥檚 morality, and God鈥檚 justice.

Portrait of the Kings: The Davidic Prototype in Deuteronomistic Poetics

Oct 15, 2015 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio

A discussion with author Dr. Alison L. Joseph, adjunct assistant professor of Bible at 91快播 and visiting assistant professor at Towson University.

An Anthology of Beginnings

Oct 9, 2015 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Bereishit

鈥淚n the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.鈥� These opening words of the Torah in most translations are clear, straightforward, and well known. But they don鈥檛 render the Hebrew original correctly. As Rashi already pointed out, the first verse of the Torah is not, by itself, a grammatical sentence. Instead, it is part of a longer sentence that continues through the end of verse three.

Grief in a Time of Joy

Oct 2, 2015 By Alex Braver | Commentary | Sukkot

My mother was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia the day before Erev Rosh Hashanah last year. Through the Days of Awe we discussed her genetic profile, her symptoms, bone marrow transplants, and chemotherapy. We approached Hanukkah unsure of what was working and what wasn鈥檛. She died on Purim.

Ushpizin

Oct 2, 2015 By 91快播 | Commentary | Sukkot

Ushpizin, (literally, 鈥済uests鈥�) is the tradition of inviting the exalted men and women of the Bible into our sukkot. Each year, since 5772, professional and novice artists including 91快播 students, faculty, and staff have taken the concept of ushpizin as the centerpiece and inspiration for an art installation in the famed sukkot built each year in the 91快播 courtyard. Part of the 91快播 Arts Initiative, the sukkot exhibit is managed under the guidance of Tobi Kahn, 91快播 artist-in-residence.

The Ending That Wasn’t

Sep 25, 2015 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Ha'azinu

We Jews are not a religious lot. In fact, by a variety of metrics cited in the recent Pew report, Jews are less religious than any other religious group in America. For instance, only one quarter of Jews say religion is 鈥渧ery important鈥� in their lives, compared with more than half of Americans overall. More to the point that I鈥檇 like to explore, a belief in God is much more common among the general non-Jewish public than among Jews.

The Heavens, the Poet, and the People

Sep 25, 2015 By David G. Roskies | Commentary | Ha'azinu

Between May and December 1943, the poet Yitshak Katzenelson was incarcerated with his last surviving son, Zvi, in Vittel, a German transit camp in France. There Yitshak kept a diary-cum-journal in Hebrew and completed The Song of the Slaughtered Jewish People in Yiddish, the longest epic poem to have survived the Holocaust. The pivotal ninth canto is a bold, even blasphemous, response to Parashat Ha鈥檃zinu.

Be Strong and Resolute, Be Courageous and Strong

Sep 18, 2015 By Sarah Tauber (z”l) | Commentary | Vayeilekh

In 1974, Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman) released his now famous song “Forever Young.” By that time Dylan was a father of four children and according to the lore of “Forever Young,” he composed the lyrics as a blessing to his youngest son, Jakob. Despite the title, the song actually centers on Dylan’s hopes for the kind of human being his son will grow up to become over time. In particular, he asks (prays?) as follows: 鈥淢ay you always be courageous / Stand upright and be strong.鈥�

Love in Hiding

Sep 11, 2015 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Vayeilekh

When I prepared to chant Parashat Vayeilekh at my Bar Mitzvah, I don鈥檛 think I paid much attention to the theological import of the announcement that God would 鈥渉ide My countenance鈥� from the children of Israel. Nor is it likely that I felt the pathos of Moses giving up the mantle of leadership, on the far side of the Jordan, as his life鈥檚 journey came to an end.

Safe in God鈥檚 Memory

Sep 11, 2015 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Nitzavim | Rosh Hashanah

This week鈥檚 Torah portion, Nitzavim, contains stunningly beautiful verses that teach us that God鈥檚 Torah 鈥渋s very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it鈥� (Deut. 30:14). The language of the verses is full of rich, physical imagery, 鈥淚t is not in the heavens, that you should say, 鈥榃ho among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?鈥欌€� The Torah, the wisdom, is not far away, is not other. It is in our hearts. If we give our hearts space to be known and embraced, our hearts can share the wisdom that dwells inside. With this space, the wisdom of Torah emerges in new ways. It is not general; it is very specific to each person, to the challenges and blessings that he or she has encountered in his or her life.

Beyond Dreams

Sep 11, 2015 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Nitzavim

Their moment has almost come. The Children of Israel stand poised on the edge of the Jordan about to enter the Land. The moment of their dreams is about to become reality. However, a new era of responsibility is about to begin as well. The Children of Israel will no longer be able to look to God to fulfill their every need. Instead, they must learn to support themselves and to take responsibility for their own behavior. As God tells the people in this week鈥檚 parashah, 鈥淚t is not in the heavens . . . Rather, the thing is very close to you, in your mouths and in your hearts so that you can fulfill it.鈥�

Speaking God, Speaking Humanity

Sep 4, 2015 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Ki Tavo

What makes the Jews God鈥檚 people? On Yom Kippur, when we sing Ki anu amekha ve鈥檃tah Elohenu (For we are Your people and You are our God), what are we talking about? Is this triumphalism, elitism, exclusivity? Or could it be an ethic of communal, legislated kindness?

Back to the Future

Sep 4, 2015 By 91快播 Alumni | Commentary | Ki Tavo

By Dr. Jacqueline Gerber Lebwhol (GS ’17)

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”

Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (trans. Gregory Rabassa)

My college modern literature professor often began class with a communal recitation of this sentence, and many readers consider it among the best first lines of any modern work. What makes this rather strange sentence so powerful?