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A House of Prayer for All Peoples

Apr 1, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayikra | Pesah

Creative tension is ever present in the poles found within Judaism. We are drawn to the balance between keva and kavannah, that which is fixed and that which is spontaneous; Hassidim fervently debate the Mitnagdim over the line between spirituality and intellectualism; and we are constantly in search of the golden mean between halakhah (law) and aggadah (lore). Another pair of opposites embedded within Judaism is the constant tension between particularity and universality. To what extent should a Jew be zealous in the particular observance of Jewish identity? Or is Torah better understood as a Jewish lens into universal experience?

Two Kinds of Community

Mar 25, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayak-hel

Community is the heart of the Jewish people. To nurture a sense of holiness within our synagogues, it is critical to work toward strengthening a vision of communal responsibility. This notion is emphasized in the opening of this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Va鈥搚akhel: “Moses assembled the community of the children of Israel, saying to them, ‘These are the obligations that God commanded to do them'” (Exodus 35:1). Not only does the general opening of the reading focus on community, but more significantly, the very word with which the parashah begins, vayaqhel, contains the Hebrew root 辩辞蹿鈥揾别测鈥搇补尘别诲 (meaning “community”) 鈥� for this is not simply the act of assembling, but it is gathering together a community. What will be the nature of the community we build?

A Plurality of Voices

Mar 25, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayak-hel

Community is the heart of the Jewish people. To nurture a sense of holiness within our synagogues, it is critical to work toward strengthening a vision of communal responsibility. This notion is emphasized in the opening of this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Va鈥搚akhel: “Moses assembled the community of the children of Israel, saying to them, ‘These are the obligations that God commanded to do them'” (Exodus 35:1). Not only does the general opening of the reading focus on community, but more significantly, the very word with which the parashah begins, vayaqhel, contains the Hebrew root 辩辞蹿鈥揾别测鈥搇补尘别诲 (meaning “community”) 鈥� for this is not simply the act of assembling, but it is gathering together a community. What will be the nature of the community we build?

A Radiant Face

Mar 18, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ki Tissa

Coverings, especially of the face, are the theme of the hour in the Jewish calendar. The opening of this week began with our celebration of Purim. At the core of the holiday is the notion of hiddenness. God never explicitly appears in the entire ten chapters of the megillah; and the holiday is celebrated through festive costumes in which we mask, or cover, our true selves. This notion of covering continues thematically in this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Ki Tissa.

What We Are Asked to Remember

Mar 11, 2006 By Yehoshua Aizenberg | Commentary | Shabbat Zakhor | Tetzavveh

By Rabbi Yehoshua Aizenberg

Two Sabbaths ago, we celebrated Shabbat Shekalim, the first of four special Sabbaths preceding Pesah. This coming Shabbat, Shabbat Zachor, always comes right before the Purim celebration.

Why God Needs a Dwelling Place

Mar 4, 2006 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Terumah

Recent portions of the Torah have dealt with the arrival of the Israelites at Mount Sinai; the great theophany of God, in which God spoke the Ten Words, or Decalogue; the revelation of the Book of the Covenant, containing the first extended legal section of the Torah; and the covenantal ceremony sealing the everlasting special relationship between God and the people of Israel (Exodus 19鈥�24).

Within Us

Mar 4, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Terumah

Parashat Terumah is concerned with the building of the mishkan or Tabernacle, the portable sanctuary that accompanied the Israelites on their desert journey. The parashah opens with an appeal by God and Moses to the entire community of Israelites; all are encouraged to participate voluntarily to the building of this sacred space. Plans are detailed, appurtenances are described extensively, and later the construction begins. Exodus 25:8 declares, “And let them make me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst.” Given the connotations of a mikdash, sanctuary, we might assume that God’s presence would dwell in this space. The second half of the verse surprises us, however, stressing God’s dwelling not in a specific physical place but amidst the people.

The Lesson of Egypt

Feb 25, 2006 By David Marcus | Commentary | Mishpatim

Last week’s parashah contained a magnificent description of the revelation at Mt. Sinai.

The Ear that Heard

Feb 25, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Mishpatim

Parashat Mishpatim opens appropriately with laws concerning slavery. Having achieved their freedom after 400 years of bondage, the Israelites are instructed regarding the laws concerning Hebrew slaves. Why is Torah so quick to speak of these particular mitzvot at the outset of the Israelite journey? All too often, freed slaves are quick to become the oppressor. And Torah is consistently vigilant vis鈥撁犫�搗is this danger. The Israelites are encouraged to remember their experience and recount it to future generations; yet, at the same time, they must remember their status as strangers.

Three Mitzvot to Live By

Feb 18, 2006 By David Rose | Commentary | Yitro

We are each a product of the stories that we carry within us.

Reinvigorating Conservative Judaism

Feb 11, 2006 By Susan Grossman | Commentary | Beshallah

The Talmud recounts a story told by Rabbi Joshua Ben Hananiah who, while on a journey, met a young boy sitting at a crossroad.

Memory

Jan 28, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Va'era

Parashat Va’era opens with a stirring pronouncement by God. In Exodus 6:2-6, God declares to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them by My name Adonai. I also established my covenant with them, to give them the Land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. I have now heard the moaning of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage'” No longer will God be a silent spectator in the Egyptian drama. 

God of Wrath?

Jan 26, 2006 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Va'era

There’s an expression that appears periodically in the popular press that annoys me to no end: “The Old Testament God of wrath.”

A (Fearful) Man with a Mission

Jan 21, 2006 By 91快播 Alumni | Commentary | Shemot

By Rabbi Francine Roston

There is a rabbinic teaching that each of us is to carry two pieces of paper in our pockets. From our left pocket we can pull out the piece that reads: “From dust and ashes I have come.” From our right pocket we can pull out the piece that reads: “For my sake the world was created.” There are moments when we need our feet pulled down to the ground and there are moments when we need to be lifted up from low places. 

Seeing the Forest Through the Trees

Jan 14, 2006 By 91快播 Alumni | Commentary | Vayehi

By Rabbi Ronald J. Shulman

It depends how you look at it. Some of us see the problem; others of us see the solution. Some people look at life and see only the facts. Others are able to look at life and see the meaning. Some of us will read this week’s Torah portion as the story of Jacob and Joseph’s deaths. Others of us will read the narrative in Parashat Va-y’hi as the story of their lives.

Moral Leadership

Dec 31, 2005 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Miketz

“Some writers flatly assert that dreams know nothing of moral obligations; others as decidedly declare that the moral nature of man persists even in his dream鈥搇ife.” Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams

After interpreting Pharaoh’s dream prophesizing the demise of Egypt as the will of God, with a degree of autonomy that we have yet to see, Joseph applies his own thought process and looks beyond interpretation.

Troubling Feelings

Dec 24, 2005 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayeshev

Duplicitous behavior is one of the hallmarks of the Genesis narratives. Jacob seizes the birthright and blessing from Esau, Lavan deceives his nephew Jacob repeatedly during the latter’s sojourn, and Jacob’s sons deceive the Hivites as they exact revenge for the rape of their sister Dinah. Of all of these deceitful episodes, none warrants stronger biblical condemnation than the acts of Jacob’s sons in defending their people and honor. Simeon and Levi are explicitly condemned by their father Jacob 鈥� both in the immediate aftermath of the episode and then once again as their father lay on his deathbed.

A Literary Analysis of Judah and Tamar

Dec 24, 2005 By 91快播 Alumni | Commentary | Vayeshev

By Rabbi Steven Lindemann

Interruption, intrusion, insertion: these are terms often used to describe the placement of the story of Judah and Tamar in the midst of the Joseph narrative (Genesis 38).

Pursuing Peace

Dec 17, 2005 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah

The desire to see God and to know God intimately has been a spark for the spiritual quests of prophets and laypeople alike.

The Connection between Twins

Dec 17, 2005 By 91快播 Alumni | Commentary | Vayishlah

By Rabbi Lyle Fishman

While each family relationship in Genesis elicits dorsheini (“investigate, probe, and derive a lesson”), for me the relationship between Esau and Jacob holds especial interest. I am the younger of identical twin brothers. Although the biblical twins were clearly distinguishable by both outward appearance and personality traits, their “twinness” is intriguing.