The Currencies of Justice

The Currencies of Justice

Aug 9, 2008 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Devarim

You shall not be partial in judgment: hear out low (katan) and high (gadol) alike. Fear no man, for judgment is Gods. (Deut. 1:17)

Philo, the great first-century Alexandrian Jewish thinker, was engaged in a project that in many ways was deeply modern. He sought to translate Judaism for the Greek-speaking world of his day and demonstrate to a highly educated and urbane population that the Torah was a philosophically serious work. Not only could one be a Jew and be a Greek, but in many ways a pious Jew was the truest of Greeks.

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The Question of Fracking

The Question of Fracking

Aug 2, 2008 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Masei

Golda Meir famously quipped: Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took us forty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place in the Middle East that has no oil!

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How We Ascend the Mountain

How We Ascend the Mountain

Jul 19, 2008 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Pinehas

Not long ago, I set out in the middle of the night to ascend Haleakala, known as the world’s largest dormant volcano (actually, it’s not really a volcano, but that’s another conversation entirely).

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Recognizing God’s Gifts

Recognizing God’s Gifts

Jul 5, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Hukkat

There is a voice that echoes in my memory; so distinctive that I can recall it clearly even today.

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An Outsider’s Perspective

An Outsider’s Perspective

Jul 12, 2008 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Balak

Once in a while, an outsiders view yields a crystal clear vision of essential qualities not quite visible to those on the inside.

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Reading Like the Rabbis

Reading Like the Rabbis

Jun 28, 2008 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Korah

Grab a thick book and a cold drink and head for a comfy chair at a lake, beach, or pool. Lose yourself in luxurious chapters of artful narrative and savor the unique culture of a well-constructed novel or the incisive analysis of a work of nonfiction. This is the great joy of summer reading: to slow down enough to indulge in what is otherwise impossible, to enter the world of literature.

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God’s True Strength (And Ours Too)

God’s True Strength (And Ours Too)

Jun 21, 2008 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

In this week’s Torah portion, Shelah Lekha, God tells Moses to send twelve scouts to the land of Canaan to see what there is to see.

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The Ways God Leads Us

The Ways God Leads Us

Jun 14, 2008 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

Abraham Joshua Heschel writes eloquently that the supreme aspiration of religion is to inspire each one of us, in the words of the psalmist, “to lift up your eyes and see.”

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