Offerings As Devotion and Redemption
Feb 25, 2014 By Stephen A. Geller | Commentary | Pekudei
Parashat Pekudei ends with a tremendous scene, one of the highlights of the Bible: the divine Glory, the kavod, comes down from heaven and settles into the newly completed Tabernacle so that Moses cannot enter it.
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Vayikra鈥擫ean Out
Feb 24, 2014 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Vayikra
This week we begin reading the middle book of the Five Books of Moses, Leviticus. Its position in the Torah scroll is not just coincidental; the laws of Leviticus are central to the earliest rabbis鈥� understanding of Judaism.
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Arts and Crafts: Commentary on Parashat Ki Tissa
Feb 11, 2014 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Ki Tissa
There are aspects of the Bible鈥檚 account of the construction of the Tabernacle in the wilderness that seem incredible; so much so that early critical commentators tended to reject its historical accuracy out of hand.
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Terumah – The Gift That Elevates
Jan 29, 2014 By Eitan Fishbane | Commentary | Terumah
Sometimes we all feel like we鈥檙e giving more than we get, that we do more than our share, or that our individual needs are being sacrificed for the sake of someone else鈥檚 happiness.
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Defining a Moral and Just Society
Jan 22, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Mishpatim
Sometimes an article in the newspaper reminds you of something in the Torah and makes you think in new ways about verses you have read many times before.
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Exodus 18: The Proverbial Visit of the In-Laws
Jan 15, 2014 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Yitro
鈥淐ome and listen to my story 鈥檅out a man named . . . Jethro!鈥�
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Living Practice: Not 鈥淗ow鈥� but 鈥淲hy鈥�
Jan 9, 2014 By Ute Steyer | Commentary | Beshallah
鈥淣ow when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, 鈥楾he people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.鈥欌�� (Exod. 13:17)
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Pesah: A Liberating Experience for Women
Mar 4, 2013 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Pesah
There is no festival more home- and family-oriented than Pesah. Sukkot may run a close second, but the seder places Pesah way ahead. Although celebrating at home with a lavish family meal should make this holiday a pleasure to anticipate, for many women this is not so. The painstaking conversion of the kitchen from leaven-filled to leaven-free status has turned the Festival of Freedom into an intense period of domestic labor rather than a celebration of personal and national liberation. That was not the intention of the halakhah.
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