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Rebecca the Patriarch

Nov 18, 2022 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

This week鈥檚 parashah, Hayyei Sarah (Genesis 23:1鈥�25:18), is about continuing the line, producing progeny. The parashah opens with a report of Sarah鈥檚 death at 120 years old. It closes with a list of Abraham鈥檚 children from concubines and Ishmael鈥檚 many offspring (25:1鈥�18). But the central story of the parashah, the entire chapter of Genesis 24, is about finding a wife for Isaac.

Women of Faith

Nov 11, 2022 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Vayera

Abraham passed God鈥檚 litmus test of faith. God commands Abraham to take his beloved son Isaac to the land of Moriah and kill him. Faithful Abraham does not hesitate.Genesis 22may be the most loved and hated story in the Torah by every reader, no matter what their faith. Certainly, generations of Jews have struggled to make sense of this story, and of the father and God it portrays.

Learning as a Lifelong Experience

Nov 4, 2022 By Edward L. Greenstein | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

An attentive reading of the Torah and of Parashat Lekh Lekha in particular leads to a very different understanding. Abraham was a learner鈥攈e needed to grow in his trust of the Deity, and in himself. In this sense, Abraham鈥檚 career models the path of a lifelong learner.

After the Flood

Oct 28, 2022 By Alisa Braun | Commentary | Noah

Today it鈥檚 common to find divrei torah that use Parashat Noah to raise awareness about our impact on the environment. Yet I recently discovered a voice from the first stirrings of modernity that seemed to already intuit, within a theological framework, the devastating impact of humans on the global environment. For Obadiah Sforno (1475鈥�1550), the 鈥渓awlessness鈥� during the days of Noah did not just cause God to flood to earth. It was a force capable of ruining the climate and planet, and thereby shaping the course of human history ever after.

The World of Creation in Each of Us

Oct 21, 2022 By Israel Gordan | Commentary | Bereishit

One of the most well-known, and controversial, passages in the Torah comes after God creates man and woman: 鈥淕od blessed them and said to them, 鈥楤e fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea the birds of the sky, and all living things that creep on earth鈥欌�� (Gen. 1:28).

Impermanence by Design

Oct 14, 2022 By Grace Gleason | Commentary | Sukkot

If your sukkot are anything like mine, something usually falls off or blows away at some point during the week. This was true of my backyard sukkah in North Carolina, whose hanging decorations were not securely fastened enough to withstand the wind, and the skhakh of my Upper West Side balcony, which unfortunately ended up on someone else鈥檚 roof.

Sukkot are impermanent by design. This is our lesson and our meditation throughout the week. In the Babylonian Talmud (Sukkah 23a), our rabbis argue about how strong a wind a sukkah should be able to withstand in order to be considered kosher: does it need to be able to withstand a strong wind, or just average wind? We can feel the tension鈥攐n the one hand, we want our sukkot to be strong and sturdy, on the other hand, the holiday pushes us to acknowledge that they may just blow away. The Mishnah in Sukkah 22a suggests that in the ideal sukkah, one should be able to see stars through the roof鈥攊n order, I think, that we might contemplate the great expanse of the universe, and our relative temporality and insignificance.

Making Every Word Count

Oct 7, 2022 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Ha'azinu

Ha鈥檃zinu is remarkable in two respects: what it says, and how it chooses to say it. My focus here will be the latter, but let鈥檚 note with regard to the former that in this, his final address to the Children of Israel before a set of farewell blessings, Moses reviews all of his people鈥檚 past, present, and future. He begins by calling on the God who had called Israel into being and called him to God鈥檚 service. He reminds Israel that God has chosen them and still cares for their well-being. He prophesies that despite all that God and Moses have said and done, Israel will abandon God, as they had in the past. God will punish them, as in the past, but never to the point of utter destruction. In the end, God and Israel will reconcile.

The Courage to Hope

Sep 30, 2022 By Rabbi Ayelet Cohen | Commentary | Shabbat Shuvah | Vayeilekh | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

Shabbat Shuvah represents the place between hope and fear; between transformation and unrealized aspirations. We may have made big promises on Rosh Hashanah, resolving to make significant changes in our lives, entering the year with a sense of excitement and optimism. But as Yom Kippur draws closer, we become more attuned to our own shortcomings. So much is beyond our control. Changing old patterns is arduous, the path uncertain. Confronting our own limitations, we can feel afraid and alone. The spiritual work of this moment lies in discerning the difference between acknowledging our limitations and succumbing to fear.