Which Is 鈥淲iser鈥�: The Story of the Exodus or the Laws of Pesah?
Apr 15, 2022 By Jeremy Tabick | Commentary | Pesah
One of the core aspects of the Torah鈥檚 Pesah commentary is the education of the participants. In its very introduction, in the reading for the first day of Pesah, the concern of education is placed front and center: 鈥淲hen your children will ask you, 鈥榃hat is this service for you?鈥� you will say, 鈥業t is a pesah sacrifice to God . . .鈥欌�� (Exod. 12:26鈥�27). Indeed, justifying the practice of Pesah to children comes up in the Torah no less than four times.
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Here I Am, 罢锄补谤补鈥檃迟 and All
Apr 1, 2022 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Shabbat Hahodesh | Tazria
When I was 12, a few weeks before my bat mitzvah I went in to meet with one of the rabbis of my synagogue. At the time, the synagogue newsletter included a 鈥減asuk of the week,鈥� a verse from that week鈥檚 Torah portion that was particularly interesting or thought provoking. However, as the rabbi confessed to […]
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Lessons From the Ashes
Mar 18, 2022 By Naomi Kalish | Commentary | Tzav
Many of us choose our careers and life roles carefully and spend our days engaged in pursuits about which we feel passionate. However, sometimes even a vocation can feel like drudgery. Whether a profession, family role, or volunteer position, roles that once came with a sense of calling or purpose can become hard to face and starting the day can require exceptional energy. This can happen as part of the ups and downs of ordinary life but is especially true when we experience multiple simultaneous crises.
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“Tis the Gift to Be Simple”
Mar 11, 2022 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Shabbat Zakhor | Vayikra
Parashat Vayikra inaugurates the book of Leviticus, the center(piece) of the Torah. Following immediately on the completion of the meticulously constructed Tabernacle (Mishkan) and its sumptuous appurtenances, it launches a set of instructions for how that sacred space was to function, and under whose authority. No wonder it was called in Rabbinic times 鈥淭orat Kohanim鈥濃�斺�渢he priests鈥� manual.鈥� This week thus presents an opportunity to reflect on the relationship between that Mishkan鈥攁nd all its successor institutions in Jewish life鈥攁nd spiritual quests.
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Can You Rival and Respect Your Teacher?
Mar 4, 2022 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Pekudei
Parashat Pekudei brings the Book of Exodus to a close. Strikingly, Exodus opens with the loss of one home as the Israelites descend into Egyptian enslavement, and that same book closes with the festive completion of another home, the Mishkan or Tabernacle that is the dwelling place of God鈥檚 presence. As Pekudei opens we are reminded that the Tabernacle project, far from being the work of one person, involves the entire Israelite 鈥渧illage鈥濃�擥od, Moses, Israelite craftsmen, and Israelite donors. Still, most significantly, we are reintroduced in this Torah reading to the master artisan of the Tabernacle and its appurtenances, Bezalel.
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The Sanctity of the Schoolroom
Feb 25, 2022 By Ofra Arieli Backenroth | Commentary | Shabbat Shekalim | Vayak-hel
In the Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard (1884鈥�1962) highlights the importance of the home for each of us: 鈥淭he house, even more than the landscape, is a “psychic state,” and even when reproduced as it appears from the outside, it bespeaks intimacy鈥� (72). This week鈥檚 parashah speaks about building a home鈥攁 home for God. Reading the description of this process underscores for me, an educator and a scholar of the arts, the importance of aesthetics and beauty in what we study, the manner in which we study, and above all, the spaces where we study.
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On Needing Certainty Now
Feb 18, 2022 By Yitz Landes | Commentary | Ki Tissa
Imagine, for a moment, that you are an Israelite at the foot of Har Sinai. Over the past few weeks, your life has been turned upside down: you have witnessed mind-boggling miracles, you have been freed from slavery, and you have been brought out into the wilderness, to the bottom of Har Sinai. Too scared to go up the mountain (Exod. 19:18, 23), you and your fellow Israelites remain camped out below as Moses goes up and down, eventually staying up on top as God teaches him and prepares the Tablets. You know that you are going somewhere that you should consider home鈥攖o be sure, a place that you have never seen鈥攁nd you know that many of your practices must change.
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Cover Crop for a Hardened Heart
Dec 31, 2021 By Dave Yedid | Commentary | Va'era
These two verses describe the impact of the final plague in the parashah, hail. They come in the short thaw between Pharoah softening his heart鈥攆or the first time this parashah鈥攁nd hardening it again, where our parashah ends. Why does our Torah mention these four crops? What do they have to do with the plagues, or in the calculation of Pharaoh’s change of heart?
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