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The Monumental Act of Listening

Dec 6, 2019 By Jessica Fisher | Commentary | Vayetzei

Parashat Vayetzei brings us to a climactic moment of a 20-year conflict between Jacob and Laban. When Jacob came to Laban鈥檚 house after tricking his own father and brother, Laban made him work for seven years to earn the right to marry Rachel, only to be tricked into marrying Leah. So he worked seven more years and finally married Rachel. More hiding and trickery ensued, until finally Jacob decided it was time to leave this toxic dynamic and he snuck away with his family. But Laban caught up to them and, after years of deceit, they had it out with each other, putting everything on the table once and for all: Laban was hurt that Jacob had left without giving him a chance to say goodbye to his children and grandchildren; Jacob was resentful for the years of hard labor, lies, and harsh treatment. (Gen. 31:26-42)

Stumping Rashi: Humility and Modern Discourse

Nov 30, 2019 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Toledot

One of the joys of working at 91快播 is the ability to take courses from arguably the greatest Jewish studies faculty in the world. Last year, I audited a course on biblical grammar in the Book of Genesis taught by one of this generation鈥檚 greatest Bible scholars. While I did my best to keep up with the younger and better-educated members of the class鈥攎ostly rabbinical and graduate students鈥擨 was particularly impressed by the level of class discussion. During one class, a student offered an interpretation of the text which he argued was consistent with the grammar but different from the one offered by the professor. The professor paused for a moment and then smiled: 鈥淚 never thought of that.鈥�

A Family Reconciles

Nov 22, 2019 By Naomi Kalish | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

Parashat Hayyei Sarah is bookended with the accounts of the deaths of the two first Jews, Sarah and Abraham. The early part of the text spends much time describing the process by which Abraham secured land for Sarah鈥檚 burial and then buried her. At the end of the parashah, we learn that Isaac and Ishmael buried their father Abraham together. Though the Torah describes these brothers鈥� unity in concise and matter-of-fact language, they and their extended family must have worked hard to achieve reconciliation.

The Gravity of Laughter

Nov 16, 2019 By Ariella Rosen | Commentary | Vayera

Parashat Vayera opens with a flurry of action. Yet several of the narrative鈥檚 most significant moments are driven not by action, but by reaction.

After Abraham runs to welcome the three wandering strangers he sees from the entrance to his tent, inviting them to bathe, rest, and feast, the action slows, opening space for a story to play out in the realm of emotions. The strangers share the news that in one year鈥檚 time, Sarah will give birth to a son, ending the couple鈥檚 decades-long wait to fulfill their destiny as the parents of a nation.

Go Forth: The Grammar of Remembrance

Nov 4, 2019 By David G. Roskies | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Jewish destiny begins with 鈥�Lekh-lekha,鈥� 鈥淕o forth.鈥� It marks the beginning of our journey through covenantal space; the beginning of our obligations under the terms of the covenant; the beginning of our family romance, so fraught with jealousy and betrayal; and the beginning of our ongoing dialogue with God. God speaks to Abram seven times in the parashah, tracking his every move, until, having reached the age of 99, Abram is addressed for the first time by his new covenantal name of 鈥淎vraham.鈥� God speaks to him both oracularly, in verse, and in simple prose; both by day and by night: sometimes in a state of wakefulness and sometimes in a vision.

Feeling the Flood

Nov 1, 2019 By Mary Brett Koplen | Commentary | Noah

As the curtains close on Parashat Bereshit, we find God steeped in sadness.

讜址讬旨执谞旨指郑讞侄诐 讛’ 讻旨执纸讬-注指砖讉指芝讛 讗侄转-讛纸指讗指讚指謻诐 讘旨指讗指謶专侄抓 讜址讬旨执转职注址爪旨值謻讘 讗侄诇-诇执讘旨纸讜:

鈥淎nd Adonai regretted that God had made humanity on earth and God鈥檚 heart was grieved.鈥� (Gen. 6:6)

God is heartbroken. The people whom God formed with such care, the people into whom God exhaled God鈥檚 own divine spark, the people God loved鈥攈ad chosen a path of corruption and crime.

Don鈥檛 Wait Until Next Week

Oct 25, 2019 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Bereishit

Authored together with Karenna Gore, Director, Center for Earth Ethics, Union Theological Seminary

The Earth is the Lord鈥檚 and all that is in it, the world and all its inhabitants. God founded it upon the oceans and set it on the rivers. (Psalm 24:1-2)

As the Jewish community once more begins its annual reading of the Torah, and as we recount the grandeur of God鈥檚 creation, we focus on God鈥檚 charge to newly created humanity: 鈥淭he Lord God took Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden, to serve and protect it.鈥� (Gen. 2:15, authors鈥� translations).

Human Lives and the Natural World

Oct 18, 2019 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Sukkot

For many of us who live in dense metropolitan areas, spending time in national parks gives us a unique opportunity to experience in more immediate fashion the majesty of our world. Vacationing in the Canadian Rockies this past summer鈥攈iking in the mountains, walking on glaciers, boating in deep blue lakes, cooling off in the spray of gorgeous waterfalls, identifying rare birds and seeing moose, elk, deer, and the occasional bear (thankfully from a distance)鈥擨 felt awed and fortunate to behold this.