Basic Questions
Oct 12, 2018 By Shira D. Epstein | Commentary | Noah
Early in my teaching career I worked with kindergarteners, incorporating drama into daily Judaics lessons. The holiday cycle offered developmentally appropriate treasure troves of life lessons: practicing ways to say 鈥淚’m sorry鈥� to loved ones during Tishrei; exploring Esther鈥檚 mustering of courage to speak the truth; hesitations of the Israelites to part from predictable routines in the known and familiar Egypt to try something brand-new and strange.
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Here We Go Again!
Oct 5, 2018 By Stephen P. Garfinkel | Commentary | Bereishit
What?! Starting Genesis again? We read it last fall. And we read it the year before that, and the year before that. How many times do we need to hear, 鈥淚n the beginning of God鈥檚 creating the heavens and the earth鈥� (or 鈥淲hen God began to create . . .,鈥� or the even better known, but less accurate, translation, 鈥淚n the beginning, God created heaven and earth . . .鈥�)? Really, don鈥檛 we already know that the first chapter of the Torah announces to all readers and listeners that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day?
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When Buildings Fall
Sep 28, 2018 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Sukkot
From my childhood perspective growing up in an apartment building in suburban Boston, having a sukkah was a symbol of arrival鈥攁nd our family didn鈥檛 have one. Most of our friends lived in private homes, and so, with a mixture of enjoyment and jealousy, we traipsed all around town to have our yom tov meals in other people鈥檚 sukkot.
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Our Very Life
Sep 21, 2018 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Ha'azinu
At the end of his life, with Joshua by his side, Moses begins his great, thunderous poem, Ha鈥檃zinu, summoning the heavens and the earth as witnesses to his powerful, angry message, as God commanded him to do in the preceding parashah, Vayelekh. And yet, in a one-verse reshut, a prayerful, wishful intention, preceding the central portion of his sermonic poem, he says he wants his words to land lightly: 鈥淢ay my discourse come down as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like showers on young growth, like droplets on the grass鈥� (Deut. 32:2). Then suddenly, central angry theme emerges, and he calls the people 鈥渦nworthy of [God], crooked, perverse鈥� (32:5), 鈥渄ull and witless鈥� (32:6).
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Metaphorically Speaking
Sep 14, 2018 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Shabbat Shuvah | Yom Kippur
I am sometimes surprised at how literal liberal Jews can be. Many wonder whether they can refer to God as 诪讞讬讛 诪转讬诐, Restorer of Life to the Dead, if they do not believe there is life after death. Many wonder whether they should recite the blessing which praises God for choosing Israel from among the other nations, 讗砖专 讘讞专 讘谞讜 诪讻诇 讛注诪讬诐, if they do not believe that God chose Israel.
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Remember the Children!
Sep 7, 2018 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Nitzavim | Rosh Hashanah
The cries of children, and the sobbing of parents, ring in our ears each Rosh Hashanah. The Torah and haftarah readings emphasize the perils faced by sons Ishmael and Isaac, and the terrors experienced by mothers Hagar, Sarah, Hannah, and Rachel. To witness a child in danger evokes a nearly universal response to rush to the rescue. Implicit in this collection of texts is the plea that God look upon us鈥攖he Jewish people鈥攁s vulnerable children, that divine mercies might be stirred, and forgiveness extended to us all. Just as the mothers of Israel were stirred with mercy, we ask that God be moved to show us love.
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First Fruits, New Thoughts: A Pilgrim Reflects on the First Fruits Ritual
Aug 31, 2018 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Ki Tavo
Peace be with you, friend! My name is Micah; I hail from Anav. And you? Shemaryahu, from Jericho, you say; a Benjaminite, then. Well, if you don鈥檛 mind sharing the road with a Judahite let鈥檚 walk together.
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Ethics of Solidarity and Civil Equality: From the Parashah to the Knesset
Aug 24, 2018 By Hillel Ben Sasson | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
From the narrative of Adam and Eve to the very last verses of Chronicles, the Hebrew Bible and specifically the Torah may be read as a process by which individuals and collectives are selected or separated. The Christian New Testament sends its redeeming message universally, to all human beings: 鈥淭here is neither Greek nor Jew, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus鈥� (Galatians 3:28). Exceptions notwithstanding (Isa. 2:1-2, for example), our Tanakh is far more particularistic.
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