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White Supremacism and Jewish Chosenness

Sep 8, 2017 By Hillel Ben Sasson | Commentary | Ki Tavo

Only a month has passed since the horrifying marches of white nationalists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the repugnant images and voices from that weekend refuse to fade away. More than anything else, this event reminds us all that hatred toward minorities in general and Jews in particular has never been completely eradicated, and might never be. Yet it also compels us to return to our own idea of the chosen people, and to examine whether our particularism is necessarily a chauvinistic one, as so many have argued over the course of time, from Haman to the present day. 

Clothes That Make Us Human

Sep 1, 2017 By William Plevan | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

Among the many joys of summertime in Manhattan is the chance to see a performance of Shakespeare in the Park. This year鈥檚 feast for eyes and ears was the magical romantic comedy A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream. One of the key turns of the plot involves the sprite Puck casting a spell on the wrong young lover, because his only instructions were to enchant one with 鈥淎thenian garb.鈥� Judging on fashion alone, poor Puck thought he had discharged his duties. Puck鈥檚 comedic error is of course another instance of one of Shakespeare鈥檚 favorite themes, the way our clothing becomes synonymous with our identity. Most famously, in Hamlet Shakespeare has the Danish noble Polonius tell his son Laertes that 鈥渢he apparel oft proclaims the man.鈥�

The King鈥檚 Torah and the Torah鈥檚 King

Aug 25, 2017 By Barry Holtz | Commentary | Shofetim

This week鈥檚 Torah portion focuses on a wide array of topics, but underlying virtually everything we can see a thematic coherence well reflected in the parashah鈥檚 name (鈥渏udges鈥�). The sidrah contains one of the most famous lines in the entire Bible, tzedek, tzedek tirdof: 鈥淛ustice, justice shall you pursue鈥� (Deut. 16:20). And throughout the parashah we see the Torah outlining various aspects of the pursuit of justice.

To Know or Not to Know

Aug 18, 2017 By Malka Strasberg Edinger | Commentary | Re'eh

The centralization of cultic worship is one of the major themes in the book of Deuteronomy. However, the place of that worship, the Temple, is described as 鈥渢he place that God will choose,鈥� with no mention of where that place is to exist. This week鈥檚 parashah, parashat Re鈥檈h, introduces the theme that once in the Land of Israel, the Israelites are to worship their God in 鈥�hamakom asher yivhar Hashem鈥� (the place that God will choose). This vague phraseology, which only alludes to a specific place but does not specify where that place is, is repeated 21 times throughout the book of Deuteronomy, with 16 of those occurrences in our parashah alone.

Ve鈥檃havta: A Pedagogy for Thriving

Aug 4, 2017 By Bill Robinson | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

What teachings of Judaism are helping you thrive in today鈥檚 world? How can you better keep these teachings in front of you at all times? And how can we help our children find in Judaism that which helps them thrive?

Judge Justly, Four Ways

Jul 28, 2017 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Devarim

Most of us are rarely called upon to judge other people, so when we read in the first chapter of our parashah about how we ought to judge ethically, we may not ever expect to act on this mitzvah. Then the jury summons comes in the mail, and suddenly we鈥檙e in a jury pool of over 100 people, awaiting selection for a massive white-collar criminal case. The issues of power, influence, and impartiality come up early.

Upgrading the Torah鈥攁nd the World

Jul 21, 2017 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

Is God鈥檚 law perfect? Most of us would assume that anything created by an omniscient and omnipotent being must have no flaws. But a story in today鈥檚 parashah suggests otherwise鈥攊n a manner that shows a surprising similarity to a key concept of Jewish mysticism.

I Will Get Back Up Again

Jul 14, 2017 By Stephanie Ruskay | Commentary | Pinehas

鈥淲hat does your dad do at Google?鈥�

One of our JustCity Leadership Institute pre-college program students explained that her mother works at Google in a significant leadership position. Yet each time she wears a Google T-shirt, people ask her what her father does there.