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Returning with God

Sep 30, 2016 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Nitzavim

This week鈥檚 Torah Portion, Nitzavim, speaks profoundly about teshuvah, the literal and figurative struggle to return to God. When we turn back to God 鈥渨ith all [our] heart and soul,鈥� the parashah tells us, then God 鈥渨ill bring you together again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you鈥� (Deut 30:3). Being scattered is a state of disorientation and disconnection. Teshuvah represents a coming home. There鈥檚 an organic connection between the return to the Land of Israel鈥攖he land at the center of the Jewish soul, from which we have been banished鈥攁nd the return that involves changing our ways and opening our hearts to God.

What It Means to Enjoy

Sep 23, 2016 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Ki Tavo

At one of our Shabbat afternoon Talmud classes some 50 years ago, after the usual bout of eating, drinking, and singing, the topic under discussion was what it means to 鈥渆njoy鈥� Shabbat and Yom Tov (Sabbath and Festivals). We discussed Rabbi Eliezer鈥檚 statement that Festival 鈥渞ejoicing鈥� is obligatory, as well as the two alternative ways he proffers for attaining pleasure: either by eating and drinking or by sitting and studying. Rabbi Joshua interjects that it should be half of one and half of the other (BT Pesahim 68b).

Why Do We Need a Reminder to Remember?

Sep 16, 2016 By Yedida Eisenstat | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

When was the last time you memorized a phone number? In the age of Gmail, iPhones, and Facebook, remembering has become a passive activity. But at the end of this week鈥檚 parashah, the Torah commands us to actively 鈥渞emember what Amalek did to you鈥� do not forget.鈥� But what did Moses command Israel to remember and why?

Our Eyes Did Not See

Sep 9, 2016 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Shofetim

The history of murder begins with Cain鈥檚 slaying of Abel. That murder itself has a prehistory. When Adam and Eve ate forbidden fruit, God called them to account, and gave them the opportunity to acknowledge their sin and seek forgiveness. Instead, they chose obfuscation and recrimination. Adam shifted blame to Eve, who in turn argued that the serpent was culpable. As when they ate the fruit (Gen. 3:7), their eyes again were opened; each now saw that the other was capable of sin without remorse, and indifference born of self-interest.

Petition or Protest

Sep 2, 2016 By Adam Zagoria-Moffet | Commentary | Re'eh

One month from now, we turn to renew the Hebrew calendar, and our spiritual lives with it. On that day, 鈥渢he day the world is born,鈥� we read the story of Hannah (1 Sam 1:1鈥�2:10). After struggling for years to conceive, Hannah finally gives birth to a son, Shemuel, for whom she had prayed at the temple in Shiloh.

Love the Stranger

Aug 26, 2016 By Ethan Linden | Commentary | Eikev

In our parashah this week we find an odd statement masquerading as banal鈥攁 revolutionary idea that at first glance seems familiar, but is something else entirely. In Deuteronomy 10:19 the Torah commands: 鈥�Ve-ahavtem et hager ki gerim hayitem be-eretz mitzrayim鈥� (鈥淟ove the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt鈥�).

Experiencing the Light of Torah

Aug 19, 2016 By Nicole Wilson-Spiro | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

This summer I returned to Jewish overnight camp after a 15-year hiatus. After all this time, s鈥檓ores, a love of cheering in unison (has the cheering gotten louder or am I older?), and earnest, hard-working counselors (I was one, once) are still to be found at camp. I am happy to report that the food is now much, much better than I remembered, and the supervision and attention to camper care have improved vastly, as well.

The Currencies of Justice

Aug 12, 2016 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Devarim

You shall not be partial in judgment: hear out low [katan] and high [gadol] alike. Fear no man, for judgment is God鈥檚. (Deut. 1:17)

Philo, the great 1st-century Alexandrian Jewish thinker, was engaged in a project that in many ways was deeply modern. He sought to 鈥渢ranslate鈥� Judaism for the Greek-speaking world of his day, and to demonstrate to a highly educated and urbane population that the Torah was a philosophically serious work. Not only could one be a Jew and be a Greek, but in many ways a pious Jew was the truest of Greeks.