91快播

Itzik鈥檚 Journey

Nov 18, 2016 By David G. Roskies | Commentary | Vayera

He was our Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas: a Yiddish troubadour and hard-drinking lyric poet who wrote in regular rhymes and rhythms about the lives and unrequited loves of the downtrodden. His name was Itzik Manger, and the Bible was the book he loved most in the world, especially those parts that told an inside, personal story.

What Was Promised to Abraham?

Nov 11, 2016 By Hillel Ben Sasson | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

In this week鈥檚 parashah, Abraham makes his dramatic first appearance on the stage of the Torah, when he follows the command to go forth to an unknown land, relying on the promise of an unknown God. His moving story, along with that of his sons and grandsons, has captivated readers from all three large monotheistic religions. Generation after generation wished to read these patriarchal and matriarchal stories into their lives, their time and place.

Building a Boat and a Tower

Nov 4, 2016 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Noah

Does it feel lately that the fate of the world is at stake? If so, the Torah seems intent to validate and deepen our concern. Here we are just days before one of the most disconcerting elections in American history, and we have also arrived at Parashat Noah, the original dystopian tale. 

Reading and Rereading

Oct 28, 2016 By Avi Garelick | Commentary | Bereishit

There’s a good quip about the Jewish people: we’re the longest running book club on the planet. This week, in synagogues and study halls across the world, Jews are rolling the scroll of the Torah back to the beginning and starting again.. This is a different kind of reading than we do in other spheres of our lives. We read books, articles, and stories at specific times. They could be life-changing鈥攚e might return to those texts and re-read them鈥攐r they could quickly be forgotten. Some people will do that more than once, at which point they have become either fans or scholars, giving those texts a place of privilege in the formation of their individual identity.

Face to Face

Oct 21, 2016 By Stephanie Ruskay | Commentary | Sukkot

We鈥檝e lost touch with how to speak with one another. How else can we understand our current political reality?

Seemingly overnight, our national conversation has sunk into a morass of racism, classism, Islamophobia, and misogyny. And yet it didn鈥檛 happen overnight. We created鈥攁nd allowed to be created鈥攁 system that encourages each of us to demonize anyone from a different background and with a different perspective. We got used to interacting only with people who agree with us.

Making Every Word Count

Oct 14, 2016 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Ha'azinu

Ha鈥檃zinu is remarkable in two respects: what it says, and how it chooses to say it. My focus here will be the latter, but let鈥檚 note with regard to the former that in this, his final address to the Children of Israel before a set of farewell blessings, Moses reviews all of his people鈥檚 past, present, and future. He begins by calling on the God who had called Israel into being and called him to God鈥檚 service. He reminds Israel that God has chosen them and still cares for their well-being. He prophesies that despite all that God and Moses have said and done, Israel will abandon God, as they had in the past. God will punish them, as in the past, but never to the point of utter destruction. In the end, God and Israel will reconcile.

Is This the Fast I Desire?

Oct 11, 2016 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Yom Kippur

When I was a congregational rabbi, my practice was to offer a sermon on Yom Kippur morning relating to social justice. I would raise an issue of ethical concern in the world; share my reading of what Jewish texts and tradition had to say on the matter; and suggest actions for individuals and for the community.

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.