The Fragility of a Nation’s Unity
Dec 7, 1996 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayeshev | Hanukkah
Jacob fathered twelve sons, but singled out Joseph for special favor, setting off the family dynamic which would eventually land Jacob’s clan in Egypt. The verbal flow of the text foreshadows the intimacy: as our narrative begins the name of Joseph appears directly after that of Jacob. No extraneous word is allowed to loosen the bond. “These are the begettings of Yaakov. Yosef, seventeen years old, used to tend the sheep along with his brothers (Genesis 37:2 in the translation by Everett Fox).” It is as if the history of Jacob comes down to the fate of Joseph.
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One Signal, Many Prophets
Mar 2, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Pekudei | Vayak-hel
This week’s double parashah brings the book of Exodus to a triumphant close. No sooner is the Tabernacle erected (on the first of Nisan, the start of a new year), than it is graced by God’s presence. “When Moses had finished the work, the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud had settled upon it and the Presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle” (40:33-35). The repetition serves to highlight the fact that God had taken up residence in the sanctuary to which all of Israel had contributed. God’s favor was visibly certifiable. The nation would not journey unaccompanied.
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Why a Temple?
Mar 21, 1998 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Pekudei | Vayak-hel
The final two readings this week, which close the book of Exodus, tell of the actual construction of the Tabernacle. In a leap year, with its additional month, we would have devoted one Shabbat to each parasha and read for the haftara a selection pertaining to Solomon’s construction of the First Temple. In fact, the two haftarot are sequential: I Kings 7:40-50 for Vayakhel and I Kings 7:51-8:21 for Pekuday. Thus the synagogue naturally associated the completion of Moses’s mobile sanctuary with the completion of Solomon’s permanent Temple in Jerusalem.
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91快播’s Eternal Light
Jun 11, 2005 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Beha'alotekha
Forty-five years ago my marriage to my wife Sally coincided with the weekly Torah portion of 叠别丑补鈥檃濒辞迟别办丑补, “When you (Aaron) mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand” (Numbers 8:2).
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Our Rendezvous with God
Jun 11, 2005 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Naso
The completion of the Tabernacle in the wilderness, like the construction of the Temple by Solomon centuries later, restricts the locus of God’s presence to a single sacred space.
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Counting People
Jun 5, 2005 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Bemidbar
The book of Numbers opens on a triumphant note.
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The Sabbatical Year
May 19, 2005 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Behar
The DNA of Judaism is the number seven.
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Claiming Our Spiritual Freedom
May 14, 2005 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Emor
The laws of the Torah are rooted in the exodus from Egypt.
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