91快播

From Sarah to Mrs. Portnoy

Oct 10, 2017 By Marjorie Lehman | Commentary

From Sarah in the Bible to Philip Roth鈥檚 Mrs. Portnoy, images of the mother have been a hallmark of Jewish culture. Hallowed by some, excoriated by others鈥攎others have been depicted, on the one hand, as all that is good and sacred in the Jewish family, and, on the other, and far more frequently, as overbearing, guilt-inducing, and interfering.

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.

Fearless Women

Jul 14, 2017 By Meredith Katz | Commentary | Pinehas

Many narratives coalesce in Parashat Pinehas, and it is challenging to review without connection to the current political and social climate. The daughters of Zelophehad make a proposal to inherit their father鈥檚 portion, as part of a land division framework aiming toward equality: 鈥渢o the more thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance.鈥� The daughters raise their claim with Moses et al. as women, demanding their right to inherit in the absence of any sons, a significant step for women in ancient times that is then added to the canon.

Gender Inside and Outside the Camp

Apr 28, 2017 By Joy Ladin | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

The idea that others would examine and report on intimate details of our bodies鈥攖hat such things would be of communal concern, and subject us to institutional regulation鈥攎ay seem archaic. But as transgender people know, when it comes to gender, this kind of surveillance is alive and well.

The Emergence of Praise

Dec 9, 2016 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Vayetzei

Our parashah begins with Jacob鈥檚 profound, life-changing encounter with divinity: his dream of the ladder; his vision of God promising that his descendants will multiply and be blessed; and his vow that 鈥渋f God remains with me鈥�the Lord shall be my God鈥� (Gen. 28:20-21). But our parashah includes another profound, life-changing moment of connecting to God鈥攁 less famous one鈥攅xperienced by Leah. After giving birth to three sons and naming each of them in accordance with aspects of her life experience, Leah gives birth again and says hapa鈥檃m odeh et Adonai (Gen. 29:35)鈥攖his time I will praise/thank/acknowledge the Lord鈥攁nd names her son Judah (Yehudah, from odeh).

Hesed Depends on Saying No

Nov 25, 2016 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

Of all the lessons that Parashat Hayyei Sarah teaches us about hesed (kindness), perhaps its most important lesson can be summed up in the word 鈥渘o.鈥�

Rebecca, the heroine of the parashah, is both physically and ethically strong. She can lift a heavy water urn with ease, and she possesses a deep graciousness called hesed. When she gives water to Abraham鈥檚 servant, Eliezer, and his camels, she fulfills Eliezer鈥檚 eloquent prayer, in which he appealed to God moments earlier to find a fitting wife for Isaac. He names the value of hesed twice in this brief prayer (Gen. 24:12, 14), and his prayer is answered so rapidly and completely by Rebecca鈥檚 action that Eliezer is stunned (Gen. 24:21).

Adele Ginzberg鈥檚 Sukkah

Oct 21, 2016 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Sukkot

Such a luscious array of branches and gourds proudly displayed by Adele Ginzberg鈥攚ife of 91快播 Talmud professor Louis Ginzberg鈥攁s she prepared to once again adorn the 91快播 sukkah!

This photo from The 91快播 Library evokes for me the loving care with which many early twentieth-century 91快播 faculty wives cultivated religious spirit and community.

Purim Heroines

Mar 18, 2016 By Stefanie B. Siegmund | Commentary | Purim

I did not wear the crown and satiny dress, or stand in line for the beauty pageant. Queen Esther was not a role model I鈥攐r many other children鈥攃ould choose. Later, in the academy, I understood that Esther鈥檚 subterfuge and seduction were the strategies of the weak, the politics of the minority.