JTS Torah Archive

How Judaism Is Like an iPhone

Aug 23, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Eikev

Since I am a self-professed “techno-junkie,” it took considerable restraint to wait the year for the second-generation iPhone to be released. Having read every review, followed its development on blogs, and waited patiently, only recently did I purchase my iPhone. Before it was in my hand I knew everything it was capable of, yet I was surprised by one aspect: its simplicity. As an Apple aficionado, I was expecting the attractive design, but after opening the box, I realized that there was one thing missing: a manual. The iPhone expects you to intuit its functions, discover its capabilities, and just use it.

Va-ethannan’s Personal Message to Us

Aug 16, 2008 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

But what really draws me to Va-ethannan, I think, is the way it reaches out to each one of us individually, both pleading and demanding to be heard. It addresses us person by person, one-on-one, in the same way we enter into every serious relationship and tremble with each true love.

The Currencies of Justice

Aug 9, 2008 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’s. (Deut. 1:17)

Philo, the great first-century Alexandrian Jewish thinker, was engaged in a project that in many ways was deeply modern. He sought to “translate” Judaism for the Greek-speaking world of his day and 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.

The Question of Fracking

Aug 2, 2008 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Masei

Golda Meir famously quipped: “Let me tell you the one thing I have against Moses. He took us forty years into the desert in order to bring us to the one place in the Middle East that has no oil!”

How We Ascend the Mountain

Jul 19, 2008 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Pinehas

Not long ago, I set out in the middle of the night to ascend Haleakala, known as the world’s largest dormant volcano (actually, it’s not really a volcano, but that’s another conversation entirely).

An Outsider’s Perspective

Jul 12, 2008 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Balak

Once in a while, an outsider’s view yields a crystal clear vision of essential qualities not quite visible to those on the inside.

Recognizing God’s Gifts

Jul 5, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Hukkat

There is a voice that echoes in my memory; so distinctive that I can recall it clearly even today.

Reading Like the Rabbis

Jun 28, 2008 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Korah

Grab a thick book and a cold drink and head for a comfy chair at a lake, beach, or pool. Lose yourself in luxurious chapters of artful narrative and savor the unique culture of a well-constructed novel or the incisive analysis of a work of nonfiction. This is the great joy of summer reading: to slow down enough to indulge in what is otherwise impossible, to enter the world of literature.

God’s True Strength (And Ours Too)

Jun 21, 2008 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

In this week’s Torah portion, Shelah Lekha, God tells Moses to send twelve scouts to the land of Canaan to see what there is to see.

The Ways God Leads Us

Jun 14, 2008 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

Abraham Joshua Heschel writes eloquently that the supreme aspiration of religion is to inspire each one of us, in the words of the psalmist, “to lift up your eyes and see.”

Finding Political Guidance in the Torah

Jun 7, 2008 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Naso

We Jews are up to our necks in political concern these days, in part because power and influence are ours to an unprecedented degree. How shall we think about these matters? Is there a Jewish approach to politics in general, and to these sorts of issues in particular?

The Torah’s Lessons for Building Communities

May 31, 2008 By Charles Savenor | Commentary | Bemidbar

Bemidbar, the fourth book of the Torah, opens with a demographic and geographic description of the Children of Israel.

The Torah’s Lessons for Society

May 25, 2008 By Edward Feld | Commentary | Behukkotai

The concluding parashah of Leviticus, Behukkotai, centers on God’s enumeration of both blessing and curse—the blessings that will follow upon observance of the commandments and the curses that will result from violation of the commandments.

Our Partnership with God

May 16, 2008 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Behar

Almost a year after the twenty-fifth anniversary, with current showings on TV Land promising the version with enhanced visual effects, never-before-seen footage, and a digitally remastered soundtrack, as well as videos and DVDs for watching at home whenever you wish, E.T.: The Extraterrestrial is a part of the cinematic culture of many more people than just the moviegoers of the early 1980s.

Our Influence on God

May 10, 2008 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

At the geographic heart of Parashat Emor lies a seemingly innocuous statement: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: These are My fixed times, the fixed times of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as sacred occasions (Leviticus 23:1–2).”

A Jewish-Buddhist Understanding of Holiness

May 3, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Kedoshim

Leon Wieseltier, in a recent column in The New Republic about diversity at Harvard, commented about the church bells he heard growing up on Avenue O.

The Four Children

Apr 19, 2008 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Pesah

We are told to probe the narrative of the redemption from Egypt for insights about what is blocking redemption in our own day and how we can work to bring ultimate redemption into being. The question facing us as we approach the seder, then, is this: What shall we tell our children and grandchildren at Passover—particularly the teenagers, college students, and twenty-somethings who are gathered at the seder table?

Finding Holiness Through Boundaries

Apr 12, 2008 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Metzora

The Book of Vayikra concerns itself with a truly interesting collection of topics, among them animal sacrifice, priestly behavior, food, skin diseases, and blood.

The Role of Religious Leaders

Mar 29, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Shemini

In an email newsletter distributed by the Martin Marty Center Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion at the University of Chicago, Martin E. Marty, a prominent voice of religion in America, recently commented on a new book about the role of preachers in politics.

How Worship Might Shape Our Minds

Mar 22, 2008 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Tzav

Even after years of probing Leviticus for insight, and each year finding more significance in the book’s attempt to sanctify everyday experience, I found myself captured by Douglas’s description of the Levitical system of animal offerings as “philosophizing by sacrifice.” She writes: “Not only in ancient Israel, but in many parts of the world, philosophizing by sacrifice can be quite paradoxical and abstruse.”