Miketz—Hanukkah—Thanksgiving
Nov 27, 2013 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Miketz | Hanukkah
Hanukkah is the original Thanksgiving. While it is true that our ancestors did not eat turkey (a North American bird), they certainly were cooking with oil.
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Israel’s Safety, Israel’s Soul: Hopes and Fears in Contemporary Israel
Nov 21, 2013 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
Yossi Klein Halevi and David Senesh have two very different views on Israeli society. Should Israeli society be more concerned about the price of being too weak or too strong? What are the responsibilities of a country under existential threat in terms of both morality and security? These questions are discussed in this provocative, illuminating, and critically important discussion moderated by Rabbi Julia Andelman.
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Power of Redemption
Nov 20, 2013 By Mitchell Cohen | Commentary | Vayeshev
The theme of oppression and redemption is repeated throughout Parashat Vayeshev, as we read of many instances in which pain and suffering lead to freedom and joy.
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Study of Ritual—Study as Ritual (Part 2)
Nov 20, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Last week, we looked at the three blessings recited traditionally each day, affirming that the study of Torah is a mitzvah, a source of beauty for all generations, and that God is (continually) giving Torah (Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays, 4). Today we explore an unusual type of textual engagement that follows these blessings, both immediately and through the unfolding cycle of the siddur. The blessings are followed directly by three texts (ibid., 5): the birkat kohanim (Priestly Blessing, Num, 6:24–26); a selection from the Mishnah (Pe’ah1:1); and a selection from the Talmud (BT Shabbat 127a). Each of them is intriguing.
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The Land of Sojourning
Nov 19, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayeshev
After the relative insecurity and turbulence of Jacob’s life (masquerading as his brother Esau, taking flight to Laban’s home, becoming the victim of deception vis-à-vis a wife and his wages, and the wrestling match of last week), Parashat Vayeshev opens with the hope of the patriarch transitioning into a calmer stage of life.
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Jacob’s Fear
Nov 13, 2013 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Vayishlah
The Torah wants us to identify with the ancestors we meet in the book of Genesis; indeed, Abraham and Sarah and their children become our ancestors when we agree not only to read their stories, but to take them forward. Abraham “begat” Isaac in one sense by supplying the seed for his conception. He “begat” him as well by shaping the life that Isaac would live, setting its direction, digging wells that his son would re-dig, making Isaac’s story infinitely more meaningful—and terrifying—by placing him in the line of partners with God in covenant. So it is with us.
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Study of Ritual – Study as Ritual
Nov 13, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
We do not study Torah primarily to find out what God wants us to do, and we certainly do not study our sacred texts to learn history, or medicine. The act of Talmud Torah, the studying of Torah, is itself a mitzvah, a command. As with many commandments (eating matzah, putting on tefillin, etc), there is a berakhah, a blessing, that precedes the act. In Siddur Sim Shalom: A Prayerbook for Shabbat, Festivals, and Weekdays (4), we find three linked blessings about Torah.
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Seeing the Image of God
Nov 12, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah
After a 20-year absence from home and family back in the Land of Israel, Jacob journeys home. And like any of us en route to the home of our family of origin, anxiety and uncertainty (along with anticipation and joy) play core roles in the experience.
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A Guide for the Perplexed: A Novel
Nov 11, 2013 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio
Novelist Dara Horn, the winner of two National Jewish Book Awards, on her new book, A Guide For The Perplexed: A Novel.
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Hatemail: Anti-Semitism on Picture Postcards A Discussion with Author Salo Aizenberg
Nov 7, 2013 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio
Salo Aizenberg, one of the leading collectors of Judaic picture postcards, is also the author of Postcards from the Holy Land: A Pictorial History of the Ottoman Era, 1880-1918. He is a managing director of the RLJ Credit Opportunity Fund, and coordinates its business development activities. He earned his BS in Management Information Systems at the State University of New York at Binghamton and his MBA at Columbia Business School.
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Being in the Land
Nov 6, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayetzei
Parashat Vayetzei opens with Jacob’s flight from the Land of Israel.
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The Anomaly of the Night: Fear, Power, Divine Presence (Shekhinah), Part 2
Nov 6, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
To the human heart and soul, night and morning are profoundly different, even though an astronomer would see them as equivalent observed consequences of the orbit of the earth around the sun. The first blessing of the evening service (Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat, 28) praises God for establishing the natural cycles: “You roll away light as darkness sets in, and darkness as the light dawns.” The morning service offers a tight structure of two blessings before, and one after, the Shema’ on the themes of Creation, Revelation, and Redemption (to be explored here in a future essay). Although the texts are a little different in the morning and the evening, the themes are identical.
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What Is Life Worth? Tailoring the Law to Meet the Challenges of Unique Catastrophes
Nov 6, 2013
9/11. The BP oil spill. The Boston Marathon bombing. Major tragedies captivate the public and often galvanize officials into using unconventional strategies to help those most affected.
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Rachel Leans In
Nov 5, 2013 By Michal Raucher | Commentary | Vayetzei
Recent conversations in popular feminism revolve around trying to capture what it means to “have it all,” and, if that’s even possible, how to achieve it.
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Chancellor Eisen Discusses the Legacy of Rabbi David Hartman
Nov 4, 2013 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
A discussion from “A Day of Study Celebrating the Impact of Rabbi Professor David Hartman,” held in New York City on May 5, 2013, featuring David Hartman’s onetime student and friend, Arnold Eisen, Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary, in conversation with Donniel Hartman (President, Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem). The program was recorded by Shalom TV.
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The Challenge of Tomorrow’s Blessing
Oct 29, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Toledot
Parashat Toledot opens in life and closes with the threat of death.
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Night: Fear, Power, Divine Presence (Shekhinah)
Oct 29, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Transitions are times of vulnerability, anxiety, even fear. The mezuzah guides us through the transition between our home and the outside world. The words of the challenging, non-Israelite Prophet Balaam welcome us into the synagogue: “Mah Tovu (How beautiful are your tents O Jacob).” I wrote several reflections on the prayer texts that support us from sleep to wakefulness, giving thanks for soul and body restored to strength and vitality for another day.
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In Search of God
Oct 29, 2013 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Toledot
Through the unexpected and serendipitous Shabbat meal invitations that often seem to come about when one is studying in Jerusalem, I found myself many years ago sitting at the festive Shabbat table of an ultra-Orthodox family one autumn Friday night.
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Mizmor LeDavid (Psalm 23)—Time, Text, Melody
Oct 23, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Psalm 23 is beloved in much of the English-speaking world for affirming a certainty of the divine presence—even in times of dread and adversity—in the most hauntingly beautiful language. The paean to the Psalm by 19th-century American pastor Henry Ward Beecher is widely cited.“The twenty third psalm is the nightingale of the Psalms. It is small, of a homely feather, singing shyly out of obscurity; but oh! it has filled the air of the whole world with melodious joy, greater than the heart can conceive” (Life Thoughts).
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Life: Quantity Vs. Quality
Oct 23, 2013 By Eliezer B. Diamond | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
“And the span of Sarah’s life was 127 years—the years of Sarah’s life” (Gen. 23:1; my translation). Whenever I read this verse, I feel a deep sadness that is only intensified by the story that follows. Let me explain.
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