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Remaining Jewish
Dec 23, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Miketz
The First Book of Samuel teaches, “just as his name, so too is his essence” (I Samuel 25:25). Such wisdom reflects more than a kernel of truth.
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Greetings of Peace
Dec 16, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayeshev
Greetings and farewells are significant in Jewish tradition. Appropriately enough, the word “shalom” meaning “peace” is often the thread that ties many of these expressions together. Sometimes, it is a simpleshalom; and other times, a warm embrace is accompanied by “shalom aleichem,” meaning “peace be upon you.” To which one responds by reversing the greeting “aleichem shalom” (“to you, may there be peace”).
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Wrestling Over Sacred Issues
Dec 9, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah
Appropriately enough, this week’s Torah reading is Parashat Vayishlah.
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God in Our Midst
Dec 6, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayetzei
After Jacob steals Esav’s blessing, a deep rift develops between these two brothers.
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Doing the Impossible
Dec 2, 2006 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Vayetzei
This parashah challenges us to do the impossible. Let me explain.
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The Challenges and Joys of Parenting
Nov 25, 2006 By Steven Brown | Commentary | Toledot
Parshat Toledot is the epitome of the challenges, struggles, ambivalences, and joys of parenting.
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Dawkins and a Deeper Level of Faith
Nov 18, 2006 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
In his introduction, Richard Dawkins articulates his goal in writing The God Delusion: “If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down” (5).
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Not a “Yes Man”
Nov 11, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayera
Dr. Yohanan Muffs, a beloved teacher of Bible at The Jewish Theological Seminary, discusses the essential qualities of a prophet in his seminal article “Who Will Stand in the Breach?” Far from merely being the divine messenger, the prophet has the duty to act as an empathetic sounding board for God. More than that, the prophet must exercise his/her own free will in an effort to calm the divine temper. First and foremost, it is the responsibility of the prophet to push back on God. As one of my students in Atlanta pointed out this past week, it is as if the prophet is God’s ezer k’negdo, “a helper against himself.” The prophet does not stand passively by, mirroring divine emotion, but rather must be willing to access the gumption to confront God.
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Examining the Word Moriah
Nov 11, 2006 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Vayera
Years ago, in a national television program called Laugh In (yes, I lived during the Stone Age — the Rolling Stone Age. Never mind.), a comedian lampooned the song “They Called the Wind Moriah” from the Broadway show Paint Your Wagon.
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Spiritual Journeys
Nov 4, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
One of the questions commentators wrestle with is “why was Abraham chosen?” What leads God to command this particular individual, lekh l’kha, “go to yourself”?
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Appreciating Our Blessings
Nov 3, 2006 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
Imagine the following request: leave your home, your family, everything that you know and cherish and go — completely walk away from the world of your ancestors.
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Why Noah?
Oct 28, 2006 By Sharon Keller | Commentary | Noah
When we think of Parashat Noah, we envision a story that everyone is familiar with from early childhood. In our mind’s eye we can see the ark with its tiered decks and Noah swathed in a white robe, looking out the window as a dove flies off toward a rainbow in the background. If that image is not familiar, a trip to any local bookstore (especially one with a children’s section) will provide a variety of options. Noah figures prominently in our mental version of the story, as he does in Genesis, but is the text focusing on him and his actions, or is the Bible emphasizing something else?
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Being a Tzadik
Oct 27, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Noah
In his commentary on Parashat Noah, Rabbi Shmuel Avidor-HaCohen, z”l, raises an interesting question concerning the character of Noah and the quintessential prayer said at the heart of every service, the Amidah.
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Creation and Revelation
Oct 21, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit
Creation and the act of creating stand at the essence of Parashat Bereishit.
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Creation As Preparation for Sinai
Oct 21, 2006 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Bereishit
Why did the Torah begin where it does, at the very Beginning, rather than with the first commandment given the children of Israel, which comes well into the Book of Exodus?
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Between Creation and Revelation
Oct 21, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit
Creation and the act of creating stand at the essence of Parashat Bereishit.
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Biblical Negotiations
Oct 18, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
This week’s Torah reading opens with the death of our matriarch, Sarah, and Abraham’s subsequent acquisition of a burial place for his deceased wife.
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The Revolutionary Nature of Learning Torah
Oct 15, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Simhat Torah
This weekend marks the solemn conclusion of Deuteronomy and the joyous beginning of Genesis as we celebrate the holiday of Simhat Torah.
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Tarry a Day Longer
Oct 14, 2006 By Eliezer B. Diamond | Commentary | Shemini Atzeret
For me as a child Sh’mini Atzeret was without question the least memorable among the Jewish holidays of the fall season. Sandwiched between the high drama of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and the pageantry of Sukkot on one hand and the revelry of Simhat Torah on the other, Sh’mini Atzeret often seemed more like a way station than a destination. It had only two distinguishing characteristics. The first, the prayer for rain, seemed to me supremely irrelevant and even perverse; I wasn’t a farmer and I liked spending time outdoors, so what was the upside to rain? The second, Yizkor, was depressing; in any case in the synagogue of my youth those lucky enough to have parents who were alive and well repaired to the lobby to schmooze while the sad and serious business of Yizkor took place behind closed doors.
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Seeing Sukkot in the Book of Jonah
Oct 7, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Sukkot | Yom Kippur
This week, we make our preparations for the coming festival of Sukkot.
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