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The Poetry of Forgiveness
Sep 30, 2006 By Stephen P. Garfinkel | Commentary | Shabbat Shuvah
Poetry is the soul of religion.
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Life Is Good
Sep 23, 2006 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah
One of the things we look forward to as the holidays approach is the renewed encounter with melodies and rituals, texts and tastes, which we have developed great affection for over the years. It’s like the feeling one has at the sight of old friends coming down a path to greet us, prompting recollections of the good times we have enjoyed together. I feel that way about the Torah portions that we read on the two days of Rosh Hashanah. I know them well, after all these years, but as with good friends I still wonder what they will have to say to me this year, and I to them.
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An Exegetical and Archaeological Experience
Aug 19, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Re'eh
This past June, our family journeyed to Israel — to reenergize our spiritual selves, to reconnect with the land and people of Israel, and to introduce our daughter to friends and family.
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Our Choice in the Shema
Aug 12, 2006 By David-Seth Kirshner | Commentary | Eikev
This week’s Parashat Eikev is about hearing and listening.
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The Root of All Blessing
Aug 12, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Eikev
Loyalty to covenant and the observance of mitzvot are the theme of Parashat Eikev. Even more movingly (and especially at this time of distress in Israel), the parashah speaks of the beauty and blessing of the land of Israel. In addition to enumerating the seven species (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates), Torah relates: “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill . . . a land where you may eat food without stint, and where you will lack nothing” (Deuteronomy 8:7–10).
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The Joy of Torah
Aug 5, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Va'et-hannan
This past week, I have been receiving many photographs of the destruction raining down on northern Israel. Among the many images, the most moving one was a modest picture taken in the city of Safed. Protected within the four walls of a bomb shelter, it is an image of a rabbi teaching Torah to a group of students. As a page of Talmud sits open before each participant, the rabbi teaches energetically to his receptive audience. For me, this demonstrates the power of learning within the Jewish community — and the extent to which learning has the potential to shape each and every one of us. Even at a time when our thoughts are undoubtedly elsewhere, Torah remains at the center of our identity.
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The Seven Qualities of Leadership
Jul 29, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Devarim
Leadership is the cornerstone of who we are as Jewish people.
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“My Heart Is in the East”
Jul 22, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Masei | Mattot
The stirring words of the medieval poet of Zion, Yehudah HaLevi, echo through each and every generation: “My heart is in the East, and I am in the far reaches of the West.”
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Exposing Narrative Fissures
Jul 15, 2006 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Pinehas
As a guest columnist for the New York Times this past Friday, Judith Warner shared that her nine–year–old daughter “was terrified of narrative tension — cliffhanger pauses, unanswered questions, any sense of foreboding or even strong anticipation.”
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Hearing God’s Voice
Jul 8, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Hukkat
We communicate with each other and with God through our voices.
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What Makes Us Holy?
Jul 1, 2006 By Charles Savenor | Commentary | Korah
Remembered mainly as the power–hungry rebel swallowed by the earth for challenging Moses and Aaron’s authority, Korah is also depicted by the Midrash as a wealthy and successful former minister in Pharaoh’s court and the patriarch of his Levitical family clan.
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An Extra Book
Jun 17, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beha'alotekha
Parashat B’ha–alot’kha continues the narrative of the Israelite journey through the wilderness of Sinai. More than that, a curious phenomenon occurs at the midpoint of this week’s parashah. An inverted Hebrew letter nun appears twice, forming bookends around two verses: Numbers 10:35–36. They read, “When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: Rise up, O Lord! May your enemies be scattered, and your foes flee before You! And when it halted, he would say: Return, O Lord, You who are Israel’s myriads of thousands!” While these verses are most recognizable from the opening of the ark during the Torah service, the unusual markings formed by the inverted nuns lead to a fascinating teaching in the Babylonian Talmud.
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Communion and Closeness
Jun 17, 2006 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Beha'alotekha
By Rabbi Jay M. Kornsgold
I have always been intrigued when reading the Torah by the out of the ordinary occurrences in the text itself such as dots above words and larger or smaller letters. Often, discussions in my congregation become focused on these anomalies. In the portion of B’ha·alot’kha the Hebrew letter nun is reversed before and after the following passage: “When the Ark was to set out, Moses would say: Advance, O Lord! May Your enemies be scattered, And may Your foes flee before You! And when it halted, he would say: Return, O Lord, You who are Israel’s myriads of thousands.” (Numbers 10:35 36)
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Priestly Love
Jun 10, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Naso
At the heart of Parashat Naso stands the text of the priestly blessing. Numbers chapter 6, verse 22–26 relates, “The Lord spoke to Moses: Speak to Aaron and his sons: Thus shall you bless the people of Israel. Say to them: The Lord bless you and protect you! The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you! The Lord bestow God’s favor on you and grant you peace!” The text of this benediction is known asbirkat kohanim, the blessing of the priests. It is best known in the context of the priestly service called dukhenen.
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Finding God’s Presence
Jun 10, 2006 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Naso
By Rabbi David Greenspoon (RS ’95)
The ancient rabbis were close readers of the Bible, and developed a whole lexicon on how texts were read. Contemporary readers of rabbinic midrash frequently note how the exegetical methods of the rabbis so often presaged modern literary theory. For instance, the rabbis suggested that close proximity of biblical texts, samchut parshiyot, lent itself to appreciating a deeper message from the Bible.
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Life, the Universe, and Everything?
May 27, 2006 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Bemidbar
By Rabbi Murray Ezring
Science fiction aficionados know the answer. The answer is forty-two, or so wrote Douglas Adams in his classic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Numbers have always been important in Jewish tradition. So Adams might be correct. The number forty-two may contain tremendous religious significance. Four plus two equals six, the number of books in the Mishnah. Four times two equals eight, the number representing the covenant we have shared with our creator since the days of our patriarch Abraham. Six times seven, the result of multiplying the six days of the mundane workweek by the sanctity of Shabbat.
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Diversity through Order
May 27, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bemidbar
Order is the essence of Torah. In Genesis, God creates the world by imposing order on chaos; and in Exodus, God imposes order on a people shattered by 400 years of servitude. The transition is especially dramatic for the Israelites — their change in orientation must be two-fold, physical and spiritual. Nothing less than a revolution is required to transform these ex-slaves of Pharaoh into the loyal servants of God. And so, having proposed a legal (Revelation, specifically the laws of Torah) and ritualistic (sacrificial system as outlined in Leviticus) order for the newly freed Israelites, the Book of Numbers opens by establishing spatial order.
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Our Role in Creation and Revelation
May 20, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Parashat Behar–Be–hukkotai opens curiously enough on Mount Sinai — curiously given the law promulgated at the beginning of the Torah reading. There, at the introduction to this parashah, we find the detailed laws related to sh’mitah, the sabbatical year, as well as the yovel, the jubilee year. While sh’mitah involves a seven–year cycle of letting the land lie fallow and the remission of loans, the yovel reflects a fifty–year cycle involving the emancipation of slaves and the return of property to their original owners.
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Our Lives in Exile
May 20, 2006 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Recently, while studying with a student, the concept of exile surfaced, and my student bristled when I nonchalantly commented that we live in a state of exile.
Read MoreThe Tragedy of Rabbi Akiva’s Students
May 13, 2006 By Michael Singer | Commentary | Emor
Have you ever wondered about this mysterious time in the Jewish calendar called the sefirah, in which we count the omer? In particular, why do we mourn as a people? Traditionally, there are no weddings or haircuts until Lag Ba’omer (the thirty–third day of the omer). And of course don’t forget those itchy sefirah beards.
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