JTS Torah Commentary

A Man of Spirit

Jul 19, 2003 By Lauren Eichler Berkun | Commentary | Pinehas

Who is worthy of assuming Moses’ mantle and carrying the Children of Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land? We learn this week that it shall be Joshua son of Nun. The description of the immanent transfer of power from Moses to Joshua provides a fascinating commentary on the nature of leadership.

Infusing the World with Holiness

Jul 12, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Balak | Hukkat

After two impressive victories against the Canaanites of the Negeb and the Amorites in Transjordan, the looming military might of Israel throws the leaders of Moab into a panic. Only the land of the Moabites separates Israel from the Jordan River and the conquest of Canaan. Balak ben Zippor, King of Moab, knows that he is next. In desperation, he takes recourse in an unconventional pre-emptive measure. He summons Balaam son of Beor, a sorcerer from Mesopotamia to curse Israel, making it susceptible to defeat on the battlefield. Though Balaam comes, God frustrates the plan. Within the monotheistic framework of the Torah, Balaam can utter only what God imparts to him. Hence he ends up in rapturous praise of Israel, to the consternation of Balak.

Words Are Sacred

Jul 12, 2003 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Balak | Hukkat

Words are sacred. I remember the sanctity of words being inculcated in me as a high school student. My history teacher, Mr. Reilly, an admired, knowledgeable and articulate pedagogue (not to even mention his black belt in karate), instilled within us the fear of God with regard to proper attribution of words. His definition of plagiarism was ‘two or more words copied and unattributed.’ I remember being shocked by this Puritan definition, but it also instilled a respect for the written word. So valued are words that numerous violations, in addition to plagiarism, are attributed to their misuse. On occasions, words are distorted – in transmission, either knowingly or unknowingly; such distortion leads to the promulgation of lies and deception. And words are used to hurt – to curse, to destroy, and to instigate.

The Book of Quarrels

Jul 5, 2003 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Korah

The fourth book of the Torah, which we know by the title Book of Numbers or, in Hebrew, Bemidbar (“in the wilderness”) might also be called the book of quarrels. It tells of recurring arguments and rebellions by the Israelites against Moses and God. The most serious of these is the rebellion of Korah, a cousin of Moses and Aaron who questioned their leadership of the nation.

My Grandfather’s Tallit

Jun 28, 2003 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

When I close my eyes to picture my grandfather, he is standing beside a long olive green bookcase, swaying and shokeling, his slight frame enfolded within his tallit, tefillin protruding from his forehead and wrapped about his arm, deeply engaged in conversation with God. At those moments, it always seemed that he had been transported to a different place and time. Perhaps it was that magic cape, I thought, the one with the strings attached. As a little girl, I yearned to wear a tallit, and so it is no surprise that some of my fondest childhood memories are of sitting with my grandfather in shul on Shabbat and sharing his tallit. Throughout the service, I would play with the tzitzit, enjoying the feel of the fringes as they slipped between my fingers, methodically adding new knots and removing them again before the conclusion of the service, each knot a blessing for myself or my family. My grandfather was a humble man, dedicated to his store, his family, and his God. He embodied a love for education and humanity. I knew that those cornerstones of his existence were somehow bound up within those carefully constructed knots.

Rabbi Akiva’s Adult Bar-Mitzvah

Jun 21, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

One of the most compelling new rituals in the Conservative synagogue is the adult bat–mitzvah. The impulse is egalitarian, the result religious empowerment. The women who participate enjoyed no bat–mitzvah ceremony in their youth. Years later they seek to fill the void. Usually in small groups of up to a dozen, they study with their rabbi and cantor for a period of at least two years. The practice is so widespread today that the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism has produced a carefully articulated curriculum to enhance the meaningfulness of the experience. Learning to read Hebrew is required. Biblically based yet religiously encompassing, the study period culminates in the preparation of a specific parashah and haftarah to be chanted in the synagogue on a Shabbat morning. There is definitely comfort in numbers. Doing the bat–mitzvah as a group lessens the tension of performing in public. Each participant must master only a part of the whole.

The Dangers of Religious Surrogacy

Jun 14, 2003 By Joshua Heller | Commentary | Naso

This week’s parashah, Naso, includes one of Judaism’s most time–honored liturgical texts, the priestly blessing.

Choosing a Different Jewish Path

Jun 14, 2003 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Naso

Two weeks ago, one of my students remarked that it is difficult to be a student of Torah. When he told a friend of his that he learns Torah on a regular basis, the friend responded in an astonishing and belittling way: “What are you, some kind of born-again Jew?” After hearing of this student’s experience, I conducted my own informal survey asking other students how friends and family have responded to their personal journeys of Jewish learning. Across the board, I was told that the perception was negative.

Birth and the Giving of the Torah

Jun 7, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Shavuot

As I write these words, I am waiting for the imminent birth of a child which my husband and I hope to adopt.

Why We Eat Dairy on Shavu’ot

Jun 7, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shavuot

The menu for the first day of Shavuot is customarily restricted to dairy dishes. While a plethora of explanations has been generated to account for the practice, I prefer the most serious one. Shavuot commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, the governing covenant between God and Israel, the constitution of the Jewish polity. The event marks the adoption of a religious regimen that would henceforth define the borders of individual and group behavior. That to which the Israelites were formerly entitled is no longer permitted.

Ritual Obligations and Moral Lessons

Jun 5, 2003 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Korah

A colleague and friend who shares my fascination with golf as well as my plague of performing poorly, recently gifted me with a book entitled, Golf is Not a Game of Perfect.

Wilderness into Lakes

May 31, 2003 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Bemidbar

Eden was a well–watered place. The Bible and science agree that in the beginning, the world was moist and fluid. Unlike science, the Bible is literature, and literature with a message. It embodies themes and concerns itself with the interplay of those themes.

The World-to-Come

May 24, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Behukkotai

The penultimate chapter of Leviticus consists of a divine plea to heed God’s commandments. It takes the form of inducements and intimidations, promises of agricultural bounty and national tranquility and threats of defeat, chaos and exile. The future of ancient Israel in its homeland will depend entirely on its adherence to the revelation at Sinai. Aside form the poetry of the passage, its rhetoric pulsates with a tone of urgency. Free will has its risks; people may choose to put themselves in harm’s way. Rebellion against the strictures of God is the persistent evil that endangers society.

The Value of Human Beings

May 24, 2003 By Lauren Eichler Berkun | Commentary | Behukkotai

The final chapter of the Book of Leviticus deals with voluntary contributions to the Sanctuary. In dedication to the Temple, one might pledge the value of one’s life or the life of another person. The beginning of Leviticus 27 addresses the question of how to determine the value of a person in order to fulfill such a vow.

Freedom in Relationship

May 17, 2003 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behar

Coercion is part of the essence of Judaism. Indeed, a well known midrash describes God coercing the Israelites into the acceptance of Torah. Sparked by the Hebrew phrase “the Israelites were rooted underthe mountain” (Exodus 19:17), (most translations read “the Israelites were at the foot of the mountain”), the rabbinic imagination conjures up a threatening portrait of God holding Mt. Sinai over the heads of the those assembled, declaring, “if you accept the Torah, well and good; but if not, this shall be your resting place” (BT Shabbat 88a). Coercion is indeed at the heart of this teaching and potentially at the heart of Judaism. Most observant Jews feel a sense of external motivation — observance is not simply a matter of personal choice, but a response to a God who has expectations.

Between Brothers and Neighbors

May 17, 2003 By Joshua Heller | Commentary | Behar

Chapter 25 of Vayikra, which makes up the bulk of Parashat Be–har, deals with essential laws of economic justice in an agrarian society. No member of the Jewish people may be relegated to lifelong slavery or landless serfdom. Ancestral plots are not to be sold out of the family forever, but rather returned in the Jubilee year. Even though slavery is permitted, a Jewish slave must go free in the seventh year. One may not cheat another in selling or buying, nor earn a profit at the expense of one in need by charging him interest. And yet, there are troubling limits to the scope of this ethical tradition.

Sacred History

May 17, 2003 By Lauren Eichler Berkun | Commentary | Emor

As we stand in the midst of Sefirat Ha-Omer, the period of counting 49 days from Pesach to Shavuot, we read the very parashah which contains the instructions for this count. Parashat Emor teaches:

“From the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation offering–the day after the sabbath–you shall count off seven weeks. They must be complete: you must count until the day after the seventh week–fifty days; then you shall bring an offering of new grain to the Lord” (Lev. 23:15).

From Gleaning to Tzedakah

May 10, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Emor

Words often conceal the origins of the idea they denote. Etymology and meaning diverge and thus confound. A good example relates to a halakhic fragment in this week’s parasha. I refer to the verb “to glean.” The word denotes minimal gain through hard work. Basically an agricultural term, it conjures up an image of beggars at harvest time gathering whatever remains in the field after reaping. From there the meaning expands to any activity, physical or mental, that involves collecting painstakingly individual items of the same order from disparate quarters.

Rachel’s Tears

May 10, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Emor | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

It is hard not to be moved by the verses in our parashah which say that when a sheep or goat is born, it shall stay seven days with its mother, and that “no animal from the herd or from the flock shall be slaughtered on the same day as its young.” (Leviticus 22:28) Though few of us are close to sheep or goats, we are sensitized to the feelings of animals from our loving relationships with our pets, and we feel the sensitivity the Torah holds for the sheep and goats, even though they are destined to become food for humans or sacrifices for God.

The Command to Plant Trees

May 3, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Kedoshim

From our apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, we enjoy a glorious view of Riverside Park below and the Hudson River beyond. Overnight, it seems, the trees have once again donned a glorious green canopy of leaves. Gone is the drab garb of winter. Life has surged back with irrepressible vigor and astonishing beauty. Each year I marvel at the swiftness of the scenic change.