En Yaaqov: Jacob Ibn Habib’s Search for Faith in the Talmudic Corpus

Feb 7, 2012 By Marjorie Lehman | Public Event audio

Dr. Marjorie Lehman discusses the research behind her book The En Yaaqov: Jacob Ibn Habib’s Search for Faith in the Talmudic Corpus during a Library Book Talk at JTS in January. The book examines the tumultuous period surrounding the origins and development of the En Yaaqov, an early 16th-century collection of Talmudic Aggadah, and the En Yaaqov’s journey to the present as one of the most enduring texts of Judaism. Dr. Lehman argues that the experiences of Ibn Habib, its compiler, a Jew exiled from Spain in 1492, prompted him to make decisions not only about how the Talmud should be studied in the name of spiritual restoration, but also about how Jews could survive future expulsions by cultivating a sustainable faithful relationship with God.

“One Good Thing about Music…”

Feb 4, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Beshallah

One good thing about music: when it hits you, you feel no pain.” So opens Bob Marley’s reggae anthem “Trenchtown Rock.” This lyric cuts to the heart of music’s awesome power to transform one’s state of being. Music can touch something deep inside of us, can make us feel. Melodies express complex, even contradictory, emotions and ideas; they can soothe pain with joy, while adding feelings of loss or nostalgia. This emotive power of music stands at the center of this week’s Torah portion, Beshallah.

Moving Forward

Feb 4, 2012 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Beshallah

What a wonderful feature of being human, that we are so different that even our shared experiences produce in us such a wide range of possible emotions. Despair, regret, aggression, complaint—the midrash imagines that different people, standing at the shore of the Sea of Reeds with Pharoah’s army closing in from behind, felt each in different measure.

Redemption Through Law

Jan 28, 2012 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Bo

In the midst of the tumult of the Exodus—while the plagues are still falling like locusts upon Egypt; after the deep darkness that plunged the land back into primal chaos; as the Israelite slaves desperately and, it must be admitted, somewhat gleefully despoil their former masters just after the ominous warning has been issued of the impending death of Egypt’s firstborn—the Torah pauses in its breathless narrative as if for a commercial break, a word from our Sponsor.

A Study in Redemption

Jan 28, 2012 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Va'era

If you followed last week’s Torah portion closely, you are probably sensing that this week’s portion, in the words of Yogi Berra, is “déjà vu all over again.” Last week, in Parashat Shemot, we read an account of Moses’s lineage, of God’s announcing that He will take the people out of Egypt, of a staff turning into a snake and water into blood, of Moshe’s speech-impairment, and of God’s appointing Aaron as surrogate spokesperson for Moshe. Every one of these topics appears in this week’s parashah too.

The Final Plague

Jan 28, 2012 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Bo

Each year, when we read the Exodus story and again when we encounter it at the Passover seder, we are confronted with a serious moral question. We must ask ourselves how we feel about the nature of the collective punishment of the Egyptians.

The Doubtful Path to God

Jan 21, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Va'era

Parashat Va-era opens with a dejected and depressed Moses, crestfallen after an unfruitful encounter with Pharaoh. From the text it seems that Moses had expected the redemption of the Children of Israel to be a quick in-and-out operation, leading to his dismay when the full extent of his mission became clear. This first verse of the parashah, which our midrash builds upon, forms a kind of pep talk from God to Moses, with the Divine trying to reinvigorate and restore faith to God’s servant.

Transformative Women

Jan 16, 2012 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Vayeshev

Male characters and voices dominate biblical literature, yet the near-absence of female characters is particularly striking in Parashat Va-yeishev. Here is the story of Jacob (his wives don’t appear) and his 12 sons (his daughter doesn’t appear) exploring the world of men—in the field, on the road, in the city, and in prison. These narratives are rough and even violent, and this tone carries over to the two stories in which women do appear: Judah’s coarse treatment of Tamar and Joseph’s encounter with Potiphar’s unnamed wife, who physically accosts him.

Israel’s Quarterback Problem

Jan 14, 2012 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Shemot

Having concluded the saga of the matriarchs and patriarchs, we encounter a pharaoh who does not know Joseph—or chooses not to remember the good things he did for Egypt. The tide quickly turns, and the Children of Israel face a harsh new reality. As if enslavement were not enough to break the spirits of the descendants of Jacob, the pharaoh codifies cruelty into law and seeks to exterminate the Israelite population. The harsh decrees of the pharaoh actually end up setting the scene for the birth of Moses.

Moses on the Nile

Jan 14, 2012 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Shemot

Here we are given a midrash imagining not only Miriam’s role as a young prophet, but also the emotional turmoil she and her father, Amram, endured as Moses is born and then sent off in his basket down the Nile.

A Deathbed Blessing

Jan 7, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Vayehi

This midrash about Jacob’s deathbed scene presents ancient rabbinic wisdom about mortality based on insights from key passages in the Hebrew Bible. By presenting biblical metaphors alongside our patriarchs’ experiences of dying, the text above teaches us to accept our limited lifetimes by acknowledging an uncomfortable reality.

Was Abe Lincoln Honest?

Jan 7, 2012 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Vayehi

A well-known reading of our Torah portion for this Shabbat finds a source from the story of Joseph’s interactions with his brothers for the idea that the small fib—the white lie—is religiously justified in certain circumstances.

Tears for the Temples

Dec 31, 2011 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Hanukkah

Reading this makes me think of the breaking of the glass during a Jewish wedding ceremony. In a moment of sheer joy at the marriage, we break a glass to remember the Temple and that our joy cannot be complete in light of its destruction. Here, too, the Rabbis imagine, Joseph and Benjamin cannot fully enjoy their moment with the foreknowledge that the Temples will be destroyed.

Forgiveness

Dec 31, 2011 By David Marcus | Commentary | Vayiggash

Parashat Va-yiggash continues the longest narrative in the Torah, that of Joseph and his brothers.

Why There Is Suffering

Dec 24, 2011 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Miketz | Hanukkah

Who among us has not experienced suffering? After all, loss, sadness, and struggle are as much a part of life as joy, happiness, and triumph. This is as apparent in the emotional arc of Joseph and his family in parashat Miketz as it is in life’s experience.

Overcoming Fear

Dec 24, 2011

“Disappointment is a much more fertile ground for spiritual practice than dreams,” teaches yoga guru Saradananda, and while the dreams of Parashat Mi-ketz offer plenty of fodder for spiritual musings, it is ultimately the disappointment of an old father that guides our spiritual practice this week.

Slaves Will One Day Be Free

Dec 17, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Vayeshev

In the narrative unfolding of the biblical drama, the Joseph story accounts for the arrival of Jacob’s sons and their descendants in Egypt. It also serves to introduce one of the main themes to emerge from the rest of the biblical story: the overturning of oppression with redemption.

I Stayed with Laban

Dec 10, 2011 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Vayishlah

The opening verses of this week’s parashah recount Jacob’s decision, upon returning home after 20 years of “living abroad,” to get in touch with his brother, Esau. You may remember that they—ahem!—had not parted on the best of terms (see Gen. 25:27-34 and especially Gen. 27:1-41 for the gritty details). At the beginning of the parashah, it is not yet clear to what extent Jacob is motivated by fear, by friendliness, by craftiness—or by some combination of these and potentially other concerns.

A Painful Embrace

Dec 10, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Vayishlah

Rarely do I find a midrash like the one above that reflects love and hate, admiration and anger, in a single passage about how Jews relate to Christians. While the two rabbis quoted here agree that a peculiar scribal feature is crucial to understanding Jacob and Esau’s reunion, they fundamentally disagree about what that detail signifies.

Between Dante and Jacob

Dec 3, 2011 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Vayetzei

For Parashat Va-yetzei, although the times are different, the convention is the same and, for us, the question all the more poignant: What is the role of Jacob’s romantic love for Rachel? Does romantic love set us up for an unfulfilled life?

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