From Darkness to Eight Lights
Dec 4, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Miketz
During the outreach classes I lead for The Jewish Theological Seminary, I have recently fielded questions about evil and suffering with what seems to be greater frequency each week. Is there a connection between the decreased hours of daylight and my students’ concern about why bad things happen to good people?
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The True Story of Hanukkah
Dec 4, 2010 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Hanukkah
What is Hanukkah really about? There are several answers to a question like this, since the meaning of a holiday or ritual develops and grows over time. I’d like to point out a fascinating tension between two understandings of Hanukkah that becomes clear from examining two popular songs many of us sing after lighting the candles.
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Going Up in Holiness
Nov 27, 2010 By David Levy | Commentary | Vayeshev | Hanukkah
Next Wednesday night, Hanukkah begins and Jews all over the world will gather around the menorah to light one candle for the first night of Hanukkah. We take it for granted that we light a candle on the first night, two on the second, and so on, but it could have been different.
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Rituals and Ethics in our Food
Nov 27, 2010 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Vayeshev
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than forty-five million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving. In 2010, more than 242 million turkeys are being raised with an average liveweight per bird of twenty-eight pounds. By contrast, in 1970, only 105 million birds were raised, with an average liveweight of seventeen pounds.
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Speaking for the Silenced
Nov 20, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Vayishlah
Commonly found in coroner’s offices across North America is the following motto: “We speak for the dead to protect the living.” Ancient and modern biblical commentators have taken a similar stance toward the rape of Dinah and its aftermath. A close examination of Genesis 34 and contemporary responses to its narrative will show how one of the Torah’s most troubling passages can inspire us to take action. We must, in the words of Proverbs 31:8, “speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.” We must address similar injustices in today’s society in order to protect the living.
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Who We Are and Where We’re Going
Nov 20, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Vayishlah
Can we ever break free from the troubled darkness of our past?
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Personal Transformation
Nov 20, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Vayishlah
A close examination of Genesis 34 and contemporary responses to its narrative will show how one of the Torah’s most troubling passages can inspire us to take action. We must, in the words of Proverbs 31:8, “speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.” We must address similar injustices in today’s society in order to protect the living.
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Why Religion?
Nov 12, 2010 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Vayetzei
Big picture: What is religion trying to do in the world?
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Jealousy for the Right Reasons
Nov 11, 2010 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Vayetzei
When I struggled with infertility, the jealousy of our barren matriarchs was a great comfort.
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Transforming Jealousy
Nov 10, 2010 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Vayetzei
Be it parenthood or a good job or the latest [fill-in-the-blank-of-your-heart’s desire], it is difficult, in our material culture, not to want what others have. We know we shouldn’t covet—that’s one of the Ten Commandments, after all—but we can’t control the way we feel.
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Biblical PTSD
Nov 1, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Toledot
Many centuries before the advent of modern medicine in general and care for mental health in particular, our Sages developed the symbolic language of angels’ tears to explain the hidden wounds impressed upon Isaac’s psyche in the aftermath of the Akedah, the binding of Isaac.
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To Dispense Love
Oct 30, 2010 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Hayyei Sarah
Sometimes our Torah─the Torah I teach, anyway─is very abstract. Sometimes, though, I feel called back to the basics. This midrash is one of those calls.
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Shabbat in the Bible – and Not in the Bible Part 1
Oct 30, 2010 By Robert Harris | Video Lecture
A surprising look at the description of Shabbat in the Hebrew Bible
Part one of the six-part series, “Shabbat: From Here to Eternity”
Shabbat in the Bible – and Not in the Bible Part 2
Oct 29, 2010 By Robert Harris | Video Lecture
A surprising look at the description of Shabbat in the Hebrew Bible
Part two of the six-part series, “Shabbat: From Here to Eternity”
The Graves of Our Ancestors
Oct 29, 2010 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
I went to visit the graves of my parents the other day, and could not help but think—with this Torah portion looming—of the times when I went with my father (whose name was Abraham, until he changed it) to visit my mother’s grave.
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Shabbat: Mountains Hanging by a Thread
Oct 28, 2010 By Robert Harris | Video Lecture
Shabbat in Midrash and Talmud
Part three of the six-part series, “Shabbat: From Here to Eternity”
Hitchcock and the Sages: The 39 Steps
Oct 27, 2010 By Robert Harris | Video Lecture
Part four of the six-part series, “Shabbat: From Here to Eternity”
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You Are One and Your Name Is One
Oct 26, 2010 By Robert Harris | Video Lecture
Part five of the six-part series, “Shabbat: From Here to Eternity”
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Mizmor Shir Leyom HaShabbat: Shabbat in Liturgy and Song
Oct 25, 2010 By Robert Harris | Video Lecture
Part six of the six-part series, “Shabbat: From Here to Eternity”
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Is Seeing Believing?
Oct 23, 2010 By Deborah Miller | Commentary | Vayera
Is seeing believing? Or, to put it another way, is seeing necessary for believing? I am not asking a theological question, but a psychological/social/emotional one.
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