Between Humility and Grandeur
Nov 9, 2003 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
Judaism is a religion of polarities. An in-depth view of reality requires a stereoscope. No single lens can do justice to any aspect of the complexity of our experience of the world.
Read More
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.
Read More
Abraham the Wanderer
Oct 31, 2009 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Lekh Lekha
What inspires one to leave home, to embrace mystery, to seek insight into the nature of our world?
Read More
Gifts to God
Nov 5, 2011 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Lekh Lekha
The midrash seems to be pointing out that we can learn from Abraham: we are to give a gift to God when we receive good news.
Read More
The Many Qualities of Abram
Oct 12, 2007 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
Abram in the light; Abram in the dark. Abram with men at war; Abram with women at war.
Read More
A Palace in Flames
Oct 27, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Lekh Lekha
What inspires one to leave home, to embrace mystery, to seek insight into the nature of our world?
Read More
Woody Allen’s Torah
Oct 12, 2010 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
The brilliance of Allen’s film arises from his portrayal of the ethical corruption of each of his characters and the extent to which he plays on the sense of sight. Ironically, the ophthalmologist, who specializes in physical sight, is corrupted by ethical blindness, while the rabbi, who represents morality, is physically going blind. Indeed, the juxtaposition of sight and insight figure prominently in both Allen’s film and this week’s parashah, Lekh Lekha. By focusing our exegetical lenses on the parting of ways between Avram and Lot (Gen. 13), we discover not only a physical separation between the two characters, but also a spiritual and ethical divide that cuts to the very core of their world views.
Read More
Patriarchs and Matriarchs
Nov 8, 2003 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
The central prayer of Jewish prayers, the Amidah, begins by identifying to whom one is praying: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. This identification serves not only to say who God is, but also to specify who the Jews are: the descendants of those patriarchs. At the same time, the Jews are also descendants of the matriarchs, and here’s the rub: though God’s promises are recorded in the Torah as given to the men, they would not have been achieved without the women.
Read More
