Tasting Heaven
Feb 14, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Yitro
It takes a long time to acquire a full appreciation of Judaism. Like most rambunctious kids, I found Shabbat constraining, especially without the support system of a large Jewish community. I looked forward to playing ping-pong after shul in the morning or walking over to the nearby YMCA for a game of basketball and a swim in the afternoon. My ambition as a kid was to show the world that Jews could play sports.
Read MoreNothing Is Enough
Jan 29, 2016 By Alisa Braun | Commentary | Yitro
sitting amid your litter, feet buried
by accumulated jars of buttons,
glasses lost beneath a decade of bank statements
and funny poems.
The obligation to honor your father and your mother (Exodus 20:12) is never simple, but it’s especially complicated when relations between parent and child are strained. In her moving poem “Mother,” Alicia Ostriker gives voice to the ethical challenge of caring for her mother when the conflicts of the past loom large.
Read MoreThree Mitzvot to Live By
Feb 18, 2006 By David Rose | Commentary | Yitro
We are each a product of the stories that we carry within us.
Read MoreThe Electricity of Awe
Feb 14, 2009 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Yitro
Parashat Yitro is a play in three acts, starting with Act I, a backstory in Exodus 18. Moses reunites with his family, notably his wise father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro), who rejoices at the miraculous reunion and then mentors his inexperienced son-in-law in the art of religious leadership. Yitro teaches Moses how to bless God, offer sacrifice, and administer justice among his restive and distressed people.
Read MoreThe Challenges of Leadership
Feb 10, 2007 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Yitro
The paradigms of leadership that emerge from the Bible teach us much about the human quotient in leadership.
Read MoreWhose Revelation Is It, Anyway?
Jan 29, 2016 By Stephen P. Garfinkel | Commentary | Yitro
Parashat Yitro is a Torah reading of monumental ideas, foundational concepts, and widely-recognized importance. By all measures, this week’s portion must be considered a highlight of the entire Torah, since it includes no less (and a lot more!) than the Ten Commandments. This seems to be the right place to explore questions such as these: what did the actual revelation (Exodus 20) include? What were God’s commandments? Why were these statements singled out, especially given the amount of law scattered throughout the Torah? What gives these brief pronouncements their distinctive importance?
Read MoreNostalgia, Memory and the Building of Judaism
Jan 26, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Yitro
As is often the case with buildings in Lower Manhattan, 211 Pearl Street was caught in the sights of a developer seeking to level the property and replace it with a grand modern building.
Read MoreA Lesson in Interreligious Dialogue
Jan 15, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Yitro
If one were asked to identify the most central parashah to Israelite identity and to Judaism, one would certainly point to Parashat Yitro, which describes the moment of revelation at Sinai.
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