The Cycles of Nature
May 7, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Emor
A midrash for any attorney or accountant to love, the last line of which already rings with the oy vey iz mir tone which has come down to us via Tevye and Seinfeld as a quintessentially Jewish mode of wry humor.
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When is Fear Positive?
Aug 20, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Eikev
Fears of crisis have filled the news this summer: political gridlock and epic heat waves here in the United States; economic woes on this continent, as well as across Europe; riots in Great Britain; the massacre in Norway; and social upheaval continuing across North Africa and the Middle East.
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Confronting Our Own Shortcomings
Aug 9, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Tishah Be'av
It may sound strange that I look forward every summer to observing Tish’ah Be’Av. The saddest day on the Hebrew calendar is also the one I have found most consistently meaningful since my teenage years.
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What’s Really Bad for the Jews?
Jan 8, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Bo
Apparently the wonders and miracles of the plagues were not enough to inspire all of the Israelites to want to leave Egypt. Moreover, according to this midrash, not all of the Israelites were slaves.
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Protective Paralysis
Jan 15, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Beshallah
Have we become like Pharaoh in the midrash above: both an oppressive captor and a powerless captive of his own psychological blindness?
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To Begin Again
Oct 2, 2010 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Bereishit
The shock of the unexpected, the fear of change, the guilt at having done something irreversible: feelings we know all too well.
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The Poetry of Sinai
May 27, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Bemidbar
I rarely encounter texts like the midrash above that so completely challenge static notions about Torah.
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Man’s Plans vs. God’s Plans
May 20, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Behukkotai
I have such good intentions when I start off my day or my week.
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