Sea of Repentance
Sep 18, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Yom Kippur
I can think of no better metaphor than mikveh for God’s role during aseret y’mei teshuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance that lead up to and include Yom Kippur.
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God is Gracious, Not Angry
Jul 9, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Balak
So much for fire and brimstone!
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Let All Who Are Hungry Come and Eat
Apr 16, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Aharei Mot | Shabbat Hagadol
One of my favorite customs for Shabbat Hagadol is to read the Maggid section of the Passover Haggadah in advance of the first seder.
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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.
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The Distance to God
Sep 14, 2009 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Hayyei Sarah
Uncertainty presents one of the greatest psychological challenges we face in life. The ancient Rabbis addressed ambiguities in the Torah and in life by seeking wisdom from connections between those worlds. This midrash reveals how they understood prayer as a cathartic response to the travails that test our faith and how such an outpouring can transform our reality.
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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?
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Sitting in God’s Presence
Nov 6, 2009 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Vayera
What do we find ourselves doing when God’s Presence suddenly appears to us?
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Living a Poetic Existence
Jan 2, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Vayehi
For many—if not most—of us, death arouses great anxiety. Much of our emotionality regarding the end of life comes from the way that death changes how we perceive ourselves. This midrash about Jacob’s deathbed scene presents ancient rabbinic wisdom about mortality based on insights from key passages in the Hebrew Bible.
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