“My Heart Is in the East”
Jul 22, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Masei | Mattot
The stirring words of the medieval poet of Zion, Yehudah HaLevi, echo through each and every generation: “My heart is in the East, and I am in the far reaches of the West.”
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Longing for Our Homeland
Dec 20, 2003 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Vayeshev | Hanukkah
Mrs. Matsunaga looked at me with a puzzled face. She was the local English teacher in a village in Northern Japan. Moments before, she had bustled into the house where I was staying. It had come up in conversation that I was Jewish and she was trying to figure out what that meant. Suddenly, her face cleared. “You are from Israel,” she exclaimed. I laughed and said: “Yes, but that was a long time ago.”
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Our Lives in Exile
May 20, 2006 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Recently, while studying with a student, the concept of exile surfaced, and my student bristled when I nonchalantly commented that we live in a state of exile.
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A Vision of Jewish Unity
Jan 3, 2009 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Vayiggash
This Shabbat, whatever our politics, we stand together with concern and worry as our brothers and sisters in Israel engage in yet another battle in what often seems like an unending war. The ongoing terror of rockets, fired arbitrarily into southern Israel, along with Israel’s military response, unite us in shared anguish. We also share in the hope for a just end to this battle, to this war, and to all wars.
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Modern Day Prophets
Jun 26, 2010 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Balak
Twice during my teenage years, I felt that I’d witnessed a modern-day prophet speaking live on television. I grew up with the idea that such a phenomenon was not just possible but something for which we, as American Jews, yearn. We have watched how tremendous oratory can change history by reflecting the transformations taking place in our society and around the globe.
The Role of Religious Leaders
Mar 29, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Shemini
In an email newsletter distributed by the Martin Marty Center Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion at the University of Chicago, Martin E. Marty, a prominent voice of religion in America, recently commented on a new book about the role of preachers in politics.
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The Covenant and the Land
Sep 19, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh
At the opening of Parashat Nitzavim, the Israelites stand rooted before Moses and God. A captive and diverse audience, they are recipients of a message that is both immediate and transcendent in nature.
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A Time to Grieve
Sep 5, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
As the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continues to hold and war is waged against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), we turn our soul’s attention to Parashat Ki Tetzei.
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