![Miriam’s Song and the Role of Music in Prayer](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/walter_herzberg_900_sq-300x300.jpg)
Miriam’s Song and the Role of Music in Prayer
Apr 10, 2015 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Pesah
After the sea was parted and the Israelites were rescued from the pursuing Egyptians, Moses and the children of Israel sang the Song of the Sea, praising God for having saved them. Following the conclusion of the song, the Torah relates that Miriam, leading the women, sang as well. What prompted Miriam and the women to rejoice with song, instrumental music and dance?
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How Worship Might Shape Our Minds
Mar 22, 2008 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Tzav
Even after years of probing Leviticus for insight, and each year finding more significance in the book’s attempt to sanctify everyday experience, I found myself captured by Douglas’s description of the Levitical system of animal offerings as “philosophizing by sacrifice.” She writes: “Not only in ancient Israel, but in many parts of the world, philosophizing by sacrifice can be quite paradoxical and abstruse.”
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And Now, You Pray?
Oct 21, 2014 By Michael R. Boino | Commentary | Noah
“And Now, You Pray?” explores both human and Divine responsibility in Parashat Noah. The piece utilizes several sources that explore voices of protest or requests for help, both those which are voiced as well as those suppressed or ignored.
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The Psychology of Our Prayers
Sep 19, 2009 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah
Even when we are well-settled into friendships, marriages, or parenting, the quality of our connection with the people we care about most in the world has a lot to do with our happiness, our fulfillment in life, and our sense of belonging in the world.
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How We Can Build the Synagogue of the Future
Feb 13, 2013 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Terumah
If you care deeply about the present and future state of the synagogue, as I do, it’s difficult to resist the temptation to draw lessons from the remarkable vision of communal worship set forth in this week’s Torah portion. I do not intend to resist. Three aspects of the divine plan for the Tabernacle strike me as particularly relevant to our contemporary situation.
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Mizmor Shir Leyom HaShabbat: Shabbat in Liturgy and Song
Oct 25, 2010 By Robert Harris | Video Lecture
Part six of the six-part series, “Shabbat: From Here to Eternity”
Read More![A Nation of Priests](https://www.jtsa.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/jtslogo_pms173___high_res_square-300x300.png)
A Nation of Priests
Sep 25, 2004 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Yom Kippur
By Mallory Probert (DS ’05)
This is the way of summer. The earth spins more slowly. Food tastes better. Friends are more engaging. We rediscover the joy of taking afternoon naps during the middle of the week. But then September comes, and it’s dearth of community activities. Perhaps this is the hidden wisdom behind the timing of the Days of Awe – for they occur precisely at the same time as our secular lives resume their frantic pace.
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Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities
Apr 27, 2010 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
How will the independent minyan movement affect the traditional American Jewish community? What does this new movement imply for the future of synagogues and Jewish education?
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