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How Do You Measure a Year?

May 15, 2026 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Bemidbar

鈥淔ive hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. How do you measure, measure a year?鈥�

The question asked in the chorus of 鈥淪easons of Love,鈥� made ever more poignant by the tragic death of its composer-lyricist, Jonathan D. Larson, just months before Rent opened on Broadway in 1996, has been rattling lately in my mind. After all, we are doing an awful lot of counting this week: we count the final days of the Omer, and, as our parashah begins, take the census of the Israelite community. What does all of this counting have to do with the ways in which we measure what really matters?

Hope and the Unknown

Jan 2, 2016 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Shemot

As legend has it, my great-grandfather quit school after the eighth grade. Apparently this decision had little to do with academics: my Grandpa Harry, 锄鈥漧, was a smart man who went on to become a successful furrier with his own business in Manhattan. No, apparently it had everything to do with social pressure. As legend has it, he walked into school on the first day of the ninth grade, realized that no one at his new school knew him, and walked out.

Consolation and Repair

Jul 24, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Eikev

Here we find ourselves two weeks into the seven weeks marked ever so gently by their haftarot, the shiv鈥檃h d鈥檔ehemata (seven haftarot of comfort or consolation)鈥攕even weeks in which the haftarot have nothing to do with the parashiyot, and everything to do with where we are in the calendar year: heading from Tish鈥檃h Be鈥橝v into the season of teshuvah, and ultimately into a new year.

Comfort Food

Jun 25, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Pinehas

When we go to help someone鈥攊n times of mourning, illness, or just a basic potluck pitch-in鈥攄o we give them what we need to give, or what they need of us? How are we to know, if we are not explicitly told, what will please, comfort, or help someone else the most? And the religious corollary to this line of thinking: do our answers change when it comes to bringing an offering to please or comfort not our friends, but God?

How Do You Measure a Year?

May 8, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Bemidbar | Shavuot

We are doing an awful lot of counting this week: we count the final days of the Omer, and, as our parashah begins, take the census of the Israelite community. What does all of this counting have to do with the ways in which we measure what really matters?

Getting Out of Your Own Way

Apr 16, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

鈥淵ou shall not . . . place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God. I am the Lord.鈥� Taken literally, this is a verse about respecting the disabled. Taken figuratively鈥攁s the Rabbis give us ample precedent and license to do鈥攊t is about all of us.

Meaning in M茅tier

Mar 6, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Pekudei | Vayak-hel

The midrash suggests that the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was given not because God needed such a thing, but to show the world鈥擨sraelites included鈥攖hat the Israelites had been forgiven for the sin of the Golden Calf. It is curious, though, that such a gesture would be given as a do-it-yourself assignment.

Parts of a Whole

Feb 20, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Tetzavveh | Purim

A strange fact about being human: we never see any object in its entirety. We perceive in three dimensions, but see only in two so that our seeing is always at the mercy of our believing.

Finding God in the Darkness

Feb 5, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Short Video | Va'era

A video Torah commentary.

Afraid of the Dark

Jan 16, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Bo

I cannot read the stories of the plagues without a knot in my stomach. What kind of God hardens Pharaoh鈥檚 heart so that the suffering of both the Egyptians and the enslaved Israelites increases? What kind of God comes up with the death of the firstborn as the 鈥渇inal straw鈥�? What am I supposed to do with these stories as someone who wants to believe in the God of Redemption and Compassion and Justice; who wants to feel that God鈥檚 presence in my life?

Forgetting to Remember for Posterity

Dec 5, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Vayeshev

Remember the Sabbath day. Remember what Amalek did to you in the wilderness. Remember what God did to Miriam. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. Memory is integral to our identities as Jews and as individuals. What happens when we lose our memories, or our ability to remember altogether?

Daydreaming Out the Window

Oct 17, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Noah

The ark鈥檚 window bothered the Rabbis. It is a technical problem: in Genesis 8:6, Noah 鈥渙pened the window (chalon) of the ark that he had made,鈥� but in the very thorough account of the construction of the ark earlier in the parashah, no window was ever made. 鈥淲hat window?鈥� the Rabbis wonder.

The Journey Home

Aug 18, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Re'eh

Why should I choose a Jewish life? And more than just a “Jewish” life鈥攚hich might consist of nothing more than bagels, gefilte fish, and a penchant for Seinfeld reruns: Why should I choose a life of mitzvah, of Jewish commitment and action, when there are so many other compelling religions and spiritual paths?

Finding Holiness in the Wilderness of Life

Aug 18, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Masei | Mattot

That life is ever changing makes us curious, grateful, wary. How are we to navigate the 鈥巙ncertainty in a way that makes us feel rewarded?

Living the Life Waiting for Us

Jul 7, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Balak

Each of us has our version of the story: the infertility, the divorce, the toilet flooding before the Rosh Hashanah guests arrive. Mentsch tracht, gott lacht: man plans, God laughs, as the Yiddish expression goes. Only, most of the time it really doesn’t seem so funny.

In Memory of Sylvia Ettenberg

Jun 30, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Hukkat

The week we read of the passing of Miriam is the week that our community mourns鈥攁mong others鈥擲ylvia Ettenberg, dean emerita at 91快活林 for more than half a century.

Aging with Vigor

Jun 2, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Naso

I have always been curious about Pirkei Avot’s laying out of particular life-stage milestones according to age. What are the different stages of life about? What is “supposed” to happen to us when? What can we expect as we grow up and (God willing) grow old? Is there a point at which we are “disqualified,” turned away as less useful than before for service to our community?

The Treasure of Inner Wisdom

May 5, 2012 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

The very sage pediatrician who examined my newborn son, my firstborn, asked me what his temperament is like. My husband and I exchanged looks, and out poured our utter dismay at how to handle our colicky little treasure. I will never forget the doctor’s words of advice: You know what to do. Listen to your gut instincts. You are already wise.