91快活林

What It Means to Enjoy

Sep 1, 2023 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Ki Tavo

In Deuteronomy, the Torah commands us no fewer than eight times to 鈥渞ejoice鈥� in the fulfillment of religious obligations.Two of those occurrences are in this week鈥檚 parashah. The first comes after bringing first fruits to the sanctuary and thanking God for the harvest: And you shall enjoy all the goodness (vesamahta bekhol hatov) that Adonai your God has bestowed upon you and your household, together with the Levite and the stranger in your midst.

Do Not Turn Away鈥擳hen and Now

Aug 25, 2023 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

In 1861, as a great conflagration spread across our nation, the Bostonian abolitionist and women鈥檚 rights advocate Samuel Joseph May published a slender tract entitledThe Fugitive Slave Act and Its Victims, an impassioned polemic against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This federal law, born of the Missouri Compromise of the same year, required all federal, state, and local authorities, including those in free states, to return fugitive slaves to their masters, while also criminalizing any attempt to aid and abet a slave seeking to escape bondage. May, a Unitarian pastor, thought it fitting鈥攁nd rightly so鈥攖o grace the tract鈥檚 title page with the King James translation of Deuteronomy 23:16鈥�17, which I cite here using the JPS translation: 鈥淵ou shall not turn over to his master a slave who seeks refuge with you from his master. He shall live with you in any place that he may choose among the settlements in your midst, wherever he pleases; you must not ill-treat him.鈥�

Who Are You to Judge?

Aug 18, 2023 By Ellie Gettinger | Commentary | Shofetim

Writing about Shofetim (Judges) feels like too much at this particular moment, when the judiciary of both the United States and Israel are beset by challenges. In Israel, judicial reform pursued by the ruling party is shifting the balance of powers, pushing Israeli society to a schism. In the US, questions of judicial ethics are at the forefront. What does it mean to have a lifetime appointment, and what is the line between friendship and bribery? Shofetim positions the need for righteous people to preside over courts while acknowledging the ever-present challenge human nature presents to this ideal.

To Know or Not to Know

Aug 11, 2023 By Malka Strasberg Edinger | Commentary | Re'eh | Tishah Be'av

The centralization of cultic worship is one of the major themes in the book of Deuteronomy. However, the place of that worship, the Temple, is described as 鈥渢he place that God will choose,鈥� with no mention of where that place is to exist. This week鈥檚 parashah, parashat Re鈥檈h, introduces the theme that once in the Land of Israel, the Israelites are to worship their God in 鈥渉amakom asher yivhar Hashem鈥� (the place that God will choose). This vague phraseology, which only alludes to a specific place but does not specify where that place is, is repeated 21 times throughout the book of Deuteronomy, with 16 of those occurrences in our parashah alone.

Would Our Mother Forget Us?

Aug 4, 2023 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Eikev

This Shabbat is the second of the seven Shabbatot of consolation that follow Tishah Be鈥檃v, and, as on all these Shabbatot, its haftarah comes from the last part of the book of Isaiah. These are highly appropriate passages to console us after we commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem, because they were written by a prophet who lived in exile roughly a generation after the Babylonian empire demolished the Jerusalem Temple, destroyed the Judean state, and exiled much of its population. Because the name of this prophet is unknown, scholars refer to him (or perhaps her; women served as prophets in ancient Israel, as the examples of Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah show) as Deutero-Isaiah or Second Isaiah.

The Words Upon Our Hearts

Jul 28, 2023 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

In this week鈥檚 parashah we encounter anew perhaps the most well-known words in our tradition, the first paragraph of the Shema. In these verses, we are commanded to place before us at all times words of Torah. They are to be in our hearts, in our mouths, on our heads and hands, and at the entrances to our homes.

Indeed, according to the rabbinic tradition, the commandment in verse 6 to place these words on our hearts is intended to teach us how to fulfill the foundational commandment to 鈥渓ove God…”

Taking Life鈥檚 Journey with Torah

Jul 21, 2023 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Devarim

鈥淗ear, O Israel,鈥� the book of Deuteronomy proclaims over and over, the verb always in the second person singular. The Torah wants every one of us to listen carefully, whoever we are, at whatever stage of life. It knows that each person will hear its words somewhat differently鈥攁nd will perhaps listen differently鈥攖his day than in the past.

Upgrading the Torah鈥攁nd the World

Jul 14, 2023 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

Is God鈥檚 law perfect? Most of us would assume that anything created by an omniscient and omnipotent being must have no flaws. But a story in today鈥檚 parashah suggests otherwise鈥攊n a manner that shows a surprising similarity to a key concept of Jewish mysticism.

Life After Moses

Jul 7, 2023 By Alisa Braun | Commentary | Pinehas

In chapter 27, God announces Moses鈥檚 impending death and Joshua is appointed successor. Like his brother Aaron before him, Moses is instructed to ascend a mountain and view the Promised Land. Moses too will not enter the land because of a transgression (in his case the striking of the rock). But there is one key difference in God鈥檚 announcements to the brothers of their impending deaths. To Aaron, God explicitly commands the passing of the priesthood to his son Eleazar, a process marked by the stripping of Aaron鈥檚 priestly garments and their transfer to his son. But Moses must initiate the appointment of his successor. Why would God announce a successor to Aaron and not Moses? Did God not have a plan for Moses to hand over the reins?

Dreaming of Being Balaam

Jun 30, 2023 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Balak | Hukkat

The story of the heathen prophet Balaam鈥攈ired by Moabite king Balak ben Tzippor to curse the people Israel鈥攊s altogether strange. It concerns events happening outside the Israelite camp and seemingly unknown to them, characters we鈥檝e not yet met, and a talking donkey. Its tone ranges from burlesquely funny to surreal.

Did Korah Get a Bum Rap?

Jun 23, 2023 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Korah

The memory of Huey Long, and the continued concern over the role of demagoguery in American politics, comes to mind this week because we see a prime example of it in Parashat Korah鈥攖he figure of Korah himself. (The character of Dathan, played by Edgar G. Robinson, in The Ten Commandments, was essentially based on Korah). Korah was long vilified by the Rabbinic Sages, and of course the Torah itself condemns him as the paradigmatic rebel against the divinely sanctioned leadership of Moses and Aaron.

Always Something There to Remind Me

Jun 16, 2023 By Abigail Uhrman | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

In the same way that the Yashar projects are physical reminders of camps鈥� inclusive values and powerfully shape camp culture, tzitzit function to remind B鈥檔ei Yisrael of their covenantal relationship with God and encourage them to fulfill the mitzvot that God has commanded. Like camps鈥� newly accessible spaces, tzitzit are ever-present symbols that, at their best, help B鈥檔ei Yisrael recall their most precious values and activate their capacity to realize these ideals.

At the Threshold

Jun 9, 2023 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

The ninth chapter of Numbers tells a tale that results in a rule and an institution. The first anniversary of the Exodus (on the 14th of the first month of Nisan) was approaching for the recently freed Israelites, and they were reminded that the Paschal sacrificial rites were meant to be annual observances. They were instructed by Moses to make the necessary preparations. But there were people who had recently contracted ritual impurity [tumah] by contact with the dead, perhaps because they had buried deceased relatives. And they knew that this impurity, which was beyond their control, precluded them from participating in a rite that was, in effect, an annual renewal of membership in the community of Israel. Their plaint was brought to Moses, who understood the predicament of these well-meaning Israelites, but did not know how to resolve it, and thus brought the case to God.

The Power of a Blessing

Jun 2, 2023 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Naso

Anyone I know who grew up in a synagogue where the kohanim dukhened on the Yamim Tovim remembers this as one of the peak moments of their
synagogue experience. There are many reasons for this: the strange sight of men (and now women) standing with their hands extended and with their heads and upper faces covered by tallitot, the fact that we were in fact not to gaze upon this startling spectacle, and the sense of protection afforded to those of us whose parents covered them with their own tallitot during the rendering of the blessing in order to protect them from the potentially harmful effects of looking upon the kohanim.

How Should We Know God?

May 25, 2023 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Shavuot

It鈥檚 well known that Jewish tradition assigns specific readings from the Torah and the Prophets for all the holidays. Less well known are several traditions that assign holiday readings from the Book of Psalms.[1] An Ashkenazic tradition associated with Rabbi Elijah, the Vilna Gaon (1720鈥�1797), assigns Psalm 19 for recitation at the end of the Musaf service on the first day of Shavuot. This psalm deals with an appropriate question for the holiday of revelation: How do we come to know about God and God鈥檚 will?

Reliving Revelation

May 19, 2023 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Bemidbar

The fourth book of the Torah (鈥淏emidbar Sinai鈥�) begins with a census of the (male) heads of clans among the Israelites in the second year of their freedom. And then, it lays out the pattern according to which the 12 tribes and the religious functionaries (levi鈥檌m and kohanim) are to set up camp in the wilderness. When you read it, you are struck by the attention to detail and good order, something which is rather typical in documents with a priestly source.

Growing Into Torah

May 12, 2023 By Megan GoldMarche | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai

For this week鈥檚 parashiyot, Behar-Behukkotai, I might ask: What is something that you took or borrowed from someone that you know it is time to return, perhaps because it is the right thing to do or because it will make you feel lighter? This can be a physical thing like a book or shirt, or something intangible like the hope or support you received from someone. If you are hosting shabbat dinner this week I encourage you to try it out, with a brief explanation of the ideas of Jubilee and returning land to its original owners that appears in this week鈥檚 parashah.

The Problem of Embodied Perfection

May 4, 2023 By Lauren Tuchman | Commentary | Emor

Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21鈥�24) opens with a passage describing limitations placed on individuals whom a kohen (priest) may mourn or marry, as well as limiting sacrificial service in the Mishkan to those who are able-bodied. We learn in Leviticus 21:17 that any kohen who has a mum鈥攂lemish or defect鈥攊s explicitly forbidden from 鈥渙ffering the food of his God鈥� (21:17). Kohanim thus disqualified include those who are blind, lame, have a limb length discrepancy, are hunchbacked, have a broken limb, and many others. They are forbidden from ritual leadership throughout the ages; though not stripped of their priestly status and are permitted to eat sacrificial meat. They are not permitted to come behind the curtain or approach the altar. They mustn鈥檛 profane these places which God has sanctified (21:22鈥�23).

Making God Holy

Apr 28, 2023 By Amram Altzman | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

Parashat Kedoshim, the second of the two parashiyot that we read this week, ends just as it begins: with an imperative for us, the Children of Israel, to be holy. Our parashah opens with, 鈥溩ё撟┳欁� 转讛讬讜/You shall be holy,鈥漚nd the penultimate verse tells us that, 鈥溩曌斪欁欁�诐 诇讬 拽讚砖讬诐/You shall be holy to Me, for I God am holy, and I have set you apart from other peoples to be Mine鈥� (Lev. 20:26). Although almost identical, our parashahends with the idea that we are not just holy in general, but are specifically designed as holy to God. How, then, are we supposed to not just be holy, but holy to God?

It Passes and We Stay

Apr 21, 2023 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Metzora | Shabbat Rosh Hodesh | Tazria

The double parashiyot of Tazria and Metzora are devoted in their entireties to the Biblical notion oftumah,usually translated as 鈥渋mpurity.鈥� In them, we learn three of the major sources oftumah: childbirth(Lev. 12); a condition known astzara鈥檃t, which can manifest on skin, clothing, or the walls of one鈥檚 house(Lev. 13鈥�14); and bodily secretions(Lev. 15). The two other primary sources oftumahare touching or carrying the carcasses of certain animals(Lev. 11) and contact with a human corpse(Num. 19).

But what is the essential nature oftumah,and what does it have to do with Emily Dickinson鈥檚 poem?