91快活林

Who Do You Think You Are?

Oct 8, 2021 By Kendell Pinkney | Commentary | Noah

When I received the results, I can鈥檛 say I was all that surprised:

67% Sub-Saharan African, 30% Northwest European, 2% Indigenous American, 1% unaccounted for.

I already knew that my ethnic heritage was decently mixed up. I had spent enough years peppering my grandmothers with the kinds of questions only a child feels comfortable pursuing: 鈥淲here was your mother from? Where was your father from? Belize?! Which city? Dangriga? Sounds weird. Never heard of it. Wait, grandma, your grandmother was a white woman from Louisiana?!鈥�

Is the World a Mirror?

Oct 1, 2021 By Dianne Cohler-Esses | Commentary | Bereishit

The God of the Torah is driven by loneliness, by a desire to be in relationship with humanity and to God鈥檚 chosen people, Israel. As Abraham Joshua Heschel says (quoted by Michael Lerner in his book Jewish Renewal), 鈥淕od鈥檚 dream is not to be alone, but to have humankind as a partner in the drama of continuous creation鈥� (vi). Out of a great loneliness God emerges from royal solitude to create a world and within it humanity as a partner for God.

What Exactly Is a Sukkah?

Sep 24, 2021 By David Zev Moster | Commentary | Sukkot

Have you ever asked yourself what defines a sukkah? Not how to build one or what makes it kosher, but why have one in the first place? What is its purpose? Was the sukkah part of daily life in ancient Israel? Did it have a role outside the holiday that bears its name?

In God鈥檚 Image

Sep 17, 2021 By Alisa Braun | Commentary | Ha'azinu | Sukkot

What does it mean to be created in God鈥檚 image? Or to act in a God-like way? As I reread Parashat Ha鈥檃zinu, I was struck by the ways Moses鈥檚 song poetically develops God鈥檚 care for the Israelites, and I discovered in the vivid and diverse metaphors the beginnings of an answer. From the opening lines, where God鈥檚 words are likened to varieties of rain, sustaining and giving life to all, to God as an eagle 鈥渨ho rouses his nestlings鈥� and 鈥渂ears them along his pinions鈥� (Deut. 32:11), this God builds up, guides, teaches, and protects. God provides for the Israelites鈥� physical needs with gifts of abundance, nurturing the people with 鈥渉oney from the crag鈥� as a mother nurses her child (Deut. 32:13). The Israelites鈥� lack of gratitude inflames God鈥檚 anger, but God bestows mercy and forgiveness, despite there being no mention of teshuva (repentance). God gives.

Moses鈥檚 Journey, and Ours

Sep 9, 2021 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Shabbat Shuvah | Vayeilekh

Whenever I read the opening verse of this week鈥檚 parashah, I recall the other parashah that opens with the same verb: 诇讱志诇讱 (鈥淕o forth鈥�). Told to go, Abram heeded God鈥檚 call, uprooting his life and journeying鈥攂oth physically and emotionally鈥攆irst to Haran and then to the land of Israel. And now, as we near the end of the Torah reading cycle, Parashat Vayeilekh begins by attributing that very same action of journeying to Moses, as he nears the end of his life. What can we learn from the parallel acts of journeying that these two great leaders of our people undertook?

Choosing to Choose

Sep 3, 2021 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Nitzavim | Rosh Hashanah

The rabbis taught that Rosh Hashanah commemorates the creation of the world, or by some accounts, the sixth day of creation, the day that humanity was created. Liturgically, the day is seen as more than just an anniversary. We pray 鈥淗ayom Harat Olam,鈥� today the world is born, suggesting that the world, humanity, and each of us individually, are created 鈥渢oday,鈥� every Rosh Hashanah.

Reliving Sinai Every Day

Aug 27, 2021 By Alisa Tzipi Zilbershtein | Commentary | Ki Tavo

Parashat Ki Tavo opens with Moses addressing B鈥檔ei Yisrael: 鈥淭he Lord your God commands you this day to observe these laws and rules; observe them faithfully with all your heart and soul. You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your God, that you will walk in His ways, that you will observe His laws and commandments and rules, and that you will obey Him鈥� (Deut. 26:16鈥�17). During my years at 91快活林, one of the themes that always captivated me was the mystical understanding of the concept of time in the Torah. That is why my attention was immediately drawn to this quote. The specific timeframe 鈥渢his day鈥� occurs twice here and is repeated multiple times in the parashah. What does 鈥渢his day鈥� mean? Or rather, when is 鈥渢his day鈥�?

Before Going Out to Fight, Look Inside

Aug 20, 2021 By Jeffrey Kress | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

We know that every extra word in the Torah invites exploration to arrive at its deeper meaning. The opening words of Parashat Ki Tetzei require such consideration: 鈥淲hen you go out to war against your enemies . . .鈥� Why mention enemies? Who else would one be going to war against? Rabbinic interpretations focus on the use of the plural (enemies) as signifying a distinction between categories of conflict, each requiring different rules of engagement. This helps explain why the rules of war that open the parashah differ from the closing instructions about how to fight Amalek. The Torah is talking about two different categories of conflict.

Making Space for Community

Aug 13, 2021 By Rafi Cohen | Commentary | Shofetim

For two weeks this summer, I was a visiting educator at Ramah Sports Academy. My responsibilities were fairly typical for a visiting rabbi at camp: leading classes for campers and staff, supporting a particular edah (age group). But I also had an opportunity to assist the summer mashgiah in assessing and repairing the eruv before Shabbat. The camp鈥檚 eruv鈥攁 ritual legal enclosure fixed for the purpose of allowing activities such as carrying from one domain to another on Shabbat鈥攚as constructed using some of the natural boundaries around camp. To identify the sightline of the trees at the far end of a field or a stream of water that connects one part of camp to another as part of the created boundary, string and small wooden posts (lehim) were affixed along parts of the camp periphery.

Can We Mourn Too Much?

Aug 6, 2021 By Katja Vehlow | Commentary | Re'eh

When someone dies, this week鈥檚 parashah tells us, we should not ritually cut ourselves or our hair. In other words: we should not mourn excessively.

A Legacy of Peace

Jul 30, 2021 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Eikev

Why do we still need kohanim? What purpose do hereditary priests鈥攖he descendants of Aaron鈥攕erve in a culture that appoints religious leaders based primarily on education? Whatever authority rabbis have stems mostly from their knowledge and individual personalities, but the kohanim inherit theirs. Leviticus 21 describes the kohanim as a holy caste who, due to nothing other than heredity, assume the religious leadership of B鈥檔ei Yisrael. Their heritage is not land, like the other clans of Israel; rather, their legacy is God, Sanctuary, and sacrifice alone.

The Commandments We Need

Jul 23, 2021 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

The act of retelling is, by virtue of necessity, an act of interpretation. Certain details sharpen and others fade as we place a past experience in the context of our needs and thoughts in the present moment. As Yosef Chayim Yerushalmi famously argued in his seminal book Zachor, there鈥檚 a difference between history and memory鈥攂oth are deeply important, but they play different roles in our lives.

Rebuilding the Temple Within

Jul 16, 2021 By Eitan Fishbane | Commentary | Devarim | Tishah Be'av

With this parashah, we begin the book of Deuteronomy, the opening of a book of memory鈥攁 recalling of the forty years of desert wandering while simultaneously anticipating the entrance of the people into the Land of Israel.

Who Gets the Last Word?

Jul 9, 2021 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

Mattot and Masei, the last two portions of the book of Numbers (30:2鈥�36:18), are usually read one after the other on the same Sabbath. Are these portions linked by something other than the quirks of the Jewish calendar?

In the Face of Violence, a Covenant of Peace

Jul 2, 2021 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Pinehas

Karen Armstrong, the scholar of religion and popular author of such works as The History of God, relates that wherever she travels, she is often confronted by someone鈥攁 taxi driver, an Oxford academic, an American psychiatrist鈥攚ho confidently expresses the view that 鈥渞eligion has caused more violence and wars than anything else.鈥� This is quite a remarkable statement given that in the last century alone, tens of millions of people have been killed in two world wars, the communist purges in the Soviet Union and its satellites, and the Cambodian killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, none of which were caused by religious motivations.

Greater than Moses?

Jun 25, 2021 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Balak

Although this week鈥檚 Torah reading is named for the Moabite king Balak, who sought to curse the Israelites, the real star of the show is the gentile prophet Balaam ben Be`or鈥攚ith a special comedy cameo by his talking ass. Three whole chapters of the Torah (Num. 22鈥�24) are given over to the efforts of Balak and Balaam to curse the Jews. In the end, of course, God prevails, and on Friday nights in Schul we still sing Balaam鈥檚 blessing, 鈥淢ah tovu ohalekhah Yaakov鈥擧ow goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel.鈥�

Heroes and Humans

Jun 18, 2021 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Hukkat

One of the things I love most about the Bible is that it presents humans, not heroes. Even the Bible鈥檚 greatest figures have virtues and vices.

Korah Had Options and So Do We

Jun 11, 2021 By Stephanie Ruskay | Commentary | Korah

Korah is most famous for challenging Moses鈥檚 authority, framing rebellion in the guise of populism, and calling on Moses to share power and religious titles. The Rabbis understand Korah鈥檚 call for shared leadership and responsibility as a selfish desire to see himself awarded the role of the kohen gadol. He did not actually want 鈥減eople鈥� to have power; rather, he personally wanted authority and prestige and framed rebellion as something he was doing for the greater good.

Contempt for God鈥檚 Word?

Jun 4, 2021 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

Numbers chapter 15, having set forth instructions for how to atone for unintentional sins, next turns its attention to deliberate transgressions (30鈥�31):

But the person who transgresses with a high hand, whether native or sojourner鈥攈e reviles the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from the midst of his people. For he has shown contempt for the word of the Lord [devar adonai bazah], and God’s commandment he has violated. That person shall surely be cut off, his crime is upon him.

Help Wanted

May 28, 2021 By Shira D. Epstein | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

In recent years, Jewish institutions have joined efforts to address issues of equity in the workforce, encouraging transparency in publicized pay scales, promotion criteria, and job requirements. This endeavor has been facilitated by pioneering organizations such as the Gender Equity in Hiring Project that did not exist when I negotiated salary for my first classroom teaching position. I reflect back on the hiring process, which felt at the time like a puzzle for which I was meant to know the solution but could not access; I now understand that these feelings of isolation were common, particularly when no formal pay scale existed. Today as an activist for workplace equity, I benefit from the wisdom of current advocacy; at the urging of some of our alumni, The William Davidson School weekly newsletters have recently begun to only post descriptions that include salary ranges. This seemingly small change enables a level playing field, putting employers and job candidates on more equitable negotiating grounds.