91快活林

Kept By Shabbat

Mar 6, 2026 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Ki Tissa

Ahad Ha鈥檃m famously said: 鈥淢ore than Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews.鈥� Pretty remarkable coming from the founder of cultural Zionism!

Parashat Ki Tissa either supports or challenges Ha鈥檃m鈥檚 words. This week鈥檚 parashah relates one of the lowest moments in Israel鈥檚 story鈥攖he sin of the golden calf鈥攊n which Israel dances before a god of their own making. Coming down Mount Sinai with the stone tablets inscribed by God鈥檚 finger (Exod. 31:18), Moses sees Israel鈥檚 frenzy and smashes the tablets. Moses spends the rest of the parashah picking up the pieces and working to restore Israel鈥檚 relationship with God. The parashah ends with God giving a new set of tablets to Moses. The holy covenant between God and Israel is restored.

Zakhor in a Fractured Age

Feb 27, 2026 By Sandra Fox | Commentary | Shabbat Zakhor | Tetzavveh

鈥淐ould you have chosen a more loaded week?鈥� said my husband with a face that can only be described as both bemused and pitying when I told him that I had agreed to write my first 91快活林 Torah Commentary on Shabbat Zakhor. As the heaviness of the reading sank in, with its commandment to recall Amalek鈥檚 unprovoked attack on the Israelites and to 鈥渂lot out鈥� Amalek鈥檚 memory, I became apprehensive.

A Symbol of Peace

Feb 20, 2026 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Terumah

The Arch of Titus in Rome is simultaneously one of the saddest and most exciting places for a Jew to stand. It is but a short distance from the Colosseum, the stadium made famous by its cruel sports, built with money plundered from the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE. Titus鈥檚 Arch celebrates the destruction of our Temple, a building designated by Isaiah to be a house of prayer for all nations. A bas-relief sculpture on the arch鈥檚 inner walls depicts a sickening scene: the triumphant display of the Temple鈥檚 sacred objects, the Menorah most prominent among them, along with a pathetic procession of enslaved Jews.

Wade Melnick – Senior Sermon (RS ’26)

Feb 19, 2026 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Terumah

Wade Melnick-Terumah

Before Them, Before Us: Law as Master, Law as Servant

Feb 13, 2026 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Mishpatim | Shabbat Shekalim

讜职讗值诇侄旨讛 讛址诪执旨砖职讈驻指旨讟执讬诐 讗植砖侄讈专 转指旨砖执讉讬诐 诇执驻职谞值讬讛侄诐 These are the rules that you shall place before them. (Exodus 21:1) So begins this week鈥檚 parashah, Mishpatim. It is here that the Jewish legal tradition begins, where Torah (i.e. 鈥淚nstruction鈥�) becomes Nomos or Law. Immediately after that opening sentence, the text continues with rules concerning masters and servants.  […]

Eitan Bloostein – Senior Sermon (RS ’26)

Feb 11, 2026 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Mishpatim

Mishpatim AllClass of 2026 Senior Sermons

On Moses鈥� 鈥淪aying鈥� and 鈥淭elling鈥�

Feb 6, 2026 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Yitro

The highlight of Parashat Yitro is undoubtedly the spectacular son et lumi猫re at Sinai, accompanying the uniquely unmediated revelation of God鈥檚 鈥渨ords鈥� (the 10 Commandments) directly to the people. The gravity of the occasion demanded special preparation, and most of Exodus 19 is devoted to that preparation…

Noam Blauer – Senior Sermon (RS ’26)

Feb 6, 2026 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Yitro

Yitro AllClass of 2026 Senior Sermons

When Prayer is Not Enough

Jan 30, 2026 By Cantor Rabbi Shoshi Levin Goldberg | Commentary | Beshallah

You may know this joke: a man is drowning in the ocean and several people with boats come to rescue him. He responds to each of them, 鈥淣o, thank you. I鈥檝e been praying, and God will save me.鈥� When the man arrives in heaven, angry with God, God asks him, 鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 you get on the boats I sent?鈥�

Prayer is rarely enough. Jewish leaders are acutely aware of this reality today. Cantors, in particular, know that there is far more to our jobs than leading prayer.

Marc Hersch – Senior Sermon (RS ’26)

Jan 29, 2026 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Beshallah

Beshallah AllClass of 2026 Senior Sermons

Where We Stand is What We Learn

Jan 23, 2026 By Luciana Pajecki Lederman | Commentary | Bo

As a Talmud teacher, I am constantly aware of the dynamic web of relationships in which learning takes place鈥攂etween me, the students, and the text we explore together鈥攅ach quietly and continually shaping the relationship between the others. But as Director of the Beit Midrash, I am especially attuned to the role of the surrounding environment: how the space itself can either nurture or inhibit those relationships.

Words Fail Me

Jan 16, 2026 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Va'era

That is the way the Zohar (the foundational text of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism) understands our exile in Egypt: as the exile of speech, a failure of words. In this reading, the breakdown of speech is both cause and effect of our enslavement, while healing and redeeming speech鈥攆inding our voice鈥攊s both the process and hallmark of redemption.

Hearing the Cry: Miriam, Pharaoh鈥檚 Daughter, and Moral Courage

Jan 9, 2026 By Naomi Kalish | Commentary | Shemot

At times of difficulty, uncertainty, and strife, I often find comfort and courage in stories, especially stories about people who connect and transform or resolve conflict. This week鈥檚 parsha, Shemot (Exodus 1:1-6:1), gives me such a story of hope in its portrayal of the relationship between two people from groups in conflict.

Pictures at a Benediction: Envisioning Jacob鈥檚 Blessing of his Sons

Jan 2, 2026 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Vayehi

what did Jacob鈥檚 bedchamber look like when the brothers came to receive their final blessings鈥攁nd curses? (Gen. 49) I have found numerous artistic renderings, but two in particular caught my attention because of how differently they paint the scene.

A Song of Hope

Dec 26, 2025 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Vayiggash

In a curious foreshadowing of the book of Exodus, in this week鈥檚 Torah reading (Gen. 46:8) we read, 鈥淰e鈥檈leh shemot鈥擳hese are the names of the children of Israel who came into Egypt . . .鈥� This is verbatim the same report as the opening verse of the book of Exodus. But there, the names are limited only to Jacob鈥檚 actual sons, and the full enumeration of their own offspring is absent.

A Light for One, a Light for a Hundred

Dec 19, 2025 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Miketz | Hanukkah

When I look at the Prato Haggadah in our exhibition at the Grolier Club, I think of the man who once protected it. His name was Ludwig Pollak. Born in Prague in 1868, Pollak became one of Rome鈥檚 leading Jewish scholars of classical art. He directed the Museo Barracco, advised the Vatican鈥檚 archaeological collections, and […]

Judah and Tamar: Writing the Story

Dec 12, 2025 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Vayeshev

One of the most gripping stories in the entire Bible appears in this week鈥檚 parashah. Chapter 38, a self-contained unit, interrupts the ongoing Joseph saga to tell the story of Judah and Tamar.

The chapter opens with the somewhat strange statement that Judah leaves his brothers, meets up with Hirah the Adulamite, and there, in Adulam, finds himself a wife of Canaanite stock. He thereby violates God鈥檚 warning to the patriarchs to avoid Canaanite women (Gen. 24:3,28:1). Judah鈥檚 wife bears him three sons. He marries off his first son, Er, to Tamar. No information is provided about her lineage. Er dies because he was 鈥渄ispleasing to the Lord鈥� (v. 7).

Jacob鈥檚 Fear

Dec 5, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Vayishlah

The Torah wants us to identify with the ancestors we meet in the book of Genesis; indeed, Abraham and Sarah and their children become our ancestors when we agree not only to read their stories, but to take them forward. Abraham 鈥渂egat鈥� Isaac in one sense by supplying the seed for his conception. He 鈥渂egat鈥� him as well by shaping the life that Isaac would live, setting its direction, digging wells that his son would re-dig, making Isaac鈥檚 story infinitely more meaningful鈥攁nd terrifying鈥攂y placing him in the line of partners with God in covenant. So it is with us. Nowhere is this impact of the ancestors more obvious than in the case of Jacob, who in this week鈥檚 parashah receives the name by which we heirs to the covenant call ourselves to this day: Israel. The ancestors are us, if we accept the Torah鈥檚 invitation to make them so. We are them: the latest chapter in the story that they lived and bequeathed to us, and which we have chosen to live and bequeath to others.

The Monumental Act of Listening

Nov 28, 2025 By Jessica Fisher | Commentary | Vayetzei

Parashat Vayetzei brings us to a climactic moment of a 20-year conflict between Jacob and Laban. When Jacob came to Laban鈥檚 house after tricking his own father and brother, Laban made him work for seven years to earn the right to marry Rachel, only to be tricked into marrying Leah. So he worked seven more years and finally married Rachel. More hiding and trickery ensued, until finally Jacob decided it was time to leave this toxic dynamic and he snuck away with his family. But Laban caught up to them and, after years of deceit, they had it out with each other, putting everything on the table once and for all: Laban was hurt that Jacob had left without giving him a chance to say goodbye to his children and grandchildren; Jacob was resentful for the years of hard labor, lies, and harsh treatment. (Gen. 31:26-42)

Finding Our Way (and God鈥檚) in the World

Nov 21, 2025 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Toledot

What do you make of our matriarch Rebecca? Certainly she is the boldest and most independent of the mothers. When as a girl she sees a stranger at the well, she rushes to water his caravan of thirsty camels, and then invites him to stay at her house. When offered the chance to travel with this man back to a distant land and a mysterious husband, she volunteers without hesitation. When her pregnancy becomes difficult, she seeks out God and challenges God with the bold question, 鈥淲hy do I need this?鈥� When her husband seems ready to bless the wrong son, she quickly conspires to rearrange the action so that Jacob will receive the primary blessing. In all of these actions, Rebecca is seen as a woman of strength and decisiveness.