91快活林

How to Practice Faith

Aug 22, 2025 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Re'eh

Why, if this is so obvious, do most people expect that another proficiency will come quickly and without effort? I refer here to faith. Many people think that religious faith is something that one either has or doesn鈥檛 have, and that it is acquired in an instant. You should just feel God鈥檚 presence the minute you open a prayer book or light the candles. We are impatient with faith and don鈥檛 invest the effort needed to develop it. Popular stories of sudden conversions foster the expectation that faith is a gift requiring no effort.

Adhering to God鈥檚 Word

Aug 15, 2025 By Raymond Scheindlin | Commentary | Eikev

In Parashat Eikev, we hear the voice of Moses, that most eloquent of preachers, exhorting the Israelites as to how to behave in the Land that he is never to see. He reminds them of their past misconduct and warns that if it continues, they will not thrive in the Land. He devotes much of his attention to the Land itself.Except for a historical digression on the episode of the Golden Calf and several other occasions of Israelite backsliding, most of the parashah is devoted to describing the excellent qualities of the Land of Israel, foretelling the easy conquest of its inhabitants, promising its bounty, and warning of the consequences of using it badly.

Holding Fast

Aug 8, 2025 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

This week we emerge from the destitution of Tisha Be鈥檃v, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the Temples, and receive the gift of Shabbat Nahamu, the Shabbat of our being comforted. 谞址讞植诪讜旨 谞址讞植诪讜旨 注址诪执旨讬 讬止讗诪址专 讗直诇止讛值讬讻侄诐, 鈥淐omfort, oh comfort My people, Says your God鈥�(Isaiah 40:1). What is comfort? One way of understanding the essence of comfort is by engaging with Moshe Rabbenu (our teacher, Moses) in this week鈥檚 parashah.

Black North, White West: Color, Grief, and the Geography of the Soul

Aug 1, 2025 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Devarim | Tishah Be'av | Yom Kippur

There鈥檚 a tradition in ancient Semitic languages of mapping the world with colors. The north is black. The south is red. The west is white. The east鈥攕ometimes blue, sometimes green. In Arabic, the Mediterranean is still called al-ba岣�r al-abya岣� al-mutawassi峁�鈥攖he White Middle Sea. The Red Sea is to the south. The Black Sea lies to the north.

Boundaries on the Move

Jul 25, 2025 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot | Shabbat Rosh Hodesh

Every week, we read a parashah from the Torah during our Shabbat morning service, and then the beginning of the next parashah during our Shabbat afternoon service. The result of reading from two parashiyoton a single day can be surprising. This week, as we read first from Masei, the last parashah of Numbers, and then from Devarim, the first from Deuteronomy, we can hear an ancient debate about an issue that remains deeply contested: where to draw the line.

The Liberator and the Zealot

Jul 18, 2025 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Pinehas

In his recently published book,The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom, H.W. Brands contrasts the attitudes of Brown and Lincoln toward slavery, and the methods used by each to end it. In doing so, he makes the case that the terms 鈥渓iberator鈥� and 鈥渮ealot鈥� accurately encapsulate the role of each in abolishing slavery.

91快活林 High Holiday Webinars 2025

Jul 14, 2025

The High Holidays invite us into a season of profound reflection鈥攏ot only on who we are as individuals, but on how we show up for one another and the world. This three-part webinar series explores the emotional and spiritual heart of this sacred time, focusing on the themes of vulnerability, responsibility, and connection.

Together, we鈥檒l consider what it means to pray with presence, to engage meaningfully with others鈥攅ven across difference鈥攁nd to see these days not just as a personal journey, but as a call to collective transformation. Whether you are returning to familiar rituals or seeking a new way in, this series offers space to reflect, connect, and prepare with intention.

Fear, Truth, and a Donkey

Jul 11, 2025 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Balak

Bilam, the highly paid but visionless prophet, sits high in his saddle on his donkey鈥檚 back as she swerves off the path. She鈥檚 strayed, it seems, for no reason; an angel standing with sword drawn is as yet unseen by him. He beats the donkey to drive her back onto the path. The next time she stops short she traps her rider鈥檚 leg against a stone wall. He winces in pain. I imagine him throwing one hand down toward his leg and perhaps grabbing his headdress, by now slipping off, with the other. He frantically beats his donkey again, flailing to regain control. Bilam is coming undone: a prophet made a fool by an ass(Num. 22:22鈥�25).

The Humanity of Moses

Jul 4, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Hukkat

Moses is so very human in this week鈥檚 portion. He loses his sister to death at the start of chapter 20, and his brother at the end of that same chapter. In between, he is told by God that he will not live to see the fulfillment of his life鈥檚 work (guiding his people into […]

Where Does Holiness Come From?

Jun 27, 2025 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Korah

Parashat Korah can be challenging for a modern Jew. There is a good guy in this parashah鈥攊t鈥檚 Moses鈥攁nd there is a bad guy鈥擪orah. Modern readers, however, often find themselves sympathizing with the bad guy. In the opening verses of the parashah(Num. 16:1鈥�3), Korah stands up against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, saying, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got too much! The whole congregation, all of them, are holy, and Hashem is in their very midst. So why do you act like princes, raising yourselves over Hashem鈥檚 congregation?鈥� Korah鈥檚 speech appeals to a modern reader: he鈥檚 the democrat who takes the aristocrat to task for acting so much better than everyone else. It can seem disturbing that Moses enjoys a monopoly on holiness, doling out a healthy serving of the sacred to his brother, the high priest Aaron (nepotism!), while leaving everyone else outside the priesthood. Aren鈥檛 we all holy? Doesn鈥檛 God belong to all of us equally?

The Desert Dead

Jun 20, 2025 By Raymond Scheindlin | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

When the spies returned to the Israelite camp in the wilderness of Paran after scouting out the Land of Canaan, they reported that the land did indeed flow with milk and honey but that it could not be conquered. It was full of warlike people鈥擜malekites, Hittites, Jebusites, Emorites, and Canaanites鈥攎en of enormous size and strength, giants descended from the sons of gods dwelling in fortified towns with walls that reached the sky. Even the land鈥檚 produce was intimidating, for it took two Israelite men holding a great pole on each end to carry out a single cluster of grapes that they had taken as a sample of the land鈥檚 bounty and as evidence of its supernatural scale. The spies were sincere in urging caution; they had been truly terrified by their experiences. When they were in Hebron, for example, they had hidden in a cave from giants. The cave was actually a pomegranate rind that a giant鈥檚 daughter had thrown away. But when the girl remembered her father鈥檚 admonition not to litter, she returned, picked up the pomegranate rind with the twelve spies inside it, and tossed it into her garden as easily as you pick up and throw an eggshell.

New Generation, Old Leaders

Jun 13, 2025 By Ute Steyer | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

To paraphrase Moses鈥檚 meltdown in Numbers 11:11鈥�15, 鈥淟ord! I鈥檓 so done with them! I can鈥檛 take it anymore. These people are nothing but a bunch of whingeing losers.鈥� Yet the People are doing what they have been doing since day one of the Exodus: complaining. About the lack of water, the lack of food, and now the lack of meat. So why is Moses losing his temper so completely this time?

The Problem with Priests

Jun 6, 2025 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Naso

Modern Judaism has a problem with the priesthood. The notion of hereditary holiness鈥攖hat one segment of the Jewish people is set apart from others, given ceremonial privileges, and invited to bless the people鈥攃onflicts with our egalitarian ethos.

Counting as a Spiritual Practice: Bemidbar and the Road to Shavuot

May 30, 2025 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Bemidbar | Shavuot

Every year, without fail, we read Parashat Bemidbar just before the festival of Shavuot. This liturgical pairing is more than a scheduling convenience; it offers a profound insight into the spiritual architecture of Jewish time. Bemidbar begins with a count: “Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans, by ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head” (Num. 1:2; 讘职旨诪执住职驻址旨专 砖值讈诪讜止转 诇职讙只诇职讙职旨诇止转指诐). This act of counting seems administrative on the surface, but like so much in the Torah, its spiritual depth lies beneath.

Grappling with Slavery in Parashat Behar

May 23, 2025 By Marjorie Lehman | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai

Parashat Behar is filled with powerful messages about building a just and compassionate society, emphasizing commandments to care for the land, support the poor, and treat hired workers with fairness and dignity. However, I find that Parashat Behar stirs up more discomfort than ethical inspiration. I am always struck by the difficult distinction it makes between Israelites and non-Israelites with regard to slavery. With the themes of Passover and the Israelites鈥� freedom from Egyptian bondage in my mind, I find it hard to reconcile that Leviticus 25 permits the enslavement of non-Israelites while protecting Israelites from such a fate.

Meeting the Moment: Urgent Questions for Israel and American Jews

May 19, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In a time of deep internal division and existential challenges for Israel, what are the most urgent issues facing the Jewish state today鈥攁nd how can American Jews meaningfully engage? Professor Arnold M. Eisen,Rabbi Gordon Tucker, andRabbi Ayelet Cohenof 91快活林 had a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation based on the themes that emerged at theIsrael at a CrossroadsConvening. Together, they explored how Jewish values can guide us in responding to this critical moment: bridging divides, sustaining hope, and strengthening our collective future.

Who Belongs?

May 16, 2025 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Emor

Who is the Other? This question, which is asked more and more often in our world, is not often easy to answer. Can one choose to be part of a community? Are people who were once outsiders ever fully welcomed as insiders? In Judaism, these questions are especially important. While Judaism has categories to define and even praise non-Jews, opting into the Jewish community is not simple. However, the Talmud tells us that once someone converts to Judaism, we are supposed to treat them as any other Jew. Unfortunately, this is a mission in which many communities fail. This failure can have significant consequences, as we see in this week鈥檚 parashah, Emor.

Healing Together: How Those in Trauma Provide Care for Others

May 12, 2025 By Naomi Kalish | Public Event video | Video Lecture

How do individuals experiencing trauma find the strength to support others in crisis? Rabbi Naomi Kalish, Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education at 91快活林, discusses this and other topics withRabbi Annabelle Tenzer, chaplain at Hadassah Hospital-Ein Kerem. Together, they will explore how trauma survivors can also serve as caregivers and highlight key organizations working to provide emotional and spiritual support. This conversation offers insights into resilience, compassion, and communal care in times of crisis.

Love Beyond Grudges: Living the Mitzvah of Love Your Neighbor

May 9, 2025 By Jonah Guthartz | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

Parashat Kedoshim begins by laying out dozens of mitzvot, including the prohibition against idolatry and the mitzvot of charity, Shabbat, honesty in business, honoring one鈥檚 parents, and the sanctity of life. Perhaps the best- known mitzvah is 诇止纸讗志转执拽止旨证诐 讜职诇止纸讗志转执讟止旨专謾 讗侄转志讘职旨谞值郑讬 注址诪侄旨謹讱指 讜职讗指纸讛址讘职转指旨芝 诇职专值注植讱指謻 讻指旨诪謶讜止讱指 讗植谞执謻讬 讬职-讛止讜指纸讛變 (Lev. 19:19) 鈥淵ou shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against members of your people. Love your fellow [Israelite] as yourself: I am the Lord鈥� Rabbi Akiva famously names this as a fundamental value of the Torah (Sifra, Kedoshim 4:12).

Israeli Society: Between Cohesion and Fragmentation

May 5, 2025

Throughout Israel鈥檚 history, there have been deep divisions between different segments of society. Israelis are divided on issues concerning national security, religion, economics, majority-minority relations, and more. Yet Israel鈥檚 democratic system contained those divides, and Israelis knew how to unite in times of crisis. What is the Israeli 鈥渇ormula鈥� for division and unity? Are we experiencing rifts that are no longer bridgeable? How do these Israeli divides impact American Jewry?