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When God Said 鈥淣o鈥� to Moses
Feb 26, 2013 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Ki Tissa
It must have been a great comfort to Moses鈥攁nd not only a disappointment鈥攖hat God turned down his request to see God鈥檚 glory. The wind was presence enough, on top of the mountain, much of the time鈥攖he wind, and the voice in the wind. Every visit of divine speech exhausted him now. Even the words that did not demand that he do battle, climb higher, challenge Pharaoh, rebuke the Israelites yet again, or simply鈥攐n some days the hardest鈥攅ndure.
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Serve God With Joy
Feb 20, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
I recall reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while in elementary school, and being stumped by a description of the powerful singing in church of 鈥淥ld Hundred.鈥� What might this 鈥淥ld Hundred鈥� be, and why was it being sung in church with such fervor? Eventually, I found out that this was Psalm 100, and was sung by the community as it learned that Tom Sawyer was alive, and had mischievously staged his own disappearance.
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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.
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Clothing Ourselves in Sanctity
Feb 20, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Tetzavveh | Purim
Clothing offers keen insight in two complementary directions. First, the garments one wears reveals one鈥檚 personality.
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How We Can Build the Synagogue of the Future
Feb 13, 2013 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Terumah
If you care deeply about the present and future state of the synagogue, as I do, it鈥檚 difficult to resist the temptation to draw lessons from the remarkable vision of communal worship set forth in this week鈥檚 Torah portion. I do not intend to resist. Three aspects of the divine plan for the Tabernacle strike me as particularly relevant to our contemporary situation.
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鈥淔ill Our Eyes with Light . . . Cause Our Heart to Cling鈥� (Part 2)
Feb 13, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Last week we looked at the phrase 鈥�ha鈥檈r eyenynu鈥� (Fill our eyes with the light of Your Torah), and now let us look more closely at the continuation of the same sentence: 鈥渧edabek libeinu bemitzvotekha鈥� (and make our hearts cleave to Your mitzvot) [Siddur Sim Shalom Daily, 32].
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God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Feb 12, 2013 By Raymond Scheindlin | Commentary | Purim
How is it possible to tell a story of redemption without even once mentioning the name of God?
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Taking Time to Be There
Feb 6, 2013 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Mishpatim
Moses needs time to immerse himself in the law and his relationship with God. He needs to experience what it meant to climb this mountain, literally and figuratively. If he didn鈥檛 yet know that, God did.
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鈥淔ill Our Eyes With Light . . . Cause Our Hearts to Cling鈥� (Part 1)
Feb 5, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Phrases in the siddur are filled with echoes of earlier texts and give birth to newer metaphors and meanings. The blessing immediately before the Shema鈥� in every morning service contains the phrase 鈥�ha鈥檈r eyneinu beToratekha vedabek libeinu bemitzvotekha鈥� (Fill our eyes with the light of Your Torah, and make our hearts cleave to Your mitzvot.) [Siddur Sim Shalom, 32.]
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The Curious Case of the Slave Who Refuses Freedom
Feb 5, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Mishpatim
Coming on the heels of the Revelation at Sinai, Parashat Mishpatim opens with laws concerning slaves.
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Finding God in the Darkness
Feb 5, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Short Video | Va'era
A video Torah commentary.
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Blessings
Jan 30, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
The famous Priestly Blessing (Num. 6: 24鈥�26) is an ambiguous text in our liturgy that appears in various guises. It is presented as a selection for study from the Written Torah each morning (Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays, 5), and is chanted by the leader of the service at the end of the 鈥楢尘颈诲补丑 (43). The text presents the Torah verses as a memory:
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How We Believe in God
Jan 30, 2013 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Yitro
The Mishnah and the two Talmuds mostly address details of Jewish observance; they rarely discuss the purpose of individual commandments, nor how the mitzvot mesh to create an integrated religious ethos.
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Decimation and Affirmation: A Tale of Two Non-Israelites
Jan 30, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beshallah
The opening of this week鈥檚 Torah reading, Parashat Yitro, stands in stark contrast to the conclusion of last week鈥檚 parashah, Beshallah.
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Kol haneshamah tehallel Yah! (All that has breath shall praise God!)
Jan 23, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
This is the final verse of Psalm 150鈥攖he culmination of the book of Psalms. Every day our set liturgy includes the final six psalms (145 through 150), and, to my personal sorrow, the pacing of the so-called 鈥減reliminary service鈥� generally allows a couple of minutes (at most) for a rushed recitation of these classic and profound poetic texts. Fortunately, in many communities鈥攁t least on Shabbat, and even on weekdays鈥攁 little more time is allowed for Psalm 150. We find a glorious array of musical interpretations of the text that exemplify the diverse approaches to religious music of contemporary Jewish life. Some examples will be found at the end of this essay.
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鈥淗e Taught Him a Tree鈥� (?!)
Jan 23, 2013 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Beshallah
This week鈥檚 parashah contains some of the most memorable narratives in the entire Torah: the splitting of the Reed Sea, the miracle of the manna, the battle with Amalek. In the midst of all these narratives comes a pithily told 鈥渓ittle tale.”
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Fear to Fortitude
Jan 23, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beshallah
As the Israelites march toward the Reed Sea, Pharaoh has a notorious change of heart.
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Our God and God of Our Ancestors
Jan 16, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Many prayers begin with the words 鈥�Eloheynu v鈥橢lohei avoteinu鈥� (Our God and God of our ancestors). I hear from so many people that these words are difficult, and an impediment to finding a pathway in Jewish prayer. The word God raises an array of difficulties: people who are inclined to the view 鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe in God鈥� might rightly feel that there is no integrity in addressing their words to God, an entity in whom (or Whom) they do not believe. Others find no security or support in the prayers and traditions of their ancestors, and say Fiddler on the Roof (鈥淭radition!鈥�) is not enough.
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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?
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Redemption in Place and Time
Jan 16, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bo
In his very first comment on Torah, Rashi, the prolific medieval commentator, made this week鈥檚 parashah famous for exegetic eternity.
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