91快活林

The Good Ol鈥� Days

Jun 5, 2015 By Danielle Upbin | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

When the going gets tough, who doesn鈥檛 pine for the 鈥済ood ol鈥� days鈥�? Even when those past realities had challenges of their own, we tend not to remember them that way. It is human nature to favor selective memory. Consider our ancestors in this week鈥檚 parashah, crying for the fleshpots they enjoyed in Egypt, the cucumbers, garlic, and leeks (Num. 11:5). Did they forget about the slaughter of their firstborn, the harsh labor, the separation of families? In a moment of hunger and thirst for something they didn鈥檛 have, they forgot that they had actually been slaves in Egypt.

From Duty to Community and Back

May 29, 2015 By Nigel Savage | Commentary | Naso | Shavuot

Two weeks ago I was amongst a group discussing the nature of obligation in Jewish tradition and contemporary life. I played some role in convening the group because this is鈥攆or me鈥攁 central and often unaddressed paradox in the world we live in today. One can argue about the bounds of halakhah and about the nature and pace of its evolution. But it is hard to argue that we are not a people with a halakhic tradition. Halakhah is too engrained in Jewish tradition and in Jewish history to argue otherwise.

Biblical Waterboarding

May 29, 2015 By Raysh Weiss | Commentary | Naso

A representation of the sotah (suspected adulteress) ritual from this week鈥檚 parashah (Num. 5:11鈥�31).

The Wilderness Speaks

May 22, 2015 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Bemidbar

The summer after graduating college, I went backpacking with a friend in North Cascades National Park in Washington. The sun shone brightly on Lake Chelan as we were ferried deep into the woods, landing at the little outpost of Stehekin to begin our weeklong trek. It was a euphoric beginning, but soon both the weather and my mood grew darker. 

The Revelation in Sci-Fi

May 22, 2015 By Ryan Dulkin | Commentary | Shavuot

As the sun rises over a craggy, barren landscape, the first rays of light penetrate the cavernous sleeping quarters of a family of primates. Off in the distance arise the sounds of an other worldly choir, an inchoate chorus. Agitated, the apes approach the entrance of their cave, situated on the side of a desert mountain, and find a mysterious object鈥攁 thin, pitch-black, rectangular monolith鈥攕tanding erect, singing to them. 

God鈥檚 Earth: Between Blessing and Curse

May 15, 2015 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai

Here is Leviticus鈥攊n many ways the most intimate of the Torah鈥檚 five books, because it usually meets us frail, mortal, human beings where we live, in our skins and with our families, in private spaces of home and tabernacle鈥攊nstructing us as a society, as a species, that divine blessings of rain and sun will turn to curses if we do not do our part in stewarding God鈥檚 earth properly. The text insists that a fateful choice is in our hands. And it seems far from confident that we will make the choice wisely.

A Little Black Mark

May 15, 2015 By Rachel Bovitz | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin describes a personal practice that involved daily focus on 13 moral virtues. Franklin鈥檚 memoir, translated into several languages in the late 18th century, became widely influential, reaching even Eastern Europe, where Rabbi Menahem Mendel Lefin of Satanov wrote Heshbon Hanefesh, published in 1808. Rabbi Lefin included justice and most of the other virtues in Franklin鈥檚 list when he created his 13 primary middot (moral virtues) to be focused upon in mussar practice (the Jewish approach to cultivating these virtues). Rabbi Lefin鈥檚 definition of tzedek (justice) paraphrases a classic Talmudic teaching attributed to Hillel: 鈥淲hat is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.鈥�

All This Has Come Upon Us

May 12, 2015 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio

An evening with Mark Podwal, artist, physician, author, and former Op-Ed artist of the New York Times

The Rigors of Leadership

May 8, 2015 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Emor

In the wake of violent religious extremism that plagues our world today, why are some religious leaders not expressing their opposition to bloodshed in the name of God? By turning a blind eye and silencing their voices, religious leaders tacitly give their approval to the violence鈥攂oth tarnishing their reputation as leaders and diminishing God鈥檚 presence in this world. Leadership, especially religious leadership, demands scrupulousness and accountability.

Bodies and Their Critics

May 8, 2015 By 91快活林 Alumni | Commentary | Emor

By Yonah Kirschner (DS ’15)

Cassey Ho, a fitness blogger, recently posted a video she created in response to the many body-shaming comments she was receiving from critics online. The video went viral. It first shows Cassey, clearly athletic and healthy, walk over to a mirror, smiling happily. But as the video progresses, a barrage of unpleasant social media comments appear. Cassey鈥檚 hand then becomes an image-editing tool, and we watch as Cassey, now humiliated, sadly scrapes away parts of her body. The dejection communicated by the music and her facial expressions makes it a powerful experience for the viewer, difficult to watch as she mutilates her body into a caricature of the 鈥減erfect鈥� body.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan: 50 Years of Nostra Aetate

May 7, 2015 By 91快活林 | Public Event video

His Eminence Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan celebrates Jewish-Catholic relations on the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetate.

Pepper, Silk & Ivory: Amazing Stories about Jews and the Far East

May 7, 2015 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio

A discussion with authors Rabbi Marvin Tokayer and Dr. Ellen Rodman.

A Holy Tongue: Kedushah and the Ethics of Speech

May 1, 2015 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

A few years ago, my wife and I attended a retreat at Camp Ramah Darom in northern Georgia. The scholar-in-residence for the Shabbat was Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a widely respected author of popular books on Jewish literacy and Jewish ethics. He suggested that all of us in attendance鈥攁pproximately 100 adults鈥攃ommit to one of the most difficult challenges we had ever faced: refrain from talking about other people for the duration of Shabbat. That is to say, for an entire day, we should speak not a word of gossip. I will not tell you whether we succeeded or failed in that challenge, but I will tell you that it was a very long 25 hours indeed.

The Saint and the Zohar

May 1, 2015 By Vivian B. Mann <em>z”l</em> | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

We often think of Jewish life in Spain in terms of the massacres of 1391 and the Spanish Expulsion in 1492. But the art made for the Church between those two dates presents a more nuanced view of Christian鈥揓ewish relations.

The American Jewish Conversation about Israel

Apr 30, 2015

Once a great source of unity and pride for American Jews, Israel now often leads to impassioned conflict, heated debate, and even alienation within our community. J.J. Goldberg, Jonathan Tobin, and Rabbi Melissa Weintraub  explore whether anything can and should be done to bridge our polarization; whether there should be any “red lines” in discussing Israel, either for individuals or for Jewish communal organizations; and how the way we talk to each other about Israel impacts the American Jewish community, especially among younger generations, and how it affects Israel.

Outside the Camp

Apr 24, 2015 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

The double parashah of Tazria-Metzora ranks at the top of the list of parshiyot to avoid for a bar or bat mitzvah. Its detailed lists of bodily ailments鈥攔ashes, colorations, emissions, and secretions鈥攁ssociated with ritual impurity are not the stuff of religious inspiration in contemporary times. I confess to having once colluded with congregants to subtly move the date of their daughter鈥檚 bat mitzvah celebration slightly further away from her Hebrew birthday, in order to provide her with a more palatable Torah reading  to chant and speak about than Tazria-Metzora. But this year鈥攖he year of #BlackLivesMatter鈥攈as caused me to read Tazria-Metzora through a new and painfully relevant lens. 

Deeper Than the Skin

Apr 24, 2015 By Yitzhak Lewis | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

Your body is a map of roads
To be taken,
And not taken
Alone.

Your skin enfolds what
Your eyes shut behind them,

All your past is bored into it
Every day with the awl of time.

The Liberated Bird: Let鈥檚 Talk Turkey

Apr 17, 2015 By Anne Lapidus Lerner | Commentary | Shemini

The main course at my Thanksgiving dinner鈥攁nd perhaps at yours as well鈥攊s determined by a few verses in this week鈥檚 parashah, Shemini. After all, Leviticus 11 defines which living things are fit for kosher consumption, granting it a major impact on the Thanksgiving menu of kosher aviavores.

God, Faith & Identity From the Ashes

Apr 16, 2015 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio

How have the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors shaped their identity and developed their attitudes toward God, faith, Judaism, the Jewish people, and the world?

An Offering of Love

Apr 15, 2015 By Alisa Braun | Commentary | Shemini

What does a feminist reworking of Leviticus 10 sound like? The Indigo Girls song 鈥淪trange Fire鈥� (1987) beautifully illustrates how biblical images and stories weave their way into our lives and the art we create. The song exemplifies their signature style: a second-wave feminist message wrapped in a spare acoustic sound, strong rhythms, and soft harmonies. The lyrics allude to the actions of Aaron鈥檚 sons as a way of critiquing those within organized religion who wield power and seek to silence voices of personal spiritual expression.