91快活林

Shema鈥�: The 鈥淪ecrets鈥� of the Eyes

Jun 6, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

Much of our liturgy and liturgical experience is verbal and analytic, based upon precisely what words we say and the meaning(s) found and embedded in those words. In these essays, we have also looked extensively at the way in which music, melody, and vocal quality add levels of meaning and experience. However, we are not disembodied minds and souls, and there are more than a few occasions when the disposition of the body is engaged to greater or lesser extent in the experience of liturgy. Most dramatically, we might think of the prostrations on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but even in the daily experience, we think naturally of standing for the 鈥楢尘颈诲补丑, among many other customs and practices.

The Working Life

Jun 6, 2014 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

In my family, we are not the retiring type鈥攁lthough we do tend toward shyness.

Balancing God鈥檚 Will and Our Own

Jun 6, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

Parashat Beha’alotekha gives us insight into the Israelite trek through the wilderness.

Can the Center Hold?

May 30, 2014 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Naso

鈥淭hings fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world鈥�
鈥擶illiam Butler Yeats, 鈥淭he Second Coming鈥�

Last week, 91快活林 presented an honorary degree to Philip Roth, one of the greatest American writers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. The famous author must have received this recognition from an iconic Jewish institution with a certain measure of irony and satisfaction. After all, when his first book was published more than 50 years ago, an outraged American rabbi wrote to the Anti-Defamation League asking, 鈥渨hat is being done to silence that man?鈥�

The Blessing of Happiness

May 30, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Naso

One of the centerpieces of Parashat Naso is the Priestly Blessing.

Finding Direction to Move Forward with God

May 23, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bemidbar

This Shabbat opens the fourth book of Torah known as Sefer Bemidbar, the book of Numbers.

MK Dr. Ruth Calderon’s 91快活林 Commencement Address 2014

May 22, 2014

MK Dr. Ruth Calderon gives the 2014 91快活林 Commencement Address.

The Problem With The Convert

May 21, 2014 By David C. Kraemer | Short Video | Shavuot

What The Rabbis Of The Talmud Learned From Naomi And Ruth

May 21, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Short Video | Shavuot

A Deer In The Sheepfold: A Conversion Tale

May 21, 2014 By Anne Lapidus Lerner | Short Video | Shavuot

Who Are You? A Question For All Of Us

May 21, 2014 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Short Video | Shavuot

Acquiring A New Past

May 21, 2014 By David Hoffman | Short Video | Shavuot

The Righteous Convert Of Vilna

May 21, 2014 By David Fishman | Short Video | Shavuot

Mah Nishtanah . . . A Seder for Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t

May 16, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut

In recent weeks, Medinat Israel (the State of Israel) was celebrated by citizens, residents, and the worldwide Jewish community with an array of observances for Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t (Israel Independence Day). In synagogues of the Conservative/Masorti Movement, morning minyan included the Hallel prayer and a special Torah reading, affirming the understanding that the establishment of Israel is not merely an item in the political history of the mid-20th century, but a vital step in the spiritual story of our people and, perhaps, the world. The 鈥淧rayer for the State of Israel,鈥� included in the Shabbat morning service in almost all synagogues, speaks of Israel as 鈥�reishit tzemichat ge鈥檜lateinu鈥� (the beginning of the flowering of our redemption).鈥淩edemption,鈥� here, must be understood as the Messianic Era of universal peace and understanding.

Walking Together with God

May 16, 2014 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Behukkotai

I saw a strange thing on my walk to minyan the other morning.

Between Heaven and Earth

May 16, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behukkotai

Fertility of humans and of the land is the essence of divine blessing.

Jews Around the World: India and Its Jewish Community

May 14, 2014 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event audio

Presented by Peter A. Geffen, Founder and Executive Director, KIVUNIM and Graduates of KIVUNIM.

Eisen on Covenant at the Rabbinical Assembly

May 12, 2014 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Short Video

Peacemaking and the Quest for Holiness

May 9, 2014 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Behar

The book of Leviticus could not be clearer on the point that extraordinary action is called for as part of the Israelite鈥檚 calling to be 鈥渉oly unto the Lord your God.鈥� 

Shemitah, Freedom, and Covenant in the Face of Assimilation

May 9, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behar

Parashat Behar opens with the commandment to observe the sabbatical cycle (for six years, one may plant crops and work the land and then, in the seventh year, the land must rest鈥攚hat is known in halakhic terms as shenat shemitah, 鈥渢he year of release鈥�); shemitah or 鈥渞elease鈥� is observed today in the Land of Israel.