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Amalek and the Torah of Purim
Mar 22, 2024 By Yitz Landes | Commentary | Purim
The Purim most of us celebrate is one that marks a moment of redemption 鈥� when a descendent of Amalek tried and failed to destroy the Jews. It is the holiday that best encapsulates the sentiment 鈥渢hey tried to kill us, we won, let鈥檚 eat鈥�. And yet, Jewish thinkers have also understood Purim as a day that touches upon the cornerstone of Judaism itself: the covenant between God and Israel via the acceptance of the Torah. How is this connection formed? What is the relationship between Torah and Purim? And, in a calendar already chock full of holidays celebrating the Torah, what place is left for Purim?
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Playing Hide and Seek with God
Mar 15, 2024 By Cecelia Beyer | Commentary | Pekudei
Our quest for the Divine is not a new one; we鈥檝e been playing 鈥渉ide and seek鈥� with God since we left Egypt. In Parashat Pekudei, our ancestors also strove to come close to the Divine Presence, through assembling and dedicating the Tabernacle as a place for encountering the Divine: 鈥淲hen Moses had finished the work,the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Presence of Adonaifilled the Tabernacle鈥� (Exod. 40:33鈥�34). The dedication of the Tabernacle, God鈥檚 鈥渄welling place鈥� on earth, was completed as God鈥檚 Presence filled and rested upon it
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The People Step Up
Mar 8, 2024 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Shabbat Shekalim | Vayak-hel
By this point in the Book of Exodus, the story outlines are probably familiar: the people鈥攈aving been redeemed from Egypt and covenanted with God on Mt. Sinai, and having already sinned a terrible sin by building the Golden Calf鈥攔espond to God’s detailed instructions to build a Tabernacle by donating so generously that the collection of the material with which to construct the sanctuary has to be stopped midway, even as the people are still in the process of donating.
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The Desperate (and Comprehensible) Project of the Golden Calf
Mar 1, 2024 By Ilana Sandberg | Commentary | Ki Tissa
After the Israelites鈥� exodus from Egypt, the Torah focuses on the project of how they could ensure God鈥檚 immanence, or retained presence, within their world. God instructs the Israelites to build the Mishkan, or Tabernacle, and establishes the sacrificial system to insure God鈥檚 continued presence. The episode of the Golden Calf seems like a grave error in this process that demands interpretation. Why would the people violate the second commandment they had just received and turn to idolatry?
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Senior Sermons: Class of 2024
Feb 29, 2024 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon
Each year, student in their last year of Rabbinical School give a Senior Sermon for fellow students, faculty, and special guests and offer a sample of their unique Torah. All of the Class of 2024 will have their sermons listed here.
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Ilana Sandberg – Senior Sermon (’24)
Feb 29, 2024 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Ki Tissa
Ilana Sandberg shares her senior sermon for Parshat Ki Tissa
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The Jewelry of a Master Teacher
Feb 23, 2024 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Tetzavveh | Purim
Without using alchemy, the 16th-century Italian commentator Seforno (1470鈥�1550) turned gems into gold. Writing a few short words about the gemstones that adorned the clothing of the High Priest, described in Parashat Tetzavveh, Seforno shares a truly fine insight about achieving greatness as an educator.
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Terumah鈥擳he Gift That Elevates
Feb 16, 2024 By Eitan Fishbane | Commentary | Terumah
Sometimes we all feel like we鈥檙e giving more than we get, that we do more than our share, or that our individual needs are being sacrificed for the sake of someone else鈥檚 happiness. It is an emotional struggle that we encounter in our families and friendships. Why should I give when the other person doesn鈥檛 reciprocate in the way that I would want? If I give, will I also get what I deserve?
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How Can Humans Uphold Divine Justice?
Feb 9, 2024 By Caleb Brommer | Commentary | Mishpatim
In Parashat Mishpatim, the Ten Commandments are immediately followed by a more thoroughgoing account of the Israelite legal code. God, through Their intermediary Moshe, reveals some of the particularly sticky, tricky, and challenging cases of civil law. Mishpatim begins to answer the questions 鈥淲hat happens when human beings are slammed together in community? What happens when they disagree, make mistakes, and cause incidental or intentional harm? What happens when they kill each other?鈥�
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Talia Kaplan – Senior Sermon (’24)
Feb 7, 2024 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Mishpatim
Mishpatim All the Class of 2024 Senior Sermons
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The Limitations God Shares with Us
Feb 2, 2024 By Gordon Tucker | Commentary | Yitro
But how do you reconcile the idea of God鈥檚 transcendent power with such things as a failure to anticipate human flaws, or a weakness for the smell of roasting meat, or jealousy, or suffering the travails of exile? Texts such as these raise eyebrows because they seem to lower God in our estimation.
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Amalya Volz – Senior Sermon (RS ’24)
Feb 1, 2024 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Yitro
Yitro All the Class of 2024 Senior Sermons
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Destiny in the Details
Jan 26, 2024 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Beshallah
Why are those small moments so poignant? It seems to be a strange question to ask at this climactic point of the Torah. This week鈥檚 parashah, Beshallah, contains one of the Torah鈥檚 biggest moments. The Israelites finally break free of the Egyptians, crossing the Red Sea on dry land while the Egyptians drown in the closing sea behind them. Jubilant in their triumph, they sing to God, led by Moses and Miriam. For a brief moment, they are united in their faith and in the glory of the moment.
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Lilli Shvartsmann – Senior Sermon (RS ’24)
Jan 25, 2024 By 91快活林 Senior Sermon | Commentary | Senior Sermon | Beshallah
Beshallah All the Class of 2024 Senior Sermons
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What Do Tefillin Do?
Jan 19, 2024 By Lara Rodin | Commentary | Bo
Our sages explained that the placement of our tefillin as a 鈥渟ign upon our hands鈥� and a 鈥渞eminder on our foreheads鈥� is meant to represent the intellect (tefillin shel rosh) and the physicality (tefillin shel yad) of a person. For Keli Yakar, Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz, both the tefillin that sits on our arm and the tefillin that sits above our eyes are meant to represent the dichotomy that is at play between thought and action.
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When the Nile Gave Up Its Terrible Secret
Jan 12, 2024 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Va'era
Rabbinic commentators, in referring to an earlier exegete, sometimes say, 鈥淗is interpretation requires its own interpretation.鈥� All the more so it can be said that a midrashic interpretation sometimes needs its own midrashic interpretation, for in an effort to solve theological or textual difficulties, the midrash can present us with farfetched, even phantasmagoric, scenarios. Upon deeper reflection, however, we often discover that these phantasms are actually manifestations of profound truths. Let鈥檚 consider such a midrash, which both illuminates and is illuminated by a passage in this week鈥檚 Torah portion.
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Moshe the Mindful?
Jan 5, 2024 By Lilliana Shvartsmann | Commentary | Shemot
Moshe’s journey mirrors the struggles many face in navigating transitions and seeking purpose amidst uncertainty. The 19th-century Polish commentator Ha鈥檈mek Hadavar suggests Moshe intentionally led his flock to the most remote location, a place no other shepherd dared venture, seeking solitude. He needed such desolation to encounter God. While we don’t know if Moshe had his own meditation, journaling, or spiritual practices that promoted solitude, his courage and strength in recognizing the necessity of solitude are evident.
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Is it Heretical to Ask God for Protection?
Dec 29, 2023 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Vayehi
Jacob鈥檚 words of blessing to Joseph in chapter 48 surprise me every time that I read them. Though putatively an attempt to bless his son, they are primarily directed at his grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and gain authority from Jacob鈥檚 fathers and from the shepherding and redeeming God he has known so intimately throughout his life.
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The Reason(s) Jacob Went Down to Egypt
Dec 22, 2023 By Ira Tokayer | Commentary | Vayiggash
Parashat Vayiggash is a good place to illustrate the modern scholarship, which sees the Torah鈥檚 Joseph story as a combination of three source documents with separate accounts of how and why Jacob descended to Egypt.
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A World in Crisis Needs a Yosef
Dec 15, 2023 By Avi Garelick | Commentary | Miketz
Our society today faces crises of overwhelming proportions on many fronts鈥攕ome observers have called our situation one of polycrisis, to emphasize how crises interact and amplify each other. Climate change is breathing down our necks, wars proliferate, and pandemics threaten our health, all while governments struggle to react sufficiently. Many who enjoy relative peace and affluence suffer from a sense of helplessness and foreboding. We need a Yosef.
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