91抖阴

The Doing that Comes from Knowing

Jan 20, 2017 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Shemot

Among the undercurrents in our portion are the consequences of forgetting and remembering on rescue and liberation, and of seeing and knowing on oppression and death. The Israelites鈥� fortunes are transformed, and transformed again, so rapidly in our portion鈥檚 opening, it seems the Torah wants to signal the tenuousness of circumstances that seem secure. The Torah goes to the trouble of naming the eleven sons of Jacob who relocate to Egypt (Joseph already having been there) and reports that their entire generation passed away. In the space of 11 words鈥攁nd seemingly no time at all鈥攖heir 70-member extended family explodes in number and becomes an innumerable presence to be reckoned with in Egypt (Exod. 1:1-7).

Pictures at a Benediction: Envisioning Jacob鈥檚 Blessing of his Sons

Jan 13, 2017 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Vayehi

The Tanakh is notoriously parsimonious when it comes to providing visual details. They are supplied only when they are germane to the biblical narrative. Was Isaac good-looking? We are not told. But we are told that Joseph was, because it explains why Potiphar鈥檚 wife cast her eyes upon him. Was Moses bald? We will never know. But it is made clear that the prophet Elisha was; because of this, he was taunted by jeers: 鈥淕o away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!鈥� This is the beginning of the brief but horrifying story in which Elisha curses the children who mock him, who are then mauled by bears emerging from the forest).

Times of Challenge

Jan 13, 2017 By Stephanie Ruskay | Commentary

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

鈥擬artin Luther King, Jr, Strength to Love (1963)

In Pharaoh鈥檚 Court

Jan 6, 2017 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Vayiggash

Our attention as readers of Vayiggash is naturally riveted by the dramatic events in the first half of the portion: Joseph鈥檚 self-revelation to his brothers; the family of Jacob coming to dwell in Egypt; and Jacob鈥檚 declaration that he 鈥渕ust go and see [Joseph] before I die鈥� (Gen. 45:28). What happens later in Vayiggash, however, is to my mind of far greater significance for the future of the children of Israel and the people of Egypt alike. The second half of the portion bears truths about Jewish history and destiny as relevant now as ever before.

Sibling Loyalty

Dec 30, 2016 By Allison Kestenbaum | Commentary | Vayiggash

Am I my brother鈥檚 keeper?

Yes I am!
Yes I am!

When he鈥檚 pushed to the edge when he鈥檚 out on a ledge
Can I help him to think with his heart
When he鈥檚 wrong when he鈥檚 right I’ll be there to remind him
That he鈥檚 made in the image of God

The Unpardonable Sin

Dec 30, 2016 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Miketz

Among baseball aficionados, the name of Ralph Branca is universally known. Branca, who died at the age of 90 at the end of November, was famous (or, for many, infamous) for being the pitcher who gave up the 鈥淪hot Heard Round the World.鈥� In the final game of the 1951 National League championship, the Brooklyn Dodgers were leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 9^th inning with two men on base when the New York Giants鈥� power hitter, Bobby Thomson, came to the plate to bat. The Dodgers called on Branca to save the game, but his second pitch flew off of Thomson鈥檚 bat and over the green wall in left center field for a home run.

Why Did the Seleucid State 鈥淧ersecute鈥� the Jews?

Dec 30, 2016 By Nathan Schumer | Commentary | Hanukkah

The familiar version of the story of Hanukkah is one of Jewish agency. Jews were persecuted and then, under the Hasmonean banner, successfully defeated the Seleucid conquerors, drove off the persecutors, and rededicated their Temple. But this telling omits why the Seleucids 鈥減ersecuted鈥� the Jews. This is an aspect of Hanukkah that鈥檚 poorly understood, but recent scholarship helps to explain the Seleucid perspective.

Whose Words?

Dec 23, 2016 By Jeremy Tabick | Commentary | Vayeshev

[W]e push through the crowd, heading somewhere. Bodies clear frame and we see the HOMELESS MAN sitting on a park bench. His sign reads: 鈥淭HEE END鈥�. The Homeless Man smiles into camera. We continue forward and in a slow, mysterious, subtle fashion his face slowly transforms into the very pleased, FACE OF GOD, who winks and we CUT TO BLACK.

鈥擲cript for Bruce Almighty by Steve Koren, Mark O’Keefe, Steve Oedekerk

Being Raised from the Pit

Dec 23, 2016 By Simeon Cohen | Commentary | Vayeshev | Hanukkah

Three years ago, Jewish novelist Dara Horn published her fourth novel, A Guide for the Perplexed. Borrowing its title from Maimonides鈥檚 quintessential work of Jewish philosophy, the book follows two sisters, Josephine and Judith, as they struggle with issues of faith, reason, memory, and sibling rivalry. Josephine and Judith serve as stand-ins for Joseph and Judah; in a sense, the novel functions as an extended midrash on a key biblical incident which can be found in this week鈥檚 parashah, Vayeshev: the casting of Joseph into the pit at the hands of his brothers. Ultimately, Horn鈥檚 Josephine and the biblical Joseph arrive at the same conclusion: through suffering, which both characters experience in their respective tales, one can ultimately come to achieve greatness.

Wholly Jacob

Dec 16, 2016 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Vayishlah

Among the thrills in superhero movies is seeing the good guy take a pummeling and then stand unscathed in the next scene, ready again for battle. 鈥淣obody else could survive that punishment,鈥� we gush. The indestructible superhero comes to mind while reading of Jacob鈥檚 return to Canaan after living under Laban鈥檚 thumb, then wrestling with a mysterious man, then encountering Esau鈥攁 man who鈥檚 had twenty years to stew in a fratricidal rage.

Words of Peace?

Dec 16, 2016 By Avi Garelick | Commentary | Vayishlah

Words of peace,
But no treaty,
Are a sign
Of a plot.

鈥掷耻苍-罢锄耻, The Art of War

A Ladder to the Heavens

Dec 9, 2016 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Vayetzei

As Jacob sleeps, he sees a ladder with its base on the ground and its top touching the heavens (Gen. 28:12). The seemingly unreachable realm above the earth, Jacob discovers, is actually relatively accessible, almost within our grasp. The images from the Hubble Space Telescope鈥攁nd space exploration more broadly鈥攑lay a similar role for us. One might have expected that humanity鈥檚 newly found ability to discover more about space would have blunted our sense of wonder, as more and more of the universe ceases to be so mysterious.

The Emergence of Praise

Dec 9, 2016 By Julia Andelman | Commentary | Vayetzei

Our parashah begins with Jacob鈥檚 profound, life-changing encounter with divinity: his dream of the ladder; his vision of God promising that his descendants will multiply and be blessed; and his vow that 鈥渋f God remains with me鈥�the Lord shall be my God鈥� (Gen. 28:20-21). But our parashah includes another profound, life-changing moment of connecting to God鈥攁 less famous one鈥攅xperienced by Leah. After giving birth to three sons and naming each of them in accordance with aspects of her life experience, Leah gives birth again and says hapa鈥檃m odeh et Adonai (Gen. 29:35)鈥攖his time I will praise/thank/acknowledge the Lord鈥攁nd names her son Judah (Yehudah, from odeh).

Two Nations in Your Belly

Dec 2, 2016 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Toledot

One of the most poignant and profound verses of the Bible appears early in this week鈥檚 Torah reading, Toledot. Our matriarch Rebecca, beset with a difficult pregnancy, asks God, 鈥淲hy me?鈥� (Gen. 25:22). And God replies to her with one of the most fateful verses of the Bible: 鈥淭here are two nations in your belly鈥� (Gen. 25:23). From that moment on, the die is cast: we are locked in a struggle with Esau / Edom. This week鈥檚 haftarah from the prophet Malachi teaches us the stakes: 鈥淚s not Esau Jacob鈥檚 brother? asks the Lord. Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated鈥� (Malachi 1:2-3).

A Sibling Rivalry for the Generations

Dec 2, 2016 By Brian Smollett | Commentary | Toledot

Do the Jewish people exist because of a bowl of lentil soup? Toledot presents the story of Jacob and Esau, a sibling rivalry with cosmic implications. The twin brothers who would come to father their own nations struggled even within the womb. Different as they were, they both prized the birthright that the already elderly Isaac would bestow upon his first born.

A Venetian Ketubbah

Nov 25, 2016 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

This week鈥檚 parashah prominently features the mission of Abraham鈥檚 servant to find a wife for Isaac. The account includes the giving of gifts to Rebecca and her family (24:22, 53) and the assurance from Abraham鈥檚 family that they themselves are wealthy (Gen. 24:35). For thousands of years, ketubbot (Jewish marriage contracts) have established the financial responsibilities in a Jewish marriage. 

Hesed Depends on Saying No

Nov 25, 2016 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

Of all the lessons that Parashat Hayyei Sarah teaches us about hesed (kindness), perhaps its most important lesson can be summed up in the word 鈥渘o.鈥�

Rebecca, the heroine of the parashah, is both physically and ethically strong. She can lift a heavy water urn with ease, and she possesses a deep graciousness called hesed. When she gives water to Abraham鈥檚 servant, Eliezer, and his camels, she fulfills Eliezer鈥檚 eloquent prayer, in which he appealed to God moments earlier to find a fitting wife for Isaac. He names the value of hesed twice in this brief prayer (Gen. 24:12, 14), and his prayer is answered so rapidly and completely by Rebecca鈥檚 action that Eliezer is stunned (Gen. 24:21).

Itzik鈥檚 Journey

Nov 18, 2016 By David G. Roskies | Commentary | Vayera

He was our Bob Dylan and Dylan Thomas: a Yiddish troubadour and hard-drinking lyric poet who wrote in regular rhymes and rhythms about the lives and unrequited loves of the downtrodden. His name was Itzik Manger, and the Bible was the book he loved most in the world, especially those parts that told an inside, personal story.

Tears that Unveil

Nov 18, 2016 By Matthew Goldstone | Commentary | Vayera

Deep down, deep down inside, the eye would be destined not to see but to weep. For at the very moment they veil sight, tears would unveil what is proper to the eye.

鈥擩acques Derrida, Memoirs of the Blind (126)

A Land of Promise

Nov 11, 2016 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Abraham continually inspires us, his descendants, in his ability to place trust in the journey. God鈥檚 command to 鈥淸j]ourney forth from your country, from your birthplace, and from your father鈥檚 house鈥� (Gen. 12:1) is striking: Leaving one鈥檚 country is doable. But to journey from one鈥檚 birthplace and familial connections is jarring鈥攚ith the potential to transform one into an aimless wanderer. Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his roots for an indeterminate future鈥攆or the place that God will show him. A promise. And nothing more.