91抖阴

We are All Sukkah-Dwellers

Oct 2, 2020 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Sukkot

Since the accidental discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm R枚ntgen in 1895 and the subsequent creation of X-ray machines, we have been able to view our bodies through two different lenses. The first is what we see in the mirror鈥攁 body of flesh, which takes various forms and distinguishes one individual from another. The second is not visible to the naked eye; it is the skeletal structure that supports the flesh and organs that surround it. Though both are necessary constituent elements of our physical being, we are generally much more conscious of our outer being than our inner one. And yet, our bones are more durable than our flesh. Long after we die and our flesh has wasted away, our skeletal structure continues to exist.

The Poetics of Loss

Sep 25, 2020 By Ofra Arieli Backenroth | Commentary | Ha'azinu

Growing up, books were always present in our house, arranged by topic in large bookshelves. Arieli Press, an Israeli fine arts publishing company, was founded in 1922 by my grandfather, Yosef Arieli (锄鈥漧), a master printer and an author. My father, Ariel Arieli (锄鈥漧), and extended family were all involved in the printing business in some capacity. Printing has been regarded as a way to disseminate knowledge in a democratic way and it has been especially precious to the Jewish people who believed that spreading knowledge is Avodat Kodesh鈥攈oly work, akin to Moshe teaching Torah on Har Sinai.

Tip the Scales

Sep 18, 2020 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

鈥溾�攚ho will live and who will die . . . who will come to an untimely end . . . . who by plague . . . who will be brought low, and who will be raised up?鈥� (U-netaneh Tokef, from the High Holiday liturgy)

In my earliest memory of this prayer, I am a young girl standing between my mother and grandmother in synagogue amidst hundreds of others. Both women are sobbing uncontrollably, as they recited these words. I was puzzled by their outward display of anguish but knew enough not to interrupt them to ask what caused it. They grasped in a way I had yet to comprehend just how tenuous life is; they understood that this one prayer more than any other captures the fragility of human life that the Days of Awe magnify.

5781 High Holiday Message

Sep 18, 2020 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Short Video | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

Chancellor Schwartz shares her thoughts on the 5781 High Holiday season.

Restoring Balance: Exploring an Ancient Paradigm for Moving Beyond Our Mistakes

Sep 14, 2020 By Julia Andelman | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement鈥攜et the concept of atonement itself is rarely explored. The text of themahzor(High Holiday prayerbook) asks God to 鈥渇orgive us, pardon us, grant usatonement鈥濃�攂ut how is atonement distinct from forgiveness and pardon?Through an examination of biblical and rabbinic sources, we will learn how our ancestorsinterpretedthe concept ofkapparah,atonement, and the great power it held in their understanding ofhowhuman beings鈥攆lawed in our very nature鈥攃ancarry on in theworldafter we have sinned.

Democratizing Education: Lessons from this Week鈥檚 Parashah

Sep 8, 2020 By Michal Raucher | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh

Since the start of the stay-at-home orders in March, my eight-year-old son, Naftali, has studied Mishnah on Zoom in a 鈥淢ishnah Club鈥� for kids, taught by Rabbi Ethan Tucker (KS 鈥�06) of Hadar Institute. While my spouse teaches Mishnah to middle school students and my own scholarship involves a healthy feminist critique of the talmudic Rabbis, Naftali had never encountered rabbinic literature. I feared that Naftali might get lost in the complexity, become overwhelmed with the details, or confused by the logic of rabbis from 2000 years ago. I was also curious as to whether he would actually see himself in this discourse.

Joy Is a Radical Act

Sep 4, 2020 By Benjamin Freed | Commentary | Ki Tavo

鈥淎rt is a radical act. Joy is a radical act.鈥�
鈥擱ebecca Makkai, The World鈥檚 on Fire. Can We Still Talk About Books?

A few weeks ago, my fianc茅e and I re-watched the Disney/Pixar movie Inside Out, where anthropomorphized emotions work together and compete to control the feelings and actions of an 11-year-old named Riley. One of the primary lessons is that unchecked 鈥淛oy鈥� cannot by itself bring true happiness or properly prepare us for handling life鈥檚 more difficult moments. Sadness, Anger, Fear, and Disgust all play a role in making us who we are, and we ignore those emotions at our own risk. As someone who strongly identifies with Amy Poehler鈥檚 peppy and unrelentingly optimistic 鈥淛oy鈥� character, this message is both sobering and powerful.

Faith, Forgiveness and Prayer: Finding Meaning in the Days of Awe

Aug 31, 2020 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

A series of online classes with 91抖阴 faculty and staff

From Self-Interest to Self-Surrender: Confronting the Challenges of Prayer

Aug 31, 2020

Isaac Unbound: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam read the Offering of Abraham鈥檚 Beloved Son

Aug 31, 2020 By Burton L. Visotzky | Public Event video | Video Lecture

By reading texts from the New Testament, Church Fathers, and Quran we can see how Christians and Muslims read this seminal story. A medieval midrash shows how Rabbis responded to the interpretations of the other 鈥淎brahamic religions.鈥� The class concludes with a discussion of the problem with the ideology of martyrdom that all three religions read in the harrowing tale of Genesis 22.

From Self-Interest to Self-Surrender: Confronting the Challenges of Prayer

Aug 31, 2020 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

Why do many modern Jews findtefillahso difficult? We鈥檒l grapple with this question by exploring attitudes toward prayer among thinkers including Rambam and Heschel, and we鈥檒l contrast assumptions about what makes for a genuine and meaningful prayer in Jewish tradition and in American culture.In particular, we鈥檒ldiscuss our expectations of what happens when we pray and the possibilities that emerge when we don鈥檛 put ourselves at the center of the prayer experience. Along the way, we will touch on Thomas Aquinas, Quakerism, Thomas Merton and yoga, and the light they shed on traditional Jewish conceptions of prayer.

Who Are We?

Aug 28, 2020 By Stephanie Ruskay | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

The Jewish master narrative hinges on retelling our own story of being enslaved and freed by God to become a holy people. We tell this story repeatedly, and it is meant to wash over our souls and permeate our brains. Enslavement should feel real, as should the taste of freedom.

Covid, Triage, and Jewish Ethics

Aug 25, 2020 By 91抖阴 | Public Event video

In the coming months we hope that an effective Covid vaccine will be approved, but it may take months to produce mass quantities. Who should receive priority status for the early batches? Front line health workers? People with high risk factorss? The elderly? Politicians? 

The ethical dilemma of triage can be divisive. What does Judaism teach about deciding who shall live and who shall die? A distinguished panel explores these timely issues. 

Seeking and Offering Forgiveness: What are We Doing and How Do We Do It?

Aug 24, 2020 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

Forgiveness is at the heart of the High Holy Days season, yet it is far from clear what we mean by this term. Employing insights from rabbinic sources,mussarliterature and psychology, we will think out loud about what we hope to achieve and how to achieve it as we seek forgiveness for ourselves and are asked to forgive others.

Appoint Judges and Officials

Aug 21, 2020 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Shofetim

The year was 1752, the place Copenhagen, and Rabbi Yehonatan Eybeshutz, Chief Rabbi of Hamburg, Altona, and Wandsbeck, was on trial before the royal court of Denmark. King Frederick V himself was acting as the presiding judge. Altona was legally a province of Denmark, and the Altona City Council had turned to the king to resolve a controversy among the Jews that was breaking into violence in the streets. They had already tried placing Eybeshutz鈥檚 opponent in the matter, Rabbi Yaakov Emden, under house arrest. Emden鈥檚 escape to Amsterdam under cover of darkness made matters worse. The intensified presence of the city watch among the Jews only increased tensions. In desperation the burghers of Altona had turned to the king of Denmark.

God of the Faithful, God of the Faithless: Belief and Doubt in Prayer

Aug 17, 2020 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

Do we need 鈥渇aith鈥� in order to pray? Can synagogue services be worthwhile and meaningful even if we鈥檙e not sure what we believe? We are hardly the first generation to struggle with contradictions among our intellectual beliefs, traditional Jewish liturgy, and the act of prayer. What do biblical and rabbinic texts about prayer, and theprayerbookitself, teach us about these conflicts, and how can they help us connect to prayer even in times of doubt or faithlessness?

Gratitude During Challenging Times

Aug 14, 2020 By Malka Strasberg Edinger | Commentary | Re'eh

This week鈥檚 parashah begins with the verse专职讗值讛 讗指谞止讻执讬 谞止转值谉 诇执驻职谞值讬讻侄诐 讛址讬旨讜止诐 讘旨职专指讻指讛 讜旨拽职诇指诇指讛 變 / 鈥淏ehold, I set before you today blessings and curses鈥� (Deut. 11:26). Within the context of the biblical narrative, this verse refers to a choice given to the Israelites upon entering the Promised Land: they could either choose to follow God鈥檚 commandments and reap rewards, or not to follow God鈥檚 commandments and suffer negative consequences. The blessings and curses set before the Israelites are enumerated in Deuteronomy 27鈥�28, and were read publicly upon entering the Land, as recounted in Joshua 8:30鈥�35. 

Times of Crisis and Possibility

Aug 10, 2020 By 91抖阴 | Public Event video | Video Lecture

A series of online classes exploring pivotal moments in the Jewish experience with 91抖阴 faculty and fellows.

First Failures: Falling Apart and Starting Over in the Book of Genesis

Aug 10, 2020 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Video Lecture

The first book of the Torah is filled with stories of crisis, brokenness, disappointments, and failure, both human and Divine. What religiousmeaning can we derive from the Torah鈥檚 focus on failure rather than success? Through a close look at some of its key narratives, we will mine the Book of Genesis for strategies for living through difficulttimes, and as the grounding of a hopeful and resilient theology.

A Moment That Is Always Present

Aug 7, 2020 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Eikev

Parashat Eikev is surrounded by matching bookends. The verse that ends the previous parashah, Va鈥檈t-岣�annan, and the verse that begins the subsequent parashah, Re鈥檈h, both contain the word, hayyom, or 鈥渢oday.鈥�