91抖阴

The Choice

Sep 15, 2017 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh

Imagine if you could choose your future鈥攏ot know it, but choose it. What would happen to you? Would you live forever? Would you choose how you were going to die? What would be your legacy? If you could, would you turn fantasy into reality?

Woodcutters and Water Drawers

Sep 15, 2017 By Shira D. Epstein | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh

The opening verses of this week鈥檚 parashah pronounce that the entirety of Israel stands before God to enter into the covenant: the leaders, the elders, the officers; every man, child, woman, and convert, as well as the 鈥渨oodcutters and water drawers鈥� (Deut. 29:9鈥�10). Unlike some other Torah excerpts that clearly demarcate mitzvot reserved for a particular classification of people, all people are told to show up in this moment. They are beckoned to view themselves as integral parts of an expansive and inclusive community.

White Supremacism and Jewish Chosenness

Sep 8, 2017 By Hillel Ben Sasson | Commentary | Ki Tavo

Only a month has passed since the horrifying marches of white nationalists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the repugnant images and voices from that weekend refuse to fade away. More than anything else, this event reminds us all that hatred toward minorities in general and Jews in particular has never been completely eradicated, and might never be. Yet it also compels us to return to our own idea of the chosen people, and to examine whether our particularism is necessarily a chauvinistic one, as so many have argued over the course of time, from Haman to the present day. 

Curses and Blessings

Sep 8, 2017 By Galeet Dardashti | Commentary | Ki Tavo

I just recorded this riff/improvisation on a Moroccan rendition of the piyyut 鈥�Ahot Ketanah.鈥� The piyyut (liturgical hymn)鈥攑articularly beloved by Sephardim as the first piece sung for Rosh Hashanah鈥攔eferences Ki Tavo鈥檚 many curses and pleads that this year鈥檚 curses come to an end. When I chant it for the High Holidays, the entire kahal holds the drone underneath. The Talmud (BT Megillah 31b) explains that Parashat Ki Tavo ends with incessant curses so that we leave them behind and begin the New Year with only blessings.

Clothes That Make Us Human

Sep 1, 2017 By William Plevan | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

Among the many joys of summertime in Manhattan is the chance to see a performance of Shakespeare in the Park. This year鈥檚 feast for eyes and ears was the magical romantic comedy A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream. One of the key turns of the plot involves the sprite Puck casting a spell on the wrong young lover, because his only instructions were to enchant one with 鈥淎thenian garb.鈥� Judging on fashion alone, poor Puck thought he had discharged his duties. Puck鈥檚 comedic error is of course another instance of one of Shakespeare鈥檚 favorite themes, the way our clothing becomes synonymous with our identity. Most famously, in Hamlet Shakespeare has the Danish noble Polonius tell his son Laertes that 鈥渢he apparel oft proclaims the man.鈥�

Facing Reality

Sep 1, 2017 By Alex Sinclair | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

And so another school year begins. After a summer of camp, travel, or relaxation, reality bites. Schedule. Classes. Papers. Reality.

Ki Tetzei contains many moments which deal with cold, hard reality. You like that woman you took captive in war? Sorry, mate, you have to face reality, with rules and regulations (Deut. 21:10鈥�14). Think that the son of your preferred wife can inherit, even though he鈥檚 not the first-born? No sirree: you have to deal with legal reality (21:15-17). 

Limbs

Aug 25, 2017 By 91抖阴 Alumni | Commentary | Shofetim

Gavriella Kornsgold, Student, The Rabbinical School, and 91抖阴 Alumna (LC 鈥�17, DS 鈥�19)
Limbs (2017)
Sharpie, colored pencil, and acrylic on plexiglass

Are trees of the field human to withdraw before you into the besieged city? (Deut. 20:19)

The King鈥檚 Torah and the Torah鈥檚 King

Aug 25, 2017 By Barry Holtz | Commentary | Shofetim

This week鈥檚 Torah portion focuses on a wide array of topics, but underlying virtually everything we can see a thematic coherence well reflected in the parashah鈥檚 name (鈥渏udges鈥�). The sidrah contains one of the most famous lines in the entire Bible, tzedek, tzedek tirdof: 鈥淛ustice, justice shall you pursue鈥� (Deut. 16:20). And throughout the parashah we see the Torah outlining various aspects of the pursuit of justice.

To Know or Not to Know

Aug 18, 2017 By Malka Strasberg Edinger | Commentary | Re'eh

The centralization of cultic worship is one of the major themes in the book of Deuteronomy. However, the place of that worship, the Temple, is described as 鈥渢he place that God will choose,鈥� with no mention of where that place is to exist. This week鈥檚 parashah, parashat Re鈥檈h, introduces the theme that once in the Land of Israel, the Israelites are to worship their God in 鈥�hamakom asher yivhar Hashem鈥� (the place that God will choose). This vague phraseology, which only alludes to a specific place but does not specify where that place is, is repeated 21 times throughout the book of Deuteronomy, with 16 of those occurrences in our parashah alone.

Licensed to Kill (Kosher Animals)

Aug 18, 2017 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Re'eh

In Deut. 12:20鈥�25, explicit permission is given for the slaughter and consumption of meat outside of the sacrificial system. The passage includes the phrase 鈥渁s I have instructed you鈥� (v. 21), and the Talmud identifies these words as the source of the various prescriptions for kosher slaughter (shehitah) (BT Hullin 28a).

Walking in God鈥檚 Paths

Aug 11, 2017 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Eikev

Walking at our own pace creates an unadulterated feedback loop between the rhythm of our bodies and our mental state that we cannot experience as easily when we鈥檙e jogging at the gym, steering a car, biking, or during any other kind of locomotion. . . . When we choose a path through a city or forest, our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward, and translate that plan into a series of footsteps.

鈥擣erris Jabr, 鈥淲hy Walking Helps Us Think,鈥� The New Yorker (September 2014)

Ve鈥檃havta: A Pedagogy for Thriving

Aug 4, 2017 By Bill Robinson | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

What teachings of Judaism are helping you thrive in today鈥檚 world? How can you better keep these teachings in front of you at all times? And how can we help our children find in Judaism that which helps them thrive?

鈥淟ike Tefillin Straps, Roads鈥�

Aug 4, 2017 By Yitzhak Lewis | Commentary | Va'et-hannan

Dress me, kosher mother [. . .]
And with Shaharit, lead me to labor.

My land is wrapped in light as a tallit
Houses stand like phylacteries And like tefillin straps, roads ride on that hands have paved. [. . .]

An Oasis of Freedom and Justice

Jul 28, 2017 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Tishah Be'av

“I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.”

After quoting Amos 5:24 about justice rolling like a mighty stream in his most famous speech, Dr. King, Jr., z鈥漧, then belted out the soaring vision quoted above. 

Judge Justly, Four Ways

Jul 28, 2017 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Devarim

Most of us are rarely called upon to judge other people, so when we read in the first chapter of our parashah about how we ought to judge ethically, we may not ever expect to act on this mitzvah. Then the jury summons comes in the mail, and suddenly we鈥檙e in a jury pool of over 100 people, awaiting selection for a massive white-collar criminal case. The issues of power, influence, and impartiality come up early.

Upgrading the Torah鈥攁nd the World

Jul 21, 2017 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

Is God鈥檚 law perfect? Most of us would assume that anything created by an omniscient and omnipotent being must have no flaws. But a story in today鈥檚 parashah suggests otherwise鈥攊n a manner that shows a surprising similarity to a key concept of Jewish mysticism.

Journeying through Jewish History

Jul 21, 2017 By Nancy Sinkoff | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

I first encountered this book in my supplementary Hebrew school at Temple Emanuel of Great Neck when I was a teenager. The documents, photographs, newspaper reports and Yiddish language characters entranced me then. . . . and still do. At that tender age, I thought I wanted to grow up to be a marine biologist. Instead, embedded in my young soul, those images of East European Jews, who had journeyed鈥攍ike our forebears in this week鈥檚 parashah (Numbers 33:1-37)鈥攆rom far away to a land they did not know, propelled me on a lifelong journey as a historian of the Jews of Eastern Europe.

Fearless Women

Jul 14, 2017 By Meredith Katz | Commentary | Pinehas

Many narratives coalesce in Parashat Pinehas, and it is challenging to review without connection to the current political and social climate. The daughters of Zelophehad make a proposal to inherit their father鈥檚 portion, as part of a land division framework aiming toward equality: 鈥渢o the more thou shalt give the more inheritance, and to the fewer thou shalt give the less inheritance.鈥� The daughters raise their claim with Moses et al. as women, demanding their right to inherit in the absence of any sons, a significant step for women in ancient times that is then added to the canon.

I Will Get Back Up Again

Jul 14, 2017 By Stephanie Ruskay | Commentary | Pinehas

鈥淲hat does your dad do at Google?鈥�

One of our JustCity Leadership Institute pre-college program students explained that her mother works at Google in a significant leadership position. Yet each time she wears a Google T-shirt, people ask her what her father does there.

Fear, Truth, and a Donkey

Jul 7, 2017 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Balak

Bilam, the highly paid but visionless prophet, sits high in his saddle on his donkey鈥檚 back as she swerves off the path. She鈥檚 strayed, it seems, for no reason; an angel standing with sword drawn is as yet unseen by him. He beats the donkey to drive her back onto the path. The next time she stops short she traps her rider鈥檚 leg against a stone wall. He winces in pain. I imagine him throwing one hand down toward his leg and perhaps grabbing his headdress, by now slipping off, with the other. He frantically beats his donkey again, flailing to regain control. Bilam is coming undone: a prophet made a fool by an ass (Num. 22:22鈥�25).