91抖阴

The Suffering of Loss

Jun 20, 2014 By Shira D. Epstein | Commentary | Korah

We have grown accustomed to an incessant newsfeed scrolling of horrific natural-disaster footage.

Korah鈥檚 Fire Pans: Relics of Rebellion to Sacred Lessons

Jun 20, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Korah

Contentiousness, dissent, and upheaval mark the opening of Parashat Korah.

The Clothes Make the (Wo)man

Jun 13, 2014 By Michal Raucher | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

During graduation season, I try to learn everything there is to know about academic dress.

Unity and Leadership

Jun 13, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

At the very beginning of this week鈥檚 parashah, Moses organizes a mission to scout out the land of Canaan.

Piyyutim: Poetry of the Soul

Jun 12, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary

There is an exquisite irony that the same element of our liturgy鈥攖he traditional poems (piyyutim) within the siddur that are used in many of our services鈥攊s identified with both the greatest tedium and the most profound spiritual depths. We encounter Adon Olam and Yigdal every day and Lekha Dodi and El Adon every Shabbat. In the cycle of the year, there are the piyyutim for rain and dew (Geshem and Tal) associated with Shemini Atzeret and Pesah; Akdamut for Shavu鈥檕t; and of course numerous poetic compositions adorn the liturgy of the Yamim Nora鈥檌m (High Holidays).

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抖阴 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抖阴 Commencement Address 2014

May 22, 2014

MK Dr. Ruth Calderon gives the 2014 91抖阴 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.