Torah鈥擵ision Beyond the Text (Part 2)
May 8, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Let us continue exploring, in these weeks before Shavu鈥檕t, the metaphors of Torah in our liturgy. In the blessing immediately before the Shema鈥� in the morning service, we say 鈥済ive light to our eyes through Your Torah鈥� (ha鈥檈r eyneynu beToratekha) [Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat, 111], drawing upon the metaphor from the book of Proverbs that 鈥淭orah is light鈥� (6:23). This connection of Torah (teaching) and light draws on a theme鈥攃ommon to many religions鈥攖hat labels the attainment of ultimate understanding or a close or profound encounter with the Divine as 鈥渆nlightenment.鈥�
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How Do You Measure a Year?
May 8, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Bemidbar | Shavuot
We are doing an awful lot of counting this week: we count the final days of the Omer, and, as our parashah begins, take the census of the Israelite community. What does all of this counting have to do with the ways in which we measure what really matters?
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In Solomon’s Temple: The Wisdom and Vitality of Solomon Schechter
May 8, 2013 By Arnold M. Eisen | Video Lecture
A special opportunity to study with Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen as he delves into the enduring wisdom and vitality of the legendary Dr. Solomon Schechter, rabbinic scholar and president of 91抖阴 from 1902 to 1915. Learn the core works of Dr. Schechter鈥檚 ideology in their 19th-century context, and explore their continuing importance to 21st-century Judaism.
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A Slow Walk to Freedom
May 8, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bemidbar
With this coming Shabbat, we begin the fourth book of Torah known as the book of Numbers or Bemidbar.
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Torah鈥擵ision Beyond the Text (Part 1)
May 1, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
In these weeks leading to the festival of Shavu鈥檕t, designated by the Rabbis as Z鈥檓an matan Torateinu (Season of the Giving of Torah), let us look at the way that Torah appears in our liturgy. Torah refers, of course, to the humash鈥攖he Five Books of Moses鈥攂ut the siddur makes clear that it is much more than that. In the preliminary service, the blessings for the study of Torah (Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, 63) are followed by verses from the humash, and these verses are followed immediately by selections from the Mishnah and Gemara, thus making it clear that these texts are Torah as well. The writings of the Sages (even to the present day) are not seen merely as commentary or amplification of Torah鈥攔abbinic writings are also Torah, the 鈥淥ral鈥� Torah.
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Yom Yerushalayim鈥擨nhabiting the Land
May 1, 2013 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai | Yom Yerushalayim
Our double Torah portion opens with God鈥檚 command to Moses to tell the Israelites, 鈥淲hen you come to the land that I am giving you, and you inhabit the land.鈥� No sooner did I read this verse as I prepared to write these words of Torah, than my own counting of the days flashed back 46 years to my first time ever in Israel, when I was a teenager on Camp Ramah Israel Seminar.
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The Promise of Security
May 1, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Parashat Behukkotai opens with a dramatic quid pro quo.
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The Laws of Sefirah and Shavuot
Apr 29, 2013 By Isaac Klein | Lag Ba'omer
From: A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice
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Yours? Mine? Ours? Economies for a Sustainable Earth
Apr 25, 2013 By 91抖阴 | Public Event video
A panel discussion sponsored by the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies of 91抖阴.
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The Spirit of Jewish Leadership
Apr 23, 2013 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Emor
Two themes in this week鈥檚 Torah portion strike me with particular urgency and force: how Israelites should mourn the dead, and the qualifications required for the priesthood.
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Following Boston, Prayers for Healing
Apr 23, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary
Once more murderous acts have literally blasted their way into our hearts and souls. Images from the bombs in Boston are seared into our minds and memories, and these depictions challenge us. Our faith in humanity is challenged no less than our faith in God.
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Uncertainty and the Omer
Apr 23, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Emor
As we journey through these days and weeks, we find ourselves in the midst of Sefirat Omer, the counting of the Omer (the sheaf of barley offering, a ritual that took place in Temple times).
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Heschel and Kaplan: Cross Sections and Intersections
Apr 18, 2013 By 91抖阴 | Public Event video
Dr. Susannah Heschel, as the devoted student of her father’s (Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel) life and thought, and Dr. Mel Scult, as biographer of Rabbi Morecai M. Kaplan and scholar of his voluminous diaries, discuss the private lives of Kaplan and Heschel, the relationship between them over many years of teaching at 91抖阴, and their contributions as Jewish public intellectuals.
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Israel: Memory and Dreams (Part 2)
Apr 17, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut
Following the transition from the pain-filled memories of Yom Hazikkaron (State of Israel Memorial Day) to Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t (State of Israel Independence Day), it is fitting to look closely at the prayer recited in so many synagogues (of all denominations) around the world: Tefillah l鈥橲halom HaMedinah (the Prayer for the State of Israel). There is a 鈥渓egend鈥� that the text was composed by Israeli Nobel laureate Shmuel Yosef Agnon, but in fact the text was composed by Israel鈥檚 Chief Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog (1936鈥�1949), and a critically important phrase was added by Agnon in a handwritten note.
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Embracing Life in the Face of Death
Apr 17, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut
This past week, we commemorated State of Israel Memorial Day (Yom Hazikkaron) and State of Israel Independence Day (Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t). The juxtaposition of these two observances is jarring. Living in Israel, one feels how mourning permeates every moment of Yom Hazikkaron: from the piercing siren that sounds around the entire country at 8:00 p.m. to the mournful songs played on Israeli radio; from the Yizkor (memorial service) stickers with the Israeli plant known as dam hamakabim (the blood of the Maccabees) to the throngs of Israeli citizens flooding Mount Herzl Cemetery. At the close of this sobering day, transition ceremonies give way to the festivities of Yom Ha鈥檃zma鈥檜t: fireworks decorate the night sky and festive barbeques fill the landscape of every square meter of Israeli parks.
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Building Bridges Among Jews
Apr 16, 2013
“Kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh.” “All of Israel are responsible for one another.” Dr. Ruth Calderon of the Knesset discusses, how in an ever global world, Jews from all paths can join together and “build bridges.”
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Getting Out of Your Own Way
Apr 16, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim
鈥淵ou shall not . . . place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God. I am the Lord.鈥� Taken literally, this is a verse about respecting the disabled. Taken figuratively鈥攁s the Rabbis give us ample precedent and license to do鈥攊t is about all of us.
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Israel and Us: Responsibilities, Commitments, and Opportunities
Apr 10, 2013 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video
A special address given by Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen of the Jewish Theological Seminary entitled “Israel and Us: Responsibilities, Commitments, and Opportunities” in honor of The State of Israel’s 64th year of independence, Yom Ha’atzma’ut 5772/2012
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Israel: Memory and Dreams (Part 1)
Apr 10, 2013 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Yom Hazikaron-Yom Ha'atzma'ut
Yom Ha鈥檃tzma鈥檜t, State of Israel Independence Day, is observed on Tuesday, April 16. It is not only a political and national celebration for the citizens of Israel and their supporters around the world, it is also a festival of the Jewish calendar. The Psalms of Hallel are recited, there is a special Torah reading, and there is an additional paragraph in the 鈥楢尘颈诲补丑 of the Conservative Movement, in a style similar to Hanukkah and Purim (see the Rabbinical Assembly鈥檚 Siddur Sim Shalom for Weekdays, 42, 50, 343). So this day is not simply the Israeli equivalent of July 4鈥攊t is rooted, as is the State of Israel, in the ancient Jewish dream for the perfection of the world.
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Land, Language, and Leprosy
Apr 10, 2013 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria
The second of this week鈥檚 parashiyot, Metzora, is an enigma on so many levels.
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