Eating in the Wilderness
Sep 24, 2010 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Sukkot
With Sukkot on my mind, the wilderness controversy prompted me to imagine what the Israelites’ experience of the wilderness might be like nowadays in contrast to biblical times. How much of the hardship of their forty-year trek from Egypt to Canaan might they have been spared if their four-wheel (instead of four-legged)-drive vehicles had been guided by GPS rather than meandering pillars of fire and cloud, or if the signage in the desert had amounted to more than a few indecipherable graffiti (even more obscure than Garden State Parkway markers)?
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Birth and the Giving of the Torah
Jun 7, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Shavuot
As I write these words, I am waiting for the imminent birth of a child which my husband and I hope to adopt.
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Remembrance, Childbirth, and Renewal
Sep 27, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah
Remembrance. Childbirth. Renewed hopes and dreams.
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An Environmental Journey
Oct 14, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Sukkot
One of my sweetest memories as a rabbinical student at 91抖阴 relates to the holiday we welcome this week, Sukkot.
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Expelling Our Own Scapegoats
Oct 3, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Yom Kippur
This coming Shabbat culminates the period of 鈥�aseret yemei teshuvah, the 10 days of repentance, as we commemorate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
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Teshuvah: Seeking the Hidden Face of God
Sep 26, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ha'azinu | Shabbat Shuvah
This coming Shabbat, the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is known as Shabbat Shuvah, the 鈥淪abbath of Return.鈥�
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From Reflection to Appreciation
Sep 12, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ki Tavo
Having underscored the role of memory at the conclusion of last week鈥檚 parashah (remembering the cruelty of Amalek), the Torah now accentuates the importance of appreciation in Parashat Ki Tavo.
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The Miracle of Hanukkah
Dec 27, 2008 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Hanukkah
Stories have great power. We tell stories about ourselves and about our communities because they give our lives meaning, and they help us navigate between the past and the future. We use stories to help us make sense of the world and our place in it. Not far behind the seemingly innocent plots of many of the stories we tell about our community’s religious history lie profound existential truths addressing our most pressing religious concerns.
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