An Exegetical and Archaeological Experience
Aug 19, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Re'eh
This past June, our family journeyed to Israel 鈥� to reenergize our spiritual selves, to reconnect with the land and people of Israel, and to introduce our daughter to friends and family.
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Our Choice in the Shema
Aug 12, 2006 By David-Seth Kirshner | Commentary | Eikev
This week’s Parashat Eikev is about hearing and listening.
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The Seven Qualities of Leadership
Jul 29, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Devarim
Leadership is the cornerstone of who we are as Jewish people.
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“My Heart Is in the East”
Jul 22, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Masei | Mattot
The stirring words of the medieval poet of Zion, Yehudah HaLevi, echo through each and every generation: “My heart is in the East, and I am in the far reaches of the West.”
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Exposing Narrative Fissures
Jul 15, 2006 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Pinehas
As a guest columnist for the New York Times this past Friday, Judith Warner shared that her nine鈥搚ear鈥搊ld daughter “was terrified of narrative tension 鈥� cliffhanger pauses, unanswered questions, any sense of foreboding or even strong anticipation.”
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Hearing God’s Voice
Jul 8, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Hukkat
We communicate with each other and with God through our voices.
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What Makes Us Holy?
Jul 1, 2006 By Charles Savenor | Commentary | Korah
Remembered mainly as the power鈥揾ungry rebel swallowed by the earth for challenging Moses and Aaron’s authority, Korah is also depicted by the Midrash as a wealthy and successful former minister in Pharaoh’s court and the patriarch of his Levitical family clan.
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Proclaiming Freedom
May 15, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim
On our way to Shavuot from Pesach, we read three Torah portions that epitomize the deep structure of Judaism. The challenge of freedom is to make it a blessing. How can we avoid frittering it away in dissipation, keeping it from morphing into a curse? The Hebrew names of these parshiyot bear the message: mountain, laws and wilderness. The Torah forges a religion designed to get us through the chaos of an engulfing wilderness with a ramified system of legal prescriptions whose inspiration is rooted in the revelation at Mount Sinai. A faith-based community is the matrix of individual survival in a hostile environment.
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