A Question of Translation

A Question of Translation

Dec 30, 2006 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Vayiggash

Parashat Vayiggash (or, as it is sometimes known in Hebrew school circles, “parashat omigosh”) serves as the denouement of the “Tale of Joseph and His Brothers.”

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Wrestling Over Sacred Issues

Wrestling Over Sacred Issues

Dec 9, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah

Appropriately enough, this week’s Torah reading is Parashat Vayishlah.

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Doing the Impossible

Doing the Impossible

Dec 2, 2006 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Vayetzei

This parashah challenges us to do the impossible. Let me explain.

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The Challenges and Joys of Parenting

The Challenges and Joys of Parenting

Nov 25, 2006 By Steven Brown | Commentary | Toledot

Parshat Toledot is the epitome of the challenges, struggles, ambivalences, and joys of parenting.

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Dawkins and a Deeper Level of Faith

Dawkins and a Deeper Level of Faith

Nov 18, 2006 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

In his introduction, Richard Dawkins articulates his goal in writing The God Delusion: “If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down” (5).

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Examining the Word Moriah

Examining the Word Moriah

Nov 11, 2006 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Vayera

Years ago, in a national television program called Laugh In (yes, I lived during the Stone Age — the Rolling Stone Age. Never mind.), a comedian lampooned the song “They Called the Wind Moriah” from the Broadway show Paint Your Wagon.

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Appreciating Our Blessings

Appreciating Our Blessings

Nov 3, 2006 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Imagine the following request: leave your home, your family, everything that you know and cherish and go — completely walk away from the world of your ancestors.

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Redemption: Israel’s Partnership with God

Redemption: Israel’s Partnership with God

Mar 31, 2007 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol

The first teaching attributed to Hillel in Tractate Avot is the following: “Be one of Aaron’s disciples, one who loves peace and pursues it, one who loves one’s fellow human beings and brings them near to the Torah.”

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