A Land That鈥檚 Too Good?
Aug 23, 2019 By Nicole Wilson-Spiro | Commentary | Eikev
I received a call one evening this summer from the doctor at Ramah Palmer. My son had tripped, and she wanted permission to bring him off camp the next day to have his swollen wrist x-rayed. Of course! But by the next morning I had convinced myself that I should pick him up from camp and bring him to our local orthopedist. I even convinced my husband that this would be best for insurance, since our orthopedist is in our insurance network. Unfortunately for me, the camp鈥檚 local hospital also turned out to be in our network. Truthfully, I wanted him to come home because I wanted to see him with my own eyes to make sure he was OK. My son is eleven, and he was hurt badly enough that he needed x-rays.
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Hope Amid Destruction
Aug 9, 2019 By Sara J. Bloomfield | Commentary | Devarim | Tishah Be'av
Tishah Be鈥檃v, which begins immediately after this Shabbat, is a moment on the Jewish calendar when we pause to reflect on the nature, impact, and significance of destruction. I鈥檝e spent 33 years working at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, so naturally I鈥檝e thought intensely about what the catastrophic destruction of European Jewry means for me, for Jews, and for humanity.
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Boundaries on the Move
Aug 2, 2019 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot
Every week, we read a parashah from the Torah during our Shabbat morning service, and then the beginning of the next parashah during our Shabbat afternoon service. The result of reading from two parashiyot on a single day can be surprising. This week, as we read first from Masei, the last parashah of Numbers, and then from Devarim, the first from Deuteronomy, we can hear an ancient debate about an issue that remains deeply contested: where to draw the line.
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In the Face of Violence, a Covenant of Peace
Jul 26, 2019 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Pinehas
Karen Armstrong, the scholar of religion and popular author of such works as The History of God, relates that wherever she travels, she is often confronted by someone鈥攁 taxi driver, an Oxford academic, an American psychiatrist鈥攚ho confidently expresses the view that 鈥渞eligion has caused more violence and wars than anything else.鈥� This is quite a remarkable statement given that in the last century alone, tens of millions of people have been killed in two world wars, the communist purges in the Soviet Union and its satellites, and the Cambodian killing fields of the Khmer Rouge, none of which were caused by religious motivations.
The Sorcery in Our Midst
Jul 20, 2019 By Jonathan Milgram | Commentary | Balak
In this week鈥檚 Torah reading, Parashat Balak, we read a riveting story of the diviner, Balaam, who was commissioned by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the Israelites (Num. 22:2鈥�24:25). Balak鈥檚 goal was to weaken the Israelites, encamped at the borders of Moab, so that he could defeat them in battle. Balaam is richly and, at times, inconsistently described in our detailed narrative. Part of the story鈥檚 complexity is due to the historical fact that two narratives about Balaam were conflated in the finally redacted text of the Bible.
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Handling Our Anger
Jul 12, 2019 By Abigail Uhrman | Commentary | Hukkat
Among the many stories in Parashat Hukkat, perhaps the most discussed is when Moses, in response the Israelites鈥� grievances, is instructed by God to 鈥渙rder the rock to yield its water.鈥� Moses, instead, strikes the rock twice with his rod. Water comes forth, but God rebukes Moses for disobeying his instructions: 鈥淏ecause you did not trust Me enough to affirm my sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, there you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them鈥� (Num. 20:2鈥�13).
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How to Challenge Authority
Jul 5, 2019 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Korah
When is it appropriate to challenge a leader? While this week鈥檚 parashah, Korah, is perhaps the most dramatic attempt to answer this question in the Torah, this question percolates from the beginning of Moses鈥檚 tenure. At first glance, the answer would seem to be that Moses should never be challenged. As God鈥檚 chosen leader, the Israelites should submit to his authority in all cases. After all, things end badly for those who do not follow this course, as the story of Korah shows.
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The Power of One
Jun 28, 2019 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Shelah Lekha
This week鈥檚 parashah, Shelah Lekha, opens with the famous episode of twelve scouts going on a reconnaissance mission to the land of Israel. As most of us know the story, upon their return, ten of them recommend returning to Egypt, whereas just two, Joshua and Caleb, encourage the Israelites to continue their journey to the Promised Land. When we look at the verses of chapter 13, we discover that that is not exactly what they say.
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