麻豆原创

Family Matters

Sep 5, 2025 By Jonathan Milgram | Commentary | Ki Tetzei

Academic talmudists are often asked, 鈥淥f what use are the findings of academic Jewish Studies to lay people? Can historical research inform our contemporary dialogue on the pressing issues of our day?鈥� I propose that developments in family law from biblical to Rabbinic times have much to teach us in our evaluating the rapidly changing values and their accompanying changing laws in our own times.

I begin in an unlikely place: the curious set of verses in this week鈥檚 parashah, Ki Tetzei, about filial favoritism:

Adhering to God鈥檚 Word

Aug 15, 2025 By Raymond Scheindlin | Commentary | Eikev

In Parashat Eikev, we hear the voice of Moses, that most eloquent of preachers, exhorting the Israelites as to how to behave in the Land that he is never to see. He reminds them of their past misconduct and warns that if it continues, they will not thrive in the Land. He devotes much of his attention to the Land itself.聽Except for a historical digression on the episode of the Golden Calf and several other occasions of Israelite backsliding, most of the parashah is devoted to describing the excellent qualities of the Land of Israel, foretelling the easy conquest of its inhabitants, promising its bounty, and warning of the consequences of using it badly.

Black North, White West: Color, Grief, and the Geography of the Soul

Aug 1, 2025 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Devarim | Tishah Be'av | Yom Kippur

There鈥檚 a tradition in ancient Semitic languages of mapping the world with colors. The north is black. The south is red. The west is white. The east鈥攕ometimes blue, sometimes green. In Arabic, the Mediterranean is still called al-ba岣�r al-abya岣� al-mutawassi峁�鈥攖he White Middle Sea. The Red Sea is to the south. The Black Sea lies to the north.

Boundaries on the Move

Jul 25, 2025 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Masei | Mattot | Shabbat Rosh Hodesh

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聽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.

The Liberator and the Zealot

Jul 18, 2025 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Pinehas

In his recently published book,聽The Zealot and the Emancipator: John Brown, Abraham Lincoln, and the Struggle for American Freedom, 聽H.W. Brands contrasts the attitudes of Brown and Lincoln toward slavery, and the methods used by each to end it. In doing so, he makes the case that the terms 鈥渓iberator鈥� and 鈥渮ealot鈥� accurately encapsulate the role of each in abolishing slavery. 聽

Fear, Truth, and a Donkey

Jul 11, 2025 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Balak

Bilam, the highly paid but visionless prophet, sits high in his saddle on his donkey鈥檚 back as she swerves off the path. She鈥檚 strayed, it seems, for no reason; an angel standing with sword drawn is as yet unseen by him. He beats the donkey to drive her back onto the path. The next time she stops short she traps her rider鈥檚 leg against a stone wall. He winces in pain. I imagine him throwing one hand down toward his leg and perhaps grabbing his headdress, by now slipping off, with the other. He frantically beats his donkey again, flailing to regain control. Bilam is coming undone: a prophet made a fool by an ass聽(Num. 22:22鈥�25).

The Humanity of Moses

Jul 4, 2025 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Hukkat

Moses is so very human in this week鈥檚 portion. He loses his sister to death at the start of chapter 20, and his brother at the end of that same chapter. In between, he is told by God that he will not live to see the fulfillment of his life鈥檚 work (guiding his people into […]

Where Does Holiness Come From?

Jun 27, 2025 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Korah

Parashat Korah can be challenging for a modern Jew. There is a good guy in this parashah鈥攊t鈥檚 Moses鈥攁nd there is a bad guy鈥擪orah. Modern readers, however, often find themselves sympathizing with the bad guy. In the opening verses of the parashah聽(Num. 16:1鈥�3), Korah stands up against the leadership of Moses and Aaron, saying, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got too much! The whole congregation, all of them, are holy, and Hashem is in their very midst. So why do you act like princes, raising yourselves over Hashem鈥檚 congregation?鈥� Korah鈥檚 speech appeals to a modern reader: he鈥檚 the democrat who takes the aristocrat to task for acting so much better than everyone else. It can seem disturbing that Moses enjoys a monopoly on holiness, doling out a healthy serving of the sacred to his brother, the high priest Aaron (nepotism!), while leaving everyone else outside the priesthood. Aren鈥檛 we all holy? Doesn鈥檛 God belong to all of us equally?