Living With the Fragility of Life
Sep 29, 2017 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is one 25-hour day that is capable of entering and enriching every day of the year. On Yom Kippur, we peel back some of our denial and make space for the fragility of life. The rituals help us and the liturgy helps us. At the center of the High Holiday Amidah, the collection of prayers known as Tefillah (Prayer), stands U-netaneh Tokef. It begins, 鈥淟et us speak of the sacred power of this day鈥攑rofound and awe-inspiring鈥� (Mahzor Lev Shalem). The list of ways in which we can die included in the prayer certainly captures our attention, and can feel overwhelming.
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The Blessing of Curses: A Rosh Hashanah Puzzle
Sep 20, 2017 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Ki Tavo | Shabbat Shuvah | Rosh Hashanah
Here’s a puzzle for us to think about as we consider the spiritual work that we need to engage in over the remaining days until Yom Kippur: The Talmud tells us鈥攊n the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar鈥攖hat Ezra the Scribe decreed that, for all time, the Jewish people would read the blessings and curses in Leviticus (Parashat Behukkotai) prior to the holiday of Shavuot and those of Deuteronomy (Parashat Ki Tavo) before Rosh Hashanah (BT Megillah 31b). This decree is strange. Reading these graphic and threatening chapters, which detail the good that will come if we are faithful to God and the suffering that will be wrought if we forsake our relationship with God, is difficult at any time. Why insist that we read them publicly as we ready ourselves to celebrate these joyous holidays?
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The Choice
Sep 15, 2017 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh
Imagine if you could choose your future鈥攏ot know it, but choose it. What would happen to you? Would you live forever? Would you choose how you were going to die? What would be your legacy? If you could, would you turn fantasy into reality?
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White Supremacism and Jewish Chosenness
Sep 8, 2017 By Hillel Ben Sasson | Commentary | Ki Tavo
Only a month has passed since the horrifying marches of white nationalists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the repugnant images and voices from that weekend refuse to fade away. More than anything else, this event reminds us all that hatred toward minorities in general and Jews in particular has never been completely eradicated, and might never be. Yet it also compels us to return to our own idea of the chosen people, and to examine whether our particularism is necessarily a chauvinistic one, as so many have argued over the course of time, from Haman to the present day.
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Clothes That Make Us Human
Sep 1, 2017 By William Plevan | Commentary | Ki Tetzei
Among the many joys of summertime in Manhattan is the chance to see a performance of Shakespeare in the Park. This year鈥檚 feast for eyes and ears was the magical romantic comedy A Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream. One of the key turns of the plot involves the sprite Puck casting a spell on the wrong young lover, because his only instructions were to enchant one with 鈥淎thenian garb.鈥� Judging on fashion alone, poor Puck thought he had discharged his duties. Puck鈥檚 comedic error is of course another instance of one of Shakespeare鈥檚 favorite themes, the way our clothing becomes synonymous with our identity. Most famously, in Hamlet Shakespeare has the Danish noble Polonius tell his son Laertes that 鈥渢he apparel oft proclaims the man.鈥�
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The King鈥檚 Torah and the Torah鈥檚 King
Aug 25, 2017 By Barry Holtz | Commentary | Shofetim
This week鈥檚 Torah portion focuses on a wide array of topics, but underlying virtually everything we can see a thematic coherence well reflected in the parashah鈥檚 name (鈥渏udges鈥�). The sidrah contains one of the most famous lines in the entire Bible, tzedek, tzedek tirdof: 鈥淛ustice, justice shall you pursue鈥� (Deut. 16:20). And throughout the parashah we see the Torah outlining various aspects of the pursuit of justice.
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To Know or Not to Know
Aug 18, 2017 By Malka Strasberg Edinger | Commentary | Re'eh
The centralization of cultic worship is one of the major themes in the book of Deuteronomy. However, the place of that worship, the Temple, is described as 鈥渢he place that God will choose,鈥� with no mention of where that place is to exist. This week鈥檚 parashah, parashat Re鈥檈h, introduces the theme that once in the Land of Israel, the Israelites are to worship their God in 鈥�hamakom asher yivhar Hashem鈥� (the place that God will choose). This vague phraseology, which only alludes to a specific place but does not specify where that place is, is repeated 21 times throughout the book of Deuteronomy, with 16 of those occurrences in our parashah alone.
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Ve鈥檃havta: A Pedagogy for Thriving
Aug 4, 2017 By Bill Robinson | Commentary | Va'et-hannan
What teachings of Judaism are helping you thrive in today鈥檚 world? How can you better keep these teachings in front of you at all times? And how can we help our children find in Judaism that which helps them thrive?
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