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Crossing the Sea Every Summer

Feb 10, 2017 By Jacob Cytryn | Commentary | Beshallah

As a camp director, Beshallah speaks to me in certain rather obvious ways. It is focused on the power of song鈥攂oth the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:1-18) and Deborah鈥檚 Song (Judges 5:1-31) in the haftarah鈥攁nd camp is nothing if not filled with song and music. Experience, similarly, is central to the entire endeavor, especially as recounted in the Passover seder. And Beshallah also represents the birth of possibility, the beginning of an independent community. In other words, this week鈥檚 parashah encapsulates the basic work we in the camp business embark on every summer.

鈥淯s鈥� and 鈥淭hem鈥�

Feb 3, 2017 By Paula Rose | Commentary | Bo | Pesah

鈥淭hey tried to kill us, we won, let鈥檚 eat.鈥�

This tongue-in-cheek summary of most Jewish holidays applies most strongly, perhaps, to the Passover Seder. We retell the story of the Exodus from Egypt, we praise and thank God for redeeming us, and then we eat a festive meal. Cast in that light, the story of the Exodus seems so straightforward. The Israelites are innocent victims, somehow pawns in God鈥檚 larger plan. The Egyptians, and especially Pharaoh, are wicked, oppressing the Israelites with forced labor.

Precious Sufferings: The Dynamics of Transformation

Jan 27, 2017 By E. Noach Shapiro | Commentary | Va'era

Listening to Moses try and wrap his mind around becoming an agent of change and transformation for the Israelites and the Egyptians is, at times, painful. As we eavesdrop on the early exchanges between God and Moses, a raw intimacy between Moses and us emerges. In his back and forth with God about his assignment to be God鈥檚 voice in Egypt, Moses immediately reveals his deep insecurity: 鈥淲ho am I that I should go to Pharaoh and free the Israelites from Egypt?!鈥� (Exod. 3:11).

The Doing that Comes from Knowing

Jan 20, 2017 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Shemot

Among the undercurrents in our portion are the consequences of forgetting and remembering on rescue and liberation, and of seeing and knowing on oppression and death. The Israelites鈥� fortunes are transformed, and transformed again, so rapidly in our portion鈥檚 opening, it seems the Torah wants to signal the tenuousness of circumstances that seem secure. The Torah goes to the trouble of naming the eleven sons of Jacob who relocate to Egypt (Joseph already having been there) and reports that their entire generation passed away. In the space of 11 words鈥攁nd seemingly no time at all鈥攖heir 70-member extended family explodes in number and becomes an innumerable presence to be reckoned with in Egypt (Exod. 1:1-7).

Pictures at a Benediction: Envisioning Jacob鈥檚 Blessing of his Sons

Jan 13, 2017 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Vayehi

The Tanakh is notoriously parsimonious when it comes to providing visual details. They are supplied only when they are germane to the biblical narrative. Was Isaac good-looking? We are not told. But we are told that Joseph was, because it explains why Potiphar鈥檚 wife cast her eyes upon him. Was Moses bald? We will never know. But it is made clear that the prophet Elisha was; because of this, he was taunted by jeers: 鈥淕o away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!鈥� This is the beginning of the brief but horrifying story in which Elisha curses the children who mock him, who are then mauled by bears emerging from the forest).

In Pharaoh鈥檚 Court

Jan 6, 2017 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Vayiggash

Our attention as readers of Vayiggash is naturally riveted by the dramatic events in the first half of the portion: Joseph鈥檚 self-revelation to his brothers; the family of Jacob coming to dwell in Egypt; and Jacob鈥檚 declaration that he 鈥渕ust go and see [Joseph] before I die鈥� (Gen. 45:28). What happens later in Vayiggash, however, is to my mind of far greater significance for the future of the children of Israel and the people of Egypt alike. The second half of the portion bears truths about Jewish history and destiny as relevant now as ever before.

The Unpardonable Sin

Dec 30, 2016 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Miketz

Among baseball aficionados, the name of Ralph Branca is universally known. Branca, who died at the age of 90 at the end of November, was famous (or, for many, infamous) for being the pitcher who gave up the 鈥淪hot Heard Round the World.鈥� In the final game of the 1951 National League championship, the Brooklyn Dodgers were leading 4-2 in the bottom of the 9^th inning with two men on base when the New York Giants鈥� power hitter, Bobby Thomson, came to the plate to bat. The Dodgers called on Branca to save the game, but his second pitch flew off of Thomson鈥檚 bat and over the green wall in left center field for a home run.

Being Raised from the Pit

Dec 23, 2016 By Simeon Cohen | Commentary | Vayeshev | Hanukkah

Three years ago, Jewish novelist Dara Horn published her fourth novel, A Guide for the Perplexed. Borrowing its title from Maimonides鈥檚 quintessential work of Jewish philosophy, the book follows two sisters, Josephine and Judith, as they struggle with issues of faith, reason, memory, and sibling rivalry. Josephine and Judith serve as stand-ins for Joseph and Judah; in a sense, the novel functions as an extended midrash on a key biblical incident which can be found in this week鈥檚 parashah, Vayeshev: the casting of Joseph into the pit at the hands of his brothers. Ultimately, Horn鈥檚 Josephine and the biblical Joseph arrive at the same conclusion: through suffering, which both characters experience in their respective tales, one can ultimately come to achieve greatness.