Making Peace on High and on Earth
Jun 22, 2002 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Hukkat
Some years ago, during a visit to Japan, I met with a sociology professor at Tokyo University. She mentioned that she had just returned from her first trip to Israel, and I asked what her impressions were. The professor paused for a moment and then said 鈥� “The Israelis, they argue a great deal.”
Read More
Greed and Power
Jun 5, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Korah
As Tyco International follows Enron and WorldCom into economic oblivion, the media increasingly focus on the bloated compensation packages that reward aggressive C.E.O.s. It is not easy to identify a moral culprit behind opaque accounting procedures. But unmitigated greed is an ancient and outrageous vice.
Read More
Celebrating Human Initiative
Jun 8, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shelah Lekha
A nation’s calendar is a contract between its past and future. What we choose to remember is indicative of what we value. Our calendar is always a projection of our priorities. The subject matter that joins this week’s parashah and haftarah, the conquest of Canaan, sheds some light on why one event and not another embeds itself in our collective memory.
Read More
The Meaning of the Shabbat Candles
Jun 1, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Beha'alotekha
If you have ever spent a Shabbat in Jerusalem, you have surely noticed that its imminent arrival is announced by the blowing of a shofar. The stores that are still open then close and the traffic left on the streets virtually halts. The atmosphere of Shabbat increasingly pervades the city. There is no artifice to the shofar; its harsh sound embodies an ancient practice.
Read More
Change From Within
May 25, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Naso
The pronounced and unsettling shift to the right in western Europe springs from several sources. But feeding them all is the residual power of the nation鈥搒tate as a determinative factor in ethnic identity. The mega鈥搕rends of immigration, globalization and European unification have triggered in many a deep鈥搒eated fear of the loss of their national character.
Read More
Mindfulness of God’s Image
May 4, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Though Judaism is distinguished by a this鈥搘orldly ethic, the acquisition of material possessions is not a high priority. The singular adage of Ben Zoma from the early days of rabbinic Judaism (second century), became normative: “Who may be deemed rich? Those content with their lot” (Pirkei Avot 4:1). We need far less than we want. To take comfort in what we have is to derive pleasure in values other than wealth.
Read More
Faith in the Face of Loss
Apr 6, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shemini
Death in old age is sad but not tragic. The pain of loved ones left behind is tempered by the knowledge that this is the way of the world. Thus King David on his deathbed instructs Solomon, his son, soberly: “I am going the way of all the earth; be strong and show yourself a man” (I Kings 2:2). There is no reason to protest. The loss will take resolve to overcome, but the naturalness of the death holds its own comfort.
Read More
Judaism’s Two New Years
Mar 23, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol | Pesah
In the Middle Ages, when rabbis were largely specialists in and adjudicators of Jewish law, they preached in the synagogue but twice a year, on Shabbat Hagadol prior to Passover and on Shabbat Shuvah prior to Yom Kippur. The ritual intricacies of each festival called for some public instruction. The custom highlighted the affinity between these two seasons which each in its own way initiated the start of a new year.
Read More