Bacon in the Season of Repentance

Bacon in the Season of Repentance

Jul 31, 2013 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Re'eh

As it becomes clear that living and dealing with “bacon mania” is part of early 21st-century life in the United States, now is a good time to reflect on the Jewish prohibition of eating pork, which appears in this week’s parashah.

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Animal Sacrifice on an iPad: Finding Meaning in Va-yikra

Animal Sacrifice on an iPad: Finding Meaning in Va-yikra

Mar 13, 2013 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Vayikra

I would like to offer three of the many approaches to Va-yikra that might help infuse our reading of the book with meaning beyond flying goats and calves.

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Who Needs Devarim Anyway?

Who Needs Devarim Anyway?

Jul 28, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Devarim

This week’s midrash seeks to answer the question of why Moses needed to retell the entire Torah in the book of Devarim.

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Being Guided by Fear

Being Guided by Fear

Jul 7, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Balak

The midrash cited above provides two answers as to why Balak, the king of Moab, would send out the prophet Balaam to curse the Israelites. Both answers state fear as the emotion that provokes the desire to curse the Israelites, but they differ in identifying the root cause of the fear.

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Radiating God’s Light

Radiating God’s Light

Jun 9, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Beha'alotekha

This empowering message suggests that what brings God’s presence into the world is not miracles, or even the exercising of the divine will, but rather the careful crafting of holy objects and holy spaces so that their light is able to reflect outward, transforming the dark cracks and crevasses of the world with soft and sacred light.

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Cultivating Gratitude

Cultivating Gratitude

May 12, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Emor

According to the rabbinic imagination described in this midrash, the messianic era will not be accompanied by a full return of the Temple service and various sacrifices described in this week’s parashah. Rather, in the opinion of Rabbi Menachem of the Galilee, in the messianic era no act of sacrifice will be practiced, save the thanksgiving offering. This vision of a future, idealized religious practice is a little surprising.

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Freedom As Process

Freedom As Process

Apr 14, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Pesah

The last days of Passover take on a relaxed feel for me. With the cleaning done, the four cups of wine, Hillel sandwiches, and bitter herbs a distant memory, I tend to focus on the remaining festival days and the visions of fully leavened bread that are inclined to pop into my head. The midrash above, based on the Torah reading for the seventh day of Passover, creates a sharp contrast to this feeling of relaxation and matzah saturation.

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Consumption with Humility

Consumption with Humility

Mar 17, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Pekudei | Vayak-hel

“You are what you eat,” as the old adage goes—but according to this midrash, you are also what you build, or more precisely, you are how you build.

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Debtors to God

Debtors to God

Feb 18, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Mishpatim

This week’s midrash provides a striking metaphor for the nature of our existence in the world. Like the destitute person who has given his only garment as collateral on a loan, we are often destitute in our moral stature. We make mistakes, error, and sin. According to the midrash, every evening God takes our souls as we sleep as collateral for the spiritual debts we owe. And every morning, in spite of our failings, our souls are returned to us.

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“One Good Thing about Music…”

“One Good Thing about Music…”

Feb 4, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Beshallah

One good thing about music: when it hits you, you feel no pain.” So opens Bob Marley’s reggae anthem “Trenchtown Rock.” This lyric cuts to the heart of music’s awesome power to transform one’s state of being. Music can touch something deep inside of us, can make us feel. Melodies express complex, even contradictory, emotions and ideas; they can soothe pain with joy, while adding feelings of loss or nostalgia. This emotive power of music stands at the center of this week’s Torah portion, Beshallah.

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The Doubtful Path to God

The Doubtful Path to God

Jan 21, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Va'era

Parashat Va-era opens with a dejected and depressed Moses, crestfallen after an unfruitful encounter with Pharaoh. From the text it seems that Moses had expected the redemption of the Children of Israel to be a quick in-and-out operation, leading to his dismay when the full extent of his mission became clear. This first verse of the parashah, which our midrash builds upon, forms a kind of pep talk from God to Moses, with the Divine trying to reinvigorate and restore faith to God’s servant.

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Why There Is Suffering

Why There Is Suffering

Dec 24, 2011 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Miketz | Hanukkah

Who among us has not experienced suffering? After all, loss, sadness, and struggle are as much a part of life as joy, happiness, and triumph. This is as apparent in the emotional arc of Joseph and his family in parashat Miketz as it is in life’s experience.

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Torah As Water

Torah As Water

Nov 26, 2011 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Toledot

The metaphor of Torah as water has always resonated with me. With Torah as water, the idea of learning, engaging with, and living through our sacred texts comes into focus. Just as we cannot live for long without water, so too will our lives become desiccated and empty without the study of Torah.

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Small Crimes, Big Punishment

Small Crimes, Big Punishment

Oct 29, 2011 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Noah

This week’s midrash has a rather shocking answer to the question of why the world deserved to be wiped out in the days of Noah.

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The Gift of Change

The Gift of Change

Oct 1, 2011 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Yom Kippur

What in this world is set in stone, and what can be changed? As the seasons shift and we approach Yom Kippur, these questions become more relevant, more powerful. It is these questions that this week’s midrash seeks to answer.

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