A Palace in Flames

A Palace in Flames

Oct 27, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Lekh Lekha

What inspires one to leave home, to embrace mystery, to seek insight into the nature of our world? 

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Choosing Love and Life

Choosing Love and Life

Jul 14, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Pinehas | Tishah Be'av

Every summer I find striking the juxtaposition of Parashat Pinhas with its place in our calendar. This portion either soon follows (as it does this year) or immediately precedes 17 Tammuz. We always read the complete description of the biblical holidays’ offerings with the calamities listed above also in mind. This litany of misfortunes does not only include those related to the end of Temple-based worship; it also locates within the Torah the origin of each of these infamous dates observed as fast days. Those interpretations teach a deeper lesson about Jewish unity when considered with this week’s Torah portion and current events.

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Sprinkling Salt on the Challah

Sprinkling Salt on the Challah

Jun 23, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study

The midrash above gives added context to the way that Judaism continually makes mundane moments and objects into opportunities for experiencing our sense of holiness, ultimate meaning, and purpose as Jews.

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Transactional and Transformational Leadership

Transactional and Transformational Leadership

Jun 9, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

A close reading of Numbers 11 offers insights into the tensions that leaders today face in balancing the demands of self-interest with higher ideals for advancing the greater good.

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Sacred Schlepping

Sacred Schlepping

May 26, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Naso

Since making the transition from JTS student to JTS staff three years ago, I have regularly told my students and donors how a debt of gratitude to my alma mater fuels what I do now.

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Authentic Judaism

Authentic Judaism

Apr 28, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Metzora | Tazria

Many modern Jews have declared the opening verses of this week’s Torah portion not just arcane, but misogynist. Indeed, the laws regarding postpartum impurity emerge from a priestly world of sacrifices and distinctions that seems distant today. Our ancient Sages, however, radically reinterpreted that passage and the creation of humanity in Genesis with playful translations that provide an opening for insights into the origins of gender.

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Remembering to Forget

Remembering to Forget

Mar 3, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Shabbat Zakhor

How does one recall something that we are ultimately supposed to forget? That is one of the great paradoxes found in the Torah reading for Shabbat Zakhor and later reflected in a rabbinic tradition that stems from the midrash above.

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The Resiliency and Faith of Youth

The Resiliency and Faith of Youth

Feb 11, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Yitro

Why do bad things happen to good people?

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A Deathbed Blessing

A Deathbed Blessing

Jan 7, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Vayehi

This midrash about Jacob’s deathbed scene presents ancient rabbinic wisdom about mortality based on insights from key passages in the Hebrew Bible. By presenting biblical metaphors alongside our patriarchs’ experiences of dying, the text above teaches us to accept our limited lifetimes by acknowledging an uncomfortable reality.

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A Painful Embrace

A Painful Embrace

Dec 10, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Vayishlah

Rarely do I find a midrash like the one above that reflects love and hate, admiration and anger, in a single passage about how Jews relate to Christians. While the two rabbis quoted here agree that a peculiar scribal feature is crucial to understanding Jacob and Esau’s reunion, they fundamentally disagree about what that detail signifies.

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Sustaining Our Hearts

Sustaining Our Hearts

Nov 12, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Vayera

On its face, this midrash may seem to state the obvious: that eating bread gives one energy. After all, a look at our food packaging today reveals the ingredients and nutrients contained in any given product. This text, however, teaches that not all nourishment comes in physical form. The deceptively simple statement that “bread strengthens the heart” and the prooftexts that follow it actually provide a subtle commentary to the notion that “man does not live on bread alone” (Deut. 8:3); indeed, we derive sustenance at least as much from our gratitude for the company we keep and for the blessing of hospitality.

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The Universal and Particular Nature of Creation

The Universal and Particular Nature of Creation

Oct 22, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Bereishit

Shortly after Rosh Hashanah this year, Jewish extremists torched a mosque in an Arab-Israeli village in the Galilee, damaging the building and destroying its holy books. Two days later, a rabbinic statement condemning this desecration of a house of worship on Israeli soil garnered the signatures of more than a thousand rabbis of all denominations within 36 hours of the document’s publication. One of my former JTS classmates, however, explained with great disappointment why he did not add his name to this effort.

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Between Hope and Doubt

Between Hope and Doubt

Oct 15, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Sukkot

After the High Holy Days, I sometimes feel torn between feelings of hope and feelings of doubt regarding humanity’s prospects for improvement. At the very least, it helps me to know that our ancient Sages understood this emotional tension.

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Call and Response

Call and Response

Sep 17, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Ki Tavo

While many know that a debate over the role of Hebrew in prayer led to the birth of Conservative Judaism, fewer realize that this question actually first arose with our ancient Sages 2,000 years ago.

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The Roots of Our Ideals

The Roots of Our Ideals

Sep 3, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Shofetim

“Peacetime” may seem today like a distant memory, yet ancient texts like the midrash above show how far we have advanced from the conflicts of biblical times. If our Sages could express that insight in their generation (nearly two millennia ago and just centuries after Israel conquered Canaan), it behooves us to appreciate how our Torah has inspired us and our non-Jewish allies to pursue peace in this global age.

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When is Fear Positive?

When is Fear Positive?

Aug 20, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Eikev

Fears of crisis have filled the news this summer: political gridlock and epic heat waves here in the United States; economic woes on this continent, as well as across Europe; riots in Great Britain; the massacre in Norway; and social upheaval continuing across North Africa and the Middle East.

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Confronting Our Own Shortcomings

Confronting Our Own Shortcomings

Aug 9, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Tishah Be'av

It may sound strange that I look forward every summer to observing Tish’ah Be’Av. The saddest day on the Hebrew calendar is also the one I have found most consistently meaningful since my teenage years.

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God is Gracious, Not Angry

God is Gracious, Not Angry

Jul 9, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Balak

So much for fire and brimstone!

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The Deeper Meaning of Sacredness

The Deeper Meaning of Sacredness

Jun 25, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Korah

The antagonist of this week’s Torah portion rises and falls, according to the midrash above, when the logical fallacies in his argument reveal his true intentions. Korah, leading a revolt against Moses and Aaron, challenges the brothers’ leadership as detached from the Israelite people.

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The Idolatry of Stasis

The Idolatry of Stasis

Jun 11, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Beha'alotekha

Only in Hebrew leap years does Shavu’ot coincide with Parashat Beha’alotekha, but every day we are faced with the challenges that this midrash addresses.

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