JTS Torah Commentary

Cultivating an Ethic of Responsibility

Dec 18, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash

Jewish history unfolds as a dialectic between exile and homeland.

What’s in a Name

Dec 11, 2004 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Miketz

Names and titles speak to our very essence. This truism becomes all the more clear as we explore Parashat Miketz.

Sources of Comfort

Dec 10, 2004 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Vayehi

Some things, it seems, are not just coincidences. As I write these words, I am still in the sheloshim – the 30 day mourning period – for my 38-year-old brother Jonathan, who died suddenly of a massive heart attack. And our parasha deals with the end of the life of Jacob, who, though he lived one hundred and forty-seven years, described his “years of sojourn” on earth as “few and hard.” (Genesis 47:9)

Varieties of Devotion

Dec 4, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayeshev

This past week, my two-and-a-half year old granddaughter spotted me one morning davening by the window in our living room. She recognized the telltale signs of the act, my tallit and tefillin. Spontaneously, she announced her intention to daven also, took herself over to the drawer where we keep some old JTS benchers (small grace books), removed one, and proceeded to strut about with the bencher in her face. Later, I found the bencher on the floor in another room, but for a few tender moments at least, I had a precious soul mate in greeting God that morning.

Permanence in a Land of Impermanence

Dec 4, 2004 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayeshev

Conversion: Then and Now

Nov 27, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayishlah

During my recent visit to Israel, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision of great import on the subject of conversion.

Rebecca’s Veil of Independence

Nov 22, 2004 By Lauren Eichler Berkun | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

In a traditional Jewish wedding, there is a beautiful and dramatic ceremony before the chuppah known as the “bedeken” (Yiddish for “veiling”). At this celebratory moment, a groom is escorted with song and dance to meet his bride as he lowers the veil over her face. One popular explanation for the custom of bedeken is that the groom is “checking” (from the Hebrew root b-d-k) to make sure that he is marrying the correct woman. Jacob was tricked by Laban into marrying Leah, instead of Rachel, because she was masked behind a veil. However, the origin of the bedeken, “veiling,” ceremony is found in this week’s Torah portion.

The Evolution of Judaism’s Moral Conscience

Nov 20, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayetzei

Why does Jacob abandon the security of his parents home in Beer-sheba?

Drinking the Waters of Torah

Nov 13, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Toledot

In rabbinic parlance, water stands for Torah.

“A Righteous Person Knows the Needs of His Beast.”

Nov 6, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

This week’s parashah presents us with the first instance of a dating service.

The Past Leading to the Present

Oct 30, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayera

The unusual Hebrew phrase “lekh lekha” occurs only twice in the entire Tanakh: at the beginning of last week’s parasha when God instructs Abraham to leave Haran, and this week, when God asks him to offer up his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice (Genesis 12:1; 22:2).

The Ease of Redemption

Oct 25, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Yom Kippur

The redemption of the world is easier than you think. It starts with you and me.

Abraham: Knight of Many Faiths

Oct 23, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

It is hard to reconcile the glaring gap between promise and fulfillment in the story of Abraham.

The Flood and Creation

Oct 16, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Noah

Midrashim often draw big ideas from the smallest of linguistic anomalies.

What Is a Sukkah, Really?

Sep 30, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Sukkot

During the festival of Sukkot in 1974, while on sabbatical in Israel, the Schorsch family took a trip to Sharm El Sheikh on the Straits of Tiran.

A Nation of Priests

Sep 25, 2004 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Yom Kippur

By Mallory Probert (DS ’05)

This is the way of summer. The earth spins more slowly. Food tastes better. Friends are more engaging. We rediscover the joy of taking afternoon naps during the middle of the week. But then September comes, and it’s dearth of community activities. Perhaps this is the hidden wisdom behind the timing of the Days of Awe – for they occur precisely at the same time as our secular lives resume their frantic pace. 

A World Without Teshuvah

Sep 18, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Ha'azinu | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

The Torah is largely a series of legal texts set in a narrative context. It is not replete with outbursts of poetry. Our poetic sensibility seeks satisfaction elsewhere in the Tanakh – in the passion of the prophets, or the poignancy of the psalmist, or the protest of Job, or in the sensuousness of the Song of Songs. The Torah touches only some of our senses. And yet, it closes in a great poetic flourish. As Moses nears his end, he switches from didactic prose to incandescent poetry.

Lacking Praise

Sep 16, 2004 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah

Hallel, the compilation of psalms recited on Jewish festivals and observances throughout the year, is the quintessential expression of joy.

Shattering Our Idols

Sep 4, 2004 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ki Tavo | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur

Judaism tantalizes the senses with the sights, sounds and fragrant smells that characterize its observance. Rosh Hashanah is certainly one of those times when we are overwhelmed by the richness of Jewish symbolism. At the heart of our New Year observances, however, lies the piercing cry of the shofar. What is the meaning of the shofar? Many explanations have been offered to explain why we blow the shofar during the month of Elul into Rosh Hashanah, and at the close of Yom Kippur. Included in these interpretations are the following: it signifies creation, specifically of the beginning of God’s kingship, it is meant to remind us to hearken to the blasts echoing from God’s revelation at Sinai, it links us to the binding of Isaac since the shofar is a symbol for the ram caught in the thicket by its horns that ultimately is offered to God in place of Isaac; and, that the sharp sound of the shofar is to be understood to be a call to teshuvah, repentance.

Fear or Love?

Sep 4, 2004 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Ki Tavo

By Rabbi Howard Stecker (RS’ 92)

Given the complex nature of religious life, how can we most effectively communicate religious instruction? This question occupies rabbis, educators and parents alike. While the Torah contains no explicit discussion of educational methodology, the attempt to transmit religious teachings goes back to our earliest history and is the central theme of the series of parshiyot before the High Holidays.