JTS Torah Commentary

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.

The Last Day of Passover

Apr 14, 2012 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Pesah

Of all the extra festival days that we celebrate in Diaspora (yom tov sheni shel galuyot), perhaps the most irksome is the eighth day of Pesah. The second day of Sukkot adds to the delight of the holiday when the weather cooperates; the second day of Shemini Atzeret brings us the joy of Simhat Torah as a day unto itself. Even the second seder has its pleasures, except perhaps for those who have to prepare the meal and clean up afterward. But the eighth day of Pesah? Enough already! Bring on the pizza and pasta.

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.

The Exodus and Einstein

Apr 7, 2012 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Pesah

As we gather to celebrate Passover this week, the attempts of all those who seek to prove or disprove the Children of Israel’s exodus from Egypt seem to surface anew. Applying the rigors of science to religion is no new endeavor for Judaism. In each generation—a theme these days—there are those who have attempted to reconcile Truths. How could the Torah’s version of history agree with the Truth that we know from philosophy or science?

Swallowed in the Ground

Apr 7, 2012 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Pesah

Swallowed in the ground,
Saved from forces stronger than ourselves,
Hooves over our heads.
A miracle occurred.

For Our Students

Mar 31, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol

I got valuable help this year in writing my annual Shabbat Hagadol message to teens and 20-somethings from six teens and 20-somethings who are studying at The Jewish Theological Seminary’s Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies.

Sacrifices Seen Through Love and Law

Mar 31, 2012 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Pesah

Every year, the weeks during which the Torah portions of Leviticus are read, many Jews complain about the challenge of finding interest or meaning in such esoteric material. I, myself, also struggle to engage deeply with these texts when I forget that even our ancient Sages felt the need to bolster the relevance of these laws, which largely became defunct after the Second Temple was destroyed.

How Now, Brown Cow?

Mar 17, 2012 By Leonard A. Sharzer | Commentary | Pekudei | Shabbat Parah | Vayak-hel

I would like to review several components of the Red Heifer ritual that I find most challenging and ask two questions: (1) Is there any way to understand this arcane ritual that has resonance in modern times?; and (2) Why do we read this passage shortly before Pesah?

A Threefold Method of Biblical Interpretation

Mar 3, 2012 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Shabbat Zakhor | Tetzavveh

Why are these two seemingly unrelated matters—the law against harboring dishonest weights, on the one hand, and the exhortation to “remember” Amalek’s treachery, on the other—juxtaposed?

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.

The Whimsy, Confusion, and Hope of Purim

Feb 11, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Purim

Purim is probably the most confusing of all Jewish holidays.

Tears for the Temples

Dec 31, 2011 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Hanukkah

Reading this makes me think of the breaking of the glass during a Jewish wedding ceremony. In a moment of sheer joy at the marriage, we break a glass to remember the Temple and that our joy cannot be complete in light of its destruction. Here, too, the Rabbis imagine, Joseph and Benjamin cannot fully enjoy their moment with the foreknowledge that the Temples will be destroyed.

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.

Work Transforming into Joy

Oct 14, 2011 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Sukkot

In my mind’s eye, I maintain quite an idealized image of Sukkot. I imagine a beautiful sukkah, resting on a lush green lawn, surrounded by trees not quite yet at the peak of autumn. I sit with my family and friends, leisurely enjoying a delicious meal (which appears magically, costs nothing, and requires no cleanup), under a radiant blue sky during the day and a glittering canopy of stars at night. The tension between ideal and real: exactly where we should be, four days after Yom Kippur.

The Prosecuting Angel

Oct 8, 2011 By David Levy | Commentary | Yom Kippur

Leviticus 16:33

And he shall make atonement for the most holy place, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

The Gift of Anxiety and Dread

Oct 8, 2011 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Yom Kippur

About a year ago, I had a conversation with a friend in which he described the way he had experienced his life to that point. He said it felt as if he were a passenger on a train, and that being on a train meant there was a set destination and stops along the way, and absolutely no deviation from the proscribed course. It wasn’t that he was unhappy with the direction; it wasn’t that he regretted any stop he had made along the way. What bothered him was a particular moment of realization: he wasn’t sure what was driving the engines or even if he wanted to continue on that particular track.

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.

A Call for Hope

Sep 10, 2011 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah

In the face of a litany of personal, societal, and global woes that has seemed particularly long this year; in the face of our nation’s inability to shake the economy loose or defeat our enemies or work together despite our differences, the Jewish calendar insists there is something new in store—or that there can be, if we together do as the Torah commands.

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.

The Origins of a Nation

Apr 23, 2011 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Pesah

As we set our tables and prepare for our seders, we cannot help but hear the echoes of our journey from persecution to freedom amplified in the headlines. Our holiday of Hodesh Ha’aviv—the “Month of the Spring”—comes at a time when the ripple effects of what has been dubbed the Arab Spring are just beginning to be felt.