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Back to JTS Torah Online's Main page“I Will Go to the Mountain of Myrrh”
Apr 10, 2015 By Barbara Mann | Commentary | Pesah
The Song of Songs is an essential text for modern Hebrew culture, and was perhaps the most beloved biblical book of modernist authors such as S. Y. Agnon and artists such as Ze’ev Raban (1890–1970). Hebrew fiction writers and poets in Palestine in the interwar period plumbed the Song for its extensive lexicon describing the body and the landscape, and its sensitive depiction of psychological and sexual drama. Their modern descriptions of the land before them were often rendered in terms that recalled the erotic interiors and pastoral domain of the Song. Raban taught at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, and his Jugendstil (German Art Nouveau) illustrations of the Song of Songs (1923) are an exemplary cultural product of their time.
Read MoreMiriam’s Song and the Role of Music in Prayer
Apr 10, 2015 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Pesah
After the sea was parted and the Israelites were rescued from the pursuing Egyptians, Moses and the children of Israel sang the Song of the Sea, praising God for having saved them. Following the conclusion of the song, the Torah relates that Miriam, leading the women, sang as well. What prompted Miriam and the women to rejoice with song, instrumental music and dance?
Read More“Echad Mi Yodea” (“Who Knows One?”)
Apr 2, 2015 By Sarah Diamant | Commentary | Pesah
“Echad Mi Yodea” is a traditional cumulative-number song found in the Haggadah. Each verse circles back to the Oneness of God.
Read MoreThe Telling
Apr 2, 2015 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Pesah
This Friday evening we will gather with family and friends. We will sit down to beautifully set tables, and each of us will open one of the most popular and well-known of Hebrew books—the Haggadah. The name of the book comes from the Hebrew verb lehagid (“to tell”), and if we were to translate “haggadah” into English, it would be “the telling.” Not surprisingly, the core of the Haggadah is the section called maggid, a word that also derives from the Hebrew root meaning “to tell.” Clearly these two forms of the verb lehagid communicate the centrality of the activity of “telling” on this night. But here things become less clear.
Read MoreThe Four Parents
Mar 27, 2015 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol | Pesah
Let’s think for a moment, inspired by one of the seder’s most famous passages, about the four kinds of parents who are found around the seder table: wise, wicked, innocent, and not knowing how to ask.
Read MoreThe Meaning of the Shmurah Matzah
Apr 18, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Pesah
One of the centerpieces of seder night is the eating of matzah, the unleavened bread.
Read More“This Year We Are Slaves”: How and Why Do We Celebrate Freedom in the Face of Oppression?
Apr 18, 2014 By Eliezer B. Diamond | Commentary | Pesah
What does it mean to celebrate Passover in the shadow of death?
Read MorePreparing for Seder Part 3—Visual Midrash on the Four Children
Apr 11, 2014 By Samuel Barth | Commentary | Pesah
The four children (formerly known as the four sons) are among the most provocative part of the seder—for children provoke their parents. That is why Elijah is needed to restore peace between the generations. The evolution of the text as we find it in our Haggadah is complex, and interesting explanations can be found in the recent JTS collection of Sound Bytes of Torah for Passover on YouTube. I have long been fascinated by the interpretation in imagery that offers four books, presumably each book representing one of the four “types” of child. But which one is which?
Read MoreFor Millennials and Their Families
Apr 10, 2014 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol | Pesah
I gathered six students from JTS’s undergraduate Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies in my office last week to talk about the ways in which family dynamics add meaning—and tension—to family Passover seders. I wanted to find out how these dynamics play out at the seders of my students, and share their insights with you here—millennials and college students, teens and tweens—in the hope that our discussion about the holiday will enrich yours.
Read MoreMen And Women: In The Kitchen And At The Seder
Apr 8, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Short Video | Pesah
Read MoreThe Right Answers For The Wrong Questions
Apr 8, 2014 By Julia Andelman | Short Video | Pesah
Read MoreWhy Is This Historic Event Different From All Other Historic Events?
Apr 8, 2014 By Burton L. Visotzky | Short Video | Pesah
Read MoreThe Bitter Truth
Apr 8, 2014 By David C. Kraemer | Short Video | Pesah
This short video details the history of maror and suggests the possibility of a maror tasting to reflect on what best symbolizes slavery at a seder.
Read MoreElijah’s Cup: A Time For Family Reunion
Apr 8, 2014 By Daniel Nevins | Short Video | Pesah
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