JTS Torah Commentary

The Journey or the Destination?

Aug 5, 2016 By Anna Serviansky | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

Life’s like a road that you travel on
When there’s one day here and the next day gone .  .  .

Life is a highway
I want to ride it all night long
If you’re going my way
I want to drive it all night long

A New Rabbi in 17th-Century Italy

Jul 29, 2016 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Pinehas

Reminded that he will not be permitted to lead the people into the Land of Israel, Moses asks God to appoint a successor for him. God instructs Moses:

Single out Joshua son of Nun, an inspired man, and lay your hand upon him. Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission him in their sight. Invest him with some of your authority, so that the whole Israelite community may obey. (Num. 27:18–20)

Baalam’s Tents

Jul 22, 2016 By Lilly Kaufman | Commentary | Balak

Tell me, where can I go today to see a deeply good community? How will I know it when I see it? Where can I go today and exclaim, Mah tovu?

Dreaming of Being Balaam

Jul 22, 2016 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Balak

The story of the heathen prophet Balaam—hired by Moabite king Balak ben Tzippor to curse the people Israel—is altogether strange. It concerns events happening outside the Israelite camp and seemingly unknown to them, characters we’ve not yet met, and a talking donkey. Its tone ranges from burlesquely funny to surreal.

Courses of Grief

Jul 15, 2016 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Hukkat

Bereft, I combed through the grass in Central Park at dusk when I realized I had lost my late husband’s house keys. Yes, on some level, I knew it wasn’t about the keys. His sudden death two months earlier had devastated me in much more profound ways. And yet, I felt desperate to find those keys!

Come and Knock on a Rock

Jul 15, 2016 By Jonathan Lerner | Commentary | Hukkat

John Ritter was ready for a change. “At the beginning of the seventh season [of Three’s Company], the stuff about the three of us scrambling around for rent money was starting to get repetitive. . . . They had an episode about hiding a dog from Mr. Roper in the beginning [during season one] and then they had one about hiding a cat from Mr. Furley near the end [during season eight]. . . . That’s when I knew it was time to move on.”

—Come and Knock on Our Door: A Hers and Hers and His Guide to Three’s Company, by Chris Mann 

Choosing Your Child?

Jul 8, 2016 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Korah

“Which do you prefer—your firstborn child, or the five coins required to redeem him?”

This disconcerting question is part of the ritual known as pidyon haben, the redemption of the firstborn son. Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel (13th–14th centuries) reports this question as part of the liturgy from the geonic period in his Talmud commentary, and it is duly repeated by his son Rabbi Yakov ben Asher and later codifiers of Jewish law.

All–Shall Be–Holy

Jul 8, 2016 By Louis Polisson | Commentary | Korah

Then he took
Perhaps that was the problem
That he took
And didn’t give

The Gift of Hallah

Jul 1, 2016 By Reuven Greenvald | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

If you’re a hallah baker, like I am, you know that all your measuring, kneading, and hours of checking on rising dough are totally worth it when, after the hamotzi at the Shabbat table, your family and friends let out a collective “aaah.” When that fluffy, sweet piece of bread melts in their mouths, they know it’s really shabbes.

At the Threshold

Jul 1, 2016 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

In this week’s parashah, the Israelites stand at the boundary of the Land of Israel—with all its potential for religious and national destiny and for physical danger—considering whether or not to enter. During the spring 2016 semester, JTS’s own entrance was the location of an art installation by Silvio Wolf, who uses moving images, still projections, light, and sound to engage the history and symbolism of specific venues.

An All-Too-Easy Transgression

Jun 24, 2016 By Leonard A. Sharzer | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

The concluding episode of this week’s parashah is one of the most well-known and intriguing stories in the Torah, that of Miriam and Aaron publicly maligning Moses and the consequences thereof. The basic elements of the narrative (Num. 12:1–16) are these: Miriam and Aaron speak out against Moses regarding the Cushite woman he has married, and complain that he is not the only prophet in the family. God has spoken through the two of them, as well. God hears all of this. 

Notifications Now and Then

Jun 24, 2016 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

How often do we hear this sound, or feel the vibrations of a mobile device demanding our attention? Breaking news, emails, traffic, and game updates—alerts both trivial and critical are brought to us by beeps, bars of music, and buzzes.

Answer Me

Jun 17, 2016 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Naso

In a plaintive and anxious song by Israeli singer Ehud Banai called “Aneh Li” (“Answer Me”), the challenge of communicating with God is rendered as an increasingly panicked monologue by a man waiting for a voice he’s sure is on the other end of the phone line:

You’re breaking up—there’s background noise—it’s like the ocean.
I guess there’s no reception here—you’ve disappeared.
I’m still waiting on the line for my turn.
I’m holding the connection, in case you return . . .
Are you still with me?
Answer me.

Light Shine Through

Jun 17, 2016 By Danielle Upbin | Commentary | Naso

We are Hollow Bamboo
Open up your heart and let the light shine through
Light shine, light shine through!
Light shine, light shine through

The Still, Small Voice

Jun 10, 2016 By Sam Blustin | Commentary | Shavuot

In 1 Kings 19, Elijah experiences a divine intervention: an angel brings him food, and then, on Mount Sinai, God passes by him. But God was not in the wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire, but “the still, small voice.” This chapter includes allusions to other moments of divine revelation, which we highlighted in this song, including the giving of the Torah.

Behukkotai’s Challenge to Us

Jun 4, 2016 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Behukkotai

Blessing comes to fruition through journey. The journey may be as simple as lighting Shabbat candles or it may be as complicated as leaving the comfort of one’s home to discover new worlds. Either way, that which is familiar is left behind, and a new reality challenges one to grow and thus to earn God’s blessing. Such is the challenge of this week’s parashah.

Making Space for New Grain

Jun 4, 2016 By Ofra Arieli Backenroth | Commentary | Behukkotai

Naomi Shemer, one of the most famous songwriters and performers in Israel, is known for her thoughtful songs that touch upon universal themes. In this song, she speaks about the need for rejuvenation. Every morning is an opportunity for a new experience. As successful as our days might be, there is always a need to go back to the beginning and start again.

Facing Our Past and Looking Toward the Future

May 27, 2016 By Michal Raucher | Commentary | Behar

Recently, the US Treasury Department announced that Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States, on the $20 bill. Tubman was born as a slave around 1820, ran away in 1849, and returned south repeatedly to usher more than 300 slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad. Her selection for the $20 bill is exciting news, because Tubman will be the first African American and the first woman to appear on federal paper currency. Women and civil rights leaders will be added to the $5 and $10 bills in the coming years, as well. While these changes are long overdue, the question is whether this change is merely symbolic or a further step toward acknowledging our nation’s ugly history of slavery. 

How Many Harvests

May 27, 2016 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Behar

In its radical reframing of our right to claim ownership of anything and anyone, Parashat Behar sets our mortality against God’s eternality, and our contingent lease to the Land against God’s permanent deed: “The Land must not be sold beyond reclaim, for the Land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me” (Lev. 25:23).

The Blasphemer’s Twin

May 20, 2016 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Emor

This week’s parashah ends with a sin:

וַיִּקֹּב בֶּן-הָאִשָּׁה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית אֶת-הַשֵּׁם וַיְקַלֵּל.

The son of the Israelite woman pronounced the name [of God] and cursed. (Lev. 24:11)

Maybe we don’t need to overthink why a law code seen as given by God would determine that cursing God is problematic, but how severe a crime is this? Evidently, Moses was uncertain: the culprit was detained while Moses checked in with God (Lev. 24:12). Perhaps the negative consequence of this act seems unclear. After all, what harm can possibly come to God through human words?