Search Results
Back to JTS Torah Online's Main page
Fruits of the Land, Song of the Soil
Dec 12, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Miketz | Hanukkah
The Joseph narrative continues its dramatic twists and turns as Joseph, through his talented dream interpretations, rises to become the second most powerful figure in the land of Egypt.
Read More
Angels of Peace
Nov 27, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayishlah
This week’s parashah opens with the rising tension between Jacob and Esau.
Read More
Breaking Routine to Encounter God
Nov 21, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayetzei
With the threat of fratricide hanging over his head and in light of his parents’ wish, Jacob makes a quick exit from Beersheba and heads toward Haran, where he will presumably find a loving and loyal wife.
Read More
Wellsprings of Hope
Nov 14, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Toledot
As famine envelops the Land of Israel, Isaac seeks refuge in the territory of the Philistines.
Read More
From Suspense to Sensitivity
Nov 7, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
Immediately after the drama of the binding of Isaac, we read Parashat Hayyei Sarah. Why the juxtaposition of these two parashiyot?
Read More
Planting Trees, Planting Hesed
Oct 31, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayera
Just after the expulsion of Hagar and immediately before the binding of Isaac, a curious and somewhat cryptic episode appears in Genesis 21.
Read More
Abram’s Trek, a Journey of Generations
Oct 24, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
At the opening of this week’s parashah, Abram, the nascent visionary and patriarch of the Israelites, is given the divine command to separate from all that is known and familiar.
Read More
A Tiny Point of Hope
Oct 17, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Noah
Unrelenting human wickedness leads to the collapse of humanity and the world.
Read More
The Myths of Creation
Oct 12, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit
With the celebration of this coming Shabbat, we return to the beginning—specifically, to the narrative of Creation.
Read More
Moses’s Final Words
Oct 6, 2012 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Simhat Torah
As we approach the end of the Five Books of Moses with our celebration of Simhat Torah, we arrive at Parashat Vezot Haberakhah.
Read More
Creation and Good Health
Oct 22, 2011 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit | Simhat Torah
With this week’s celebration of Simhat Torah and Shabbat Bereishit, we return to the very beginning of Torah as we read anew the narratives of Creation, the Garden of Eden, and the tragedy of Cain and Abel.
Read More
Parashat Shemini’s Lessons of Leadership
Mar 26, 2011 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Shemini
Parashat Shemini provides a stark example of celebration suddenly transformed into mourning. Having completed the building of the Tabernacle and set the foundation for divinely ordained sacrifices, the Israelites are ready to offer the first sacrifice celebrating the inauguration of Israel’s priesthood. The celebration, however, is tragically interrupted by the deaths of Aaron’s eldest sons, Nadav and Avihu. What makes their ending even more shocking is that their downfall comes while they are performing their priestly deeds. How are we to understand this fateful episode, and what does this tragic mishap teach us about leadership?
Read More
Woody Allen’s Torah
Oct 12, 2010 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Lekh Lekha
The brilliance of Allen’s film arises from his portrayal of the ethical corruption of each of his characters and the extent to which he plays on the sense of sight. Ironically, the ophthalmologist, who specializes in physical sight, is corrupted by ethical blindness, while the rabbi, who represents morality, is physically going blind. Indeed, the juxtaposition of sight and insight figure prominently in both Allen’s film and this week’s parashah, Lekh Lekha. By focusing our exegetical lenses on the parting of ways between Avram and Lot (Gen. 13), we discover not only a physical separation between the two characters, but also a spiritual and ethical divide that cuts to the very core of their world views.
Read More
Mastery or Care?
Oct 2, 2010 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Bereishit
This coming Shabbat, we return to the beginning of the Torah with Parashat Bereishit.
Read More
Our Individual Responsibility to the Community
Mar 20, 2010 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayikra
Four months ago, an Orthodox rabbi here in Israel made headlines by urging his yeshiva students to resist any orders to evacuate settlements in the West Bank. In his book entitled Revivim, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed writes, “a simple halakhah is that it is forbidden for any person, whether a soldier or an officer, to participate in the strictly forbidden act of expelling Jews from their homes and handing over any portion of the Land of Israel to enemies . . . Those who violate this violate several commandments of Torah” (Ha’aretz, November 18, 2009). Rabbi Melamed’s directives rightfully caused a stir in all segments of Israeli society.
Read More
Sanctifying Our Days
Aug 22, 2009 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Shofetim | Rosh Hashanah
What constitutes a life well-lived, a life of blessing, a life lived to its fullest? With this week marking Rosh Hodesh, the beginning of a new month, we pray for God to renew our lives in the coming month: “Grant us a long life, a peaceful life with goodness and blessing, sustenance and physical vitality, a life informed by purity and piety . . . a life of abundance and honor, a life embracing piety and love of Torah, a life in which our heart’s desires for goodness will be fulfilled” (Birkat HaHodesh). This Rosh Hodesh offers us a particularly auspicious moment to dwell upon this question of a life well-lived, for this week marks the beginning of Elul—a month in which we are encouraged to take a heshbon ha-nefesh, an accounting of our souls. At its essence, this idea demands that we look inward and become critical of ourselves and the year that has passed. This week’s parashah, Shof’tim, gives us one definition of a life of blessing that we can use in evaluating where we have come from and where we are going.
Read More
Developing True Leadership
May 9, 2009 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Emor
Ten years ago, when I began teaching for The Jewish Theological Seminary, I had the honor of teaching in the office of a prominent New York businessman who would go on to become a political visionary and leader. When I was introduced to this executive as “Rabbi” Matthew Berkowitz, he responded by wagging his finger at me, remarking, “You people [read: clergy] are responsible for every conflict in this world.” Though taken aback by his opening salvo, I composed myself and responded, “With all due respect, the problem is not the message but the messenger; and you have yet to meet a good messenger.” While I was proud of my comeback, I also understood the rationale and frustration underlying his comment.
Read More
The Ways God Leads Us
Jun 14, 2008 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Beha'alotekha
Abraham Joshua Heschel writes eloquently that the supreme aspiration of religion is to inspire each one of us, in the words of the psalmist, “to lift up your eyes and see.”
Read More
Calling Out
Mar 24, 2007 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayikra
This week represents new beginnings in the Jewish calendar. We welcomed the month of Nisan in which we celebrate our birth as a people and a nation; and this week we begin a new book of Torah, Leviticus, or in Hebrew, Va–yikra.. More than the significance of this liminal moment is the extent to which the notion of relationship locates itself at the core of both of these events. In so many ways, Nisan celebrates the relationship of God and Israel — God’s act of covenantal fulfillment and hesed in taking the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. And similarly, the Book of Leviticus opens with a curious commentary on relationships — specifically, the relationship between God and Moses.
Read More
Actions with Consequences
Mar 10, 2007 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ki Tissa
The Second Book of Samuel 12 is home to one of the most disturbing episodes of Tanakh. After King David’s reckless encounter with Batsheva and the murder of Uriah the Hittite, Nathan the prophet is sent by God to rebuke David. Nathan speaks in a biting metaphor, leading David in the direction of seeing himself as the guilty party of the parable. And just as Nathan concludes his story, he points his finger at David — informing David of his punishment: the sword will forever plague his household. What becomes shocking, though, is not the punishment that devolves on the shoulders of David, but rather the tragic end to the offspring of David and Batsheva.
Read More
SUBSCRIBE TO TORAH FROM JTS
Our regular commentaries and videos are a great way to stay intellectually and spiritually engaged with Jewish thought and wisdom.