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Football’s Spiritual Prowess

Feb 9, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Terumah

It was a demonstration of will; nothing short of unbridled desire to succeed led the Giants to their Superbowl victory over a nearly perfect Patriots team that will be remembered favorably by history.

Nostalgia, Memory and the Building of Judaism

Jan 26, 2008 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Yitro

As is often the case with buildings in Lower Manhattan, 211 Pearl Street was caught in the sights of a developer seeking to level the property and replace it with a grand modern building.

The Power of Collective Prayer

Jan 19, 2008 By Edward Feld | Commentary | Beshallah

There are powerful moments when a community comes together, moments in which each individual feels his or her energy directed to common purpose.

Lighting the Darkness

Jan 11, 2008 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Bo

It’s difficult not to notice darkness at this time of year; so many of us set out for work in the dark and leave our places of business long after the sun has set.

The Lessons of Va-era

Jan 5, 2008 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Va'era

This week’s parashah abounds in venerable theological problems, beginning with its name and opening verses. How could it be that God “appeared” to the ancestors but that some aspect of God—or some truth articulated in God’s name—was not “made known” to them and will be revealed only now, to Moses? The answer that seems most persuasive to me bears a lesson that, like so many others in the Torah, is not so much theological as ethical; it teaches far less about the nature of God than it does about human responsibility.

The Attention Seeking Bush

Dec 29, 2007 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Shemot

A recent collection of one-liners and witticisms entitled 1,003 Great Things About Being Jewishcontains a section called “What Passersby Said About the Burning Bush.”

Jealousy As a Test of Virtue

Dec 14, 2007 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Vayiggash

Gifts can make you crazy. Picking them is hard, and so is accepting them with grace.

Joseph the Righteous One

Dec 1, 2007 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Vayeshev

I have always been deeply curious as to why—of all the characters in the Torah—the Rabbis attributed to Joseph the appellation, “ha-Tzadik” (the righteous).

Jacob’s Struggle Is Our Struggle

Nov 24, 2007 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Vayishlah

“In olden times when wishing still helped, there lived a king whose daughters were all beautiful, but the youngest was so beautiful that the sun itself, which was seen so much, was astonished whenever it shone in her face.”

Blessings From a Deathbed

Nov 22, 2007 By Charles Savenor | Commentary | Vayehi

Laying on his deathbed, Jacob beckons for his grandchildren, Ephraim and Manasseh.

Why Are We Called the People of Israel?

Nov 17, 2007 By Edward Feld | Commentary | Vayetzei

We are called not the People Abraham, nor the People Isaac, rather we are called the People Israel, named for the third of the patriarchal family, Jacob.

Poor Isaac

Nov 7, 2007 By David M. Ackerman | Commentary | Toledot

Poor Isaac; wedged between “exemplary” Abraham and “vivid” Jacob, he exhibits very little personality of his own.

The Wisdom of the Wilderness

Nov 3, 2007 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah

When I lived in Seattle, I set aside one day each summer to visit Mount Rainier National Park and hike some trails there.

Subverting Abraham As a Knight of Faith

Oct 26, 2007 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Vayera

In a world in which so much violence and pain are caused in the name of religion, how can we read the story of “the Binding of Isaac” as anything but what Phyllis Trible would call a “text of terror”?

Why the Jews?

Oct 21, 2007 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Noah

Why did the Creator of all humanity decide upon the surprising step of establishing a special relationship with one small segment of humanity?

The Many Qualities of Abram

Oct 12, 2007 By Daniel Nevins | Commentary | Lekh Lekha

Abram in the light; Abram in the dark. Abram with men at war; Abram with women at war.

Making Meaning From Chaos

Oct 5, 2007 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Bereishit

The opening words of B’reishit are exhilarating. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

Normalcy and Covenant

May 19, 2007 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Bemidbar

Numbers always stands in pointed contrast to Leviticus. The overarching order of the book of the Torah that we have just completed — the routines of sacrifice, the hierarchies of priesthood, the distinctions between purity and pollution, permitted and forbidden — all this soon gives way to B’midbar, “in the wilderness,” to challenges of a different sort. The book starts by counting the people and arranging the camp for travel. But soon, we know, all those counted will be held responsible for the spies’ rebellion. Moses’ cousin Korah will attempt insurrection. The camp will wander without hope of reaching the Promised Land. We turn from Leviticus to Numbers, aware that the real world awaits us there: the one in desperate need of sacred order. We, like the Israelites, clearly have a lot to learn,

In the Wake of Tragedy

Apr 28, 2007 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

In the immediate wake of tragedy, our response is appropriately silence. Aaron movingly illustrated this in the parashah from two weeks ago after he lost his sons, Nadav and Avihu. Following their shocking deaths, the Torah records Aaron’s response to Moses’ attempt at consolation simply as, “and Aaron was silent” (Leviticus 10:3). We cannot begin to imagine the sense of loss and disbelief that radiated from the depths of his soul when he learned his sons were destroyed by the God who ordained their service.