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Regulating Holiness
May 12, 2012 By Marc Wolf | Commentary | Emor
As much as we learn about ritual practice, the search for holiness, and Jewish belief from the litany of rules that unfold in these chapters within the Holiness Code, from the exceptions to those rules we can begin to understand how Judaism negotiates conflicting values. Sometimes, it is the exception to the rule that offers the deepest insight.
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Cultivating Gratitude
May 12, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Emor
According to the rabbinic imagination described in this midrash, the messianic era will not be accompanied by a full return of the Temple service and various sacrifices described in this week’s parashah. Rather, in the opinion of Rabbi Menachem of the Galilee, in the messianic era no act of sacrifice will be practiced, save the thanksgiving offering. This vision of a future, idealized religious practice is a little surprising.
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Filling Life with Life
May 5, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim
“The deeds of the ancestors are a sign for their descendants,” said the medieval commentator Nahmanides. Sometimes it seems that the weekly Torah portion captures the situation of our generation with remarkable prescience. So it is with Aharei Mot-Kedoshim.
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The Treasure of Inner Wisdom
May 5, 2012 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Text Study | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim
The very sage pediatrician who examined my newborn son, my firstborn, asked me what his temperament is like. My husband and I exchanged looks, and out poured our utter dismay at how to handle our colicky little treasure. I will never forget the doctor’s words of advice: You know what to do. Listen to your gut instincts. You are already wise.
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Authentic Judaism
Apr 28, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Metzora | Tazria
Many modern Jews have declared the opening verses of this week’s Torah portion not just arcane, but misogynist. Indeed, the laws regarding postpartum impurity emerge from a priestly world of sacrifices and distinctions that seems distant today. Our ancient Sages, however, radically reinterpreted that passage and the creation of humanity in Genesis with playful translations that provide an opening for insights into the origins of gender.
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The Challenge of Nadab and Abihu
Apr 21, 2012 By Deborah Miller | Commentary | Shemini
The idea of distinctions persists throughout the Torah and in Jewish life. The word lehavdil (to separate/distinguish) occurs in the first act of Creation—“God separated/distinguished between light and darkness.” The theme continues into this week’s parashah, Shemini.
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Aaron’s Silence
Apr 21, 2012 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Shemini
The midrash is a sound warning to us all that our anger clouds our judgment and, worse, can inhibit our compassion. These, after all, were Moses’s nephews, both those lost and those mourning.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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?
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Consumption with Humility
Mar 17, 2012 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Text Study | Pekudei | Vayak-hel
“You are what you eat,” as the old adage goes—but according to this midrash, you are also what you build, or more precisely, you are how you build.
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Clothing and Adornment: Sartorial Insights on Gender Definition in the Talmud
Mar 11, 2012 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video
How does the Talmud define Gender? Dr. David Kraemer seeks the answer to this question by looking into how the Talmud discussed clothing and adornment.
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From Jewess Jeans to Juicy JAPs: Clothing and Jewish Stereotypes
Mar 11, 2012 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Public Event video
When one looks at the way the various Ultra-Orthodox sects of Judaism dress, one can guess that they follow a certain path of Judaism. But, is this same type stereotyping also occur for other Jews and how they dress? How are Jewish stereotypes and clothing related? Dr. Shuly Rubin Schwartz discusses this at the What to Wear event held at JTS on March 11th, 2012.
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Head Covering: An Interreligious Discussion
Mar 11, 2012
Kippot, Hijaabs, Sheitels, and other head coverings. What do different religious head coverings symbolize, how are they all similar, and how are they different?
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In Good Taste: American Jews and the Pursuit of Acceptance
Mar 11, 2012
Dr. Jenna Weissman Joselit of George Washington University presents a multimedia lecture on fashion and the Jewish pursuit of acceptance in America. Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief, Tablet Magazine, will serve as respondent. Part of the What to Wear event held at JTS on March 11th, 2012.
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The Naked and the Damned: Stripping in the Bible
Mar 11, 2012 By Lewis Warshauer | Public Event video
Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky and Rabbi Lewis Warshauer examine the image of the body in biblical texts and biblical art. Part of the What to Wear event held at JTS on March 11th, 2012.
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