Walking in God’s Paths

Aug 11, 2017 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Eikev

Walking at our own pace creates an unadulterated feedback loop between the rhythm of our bodies and our mental state that we cannot experience as easily when we’re jogging at the gym, steering a car, biking, or during any other kind of locomotion. . . . When we choose a path through a city or forest, our brain must survey the surrounding environment, construct a mental map of the world, settle on a way forward, and translate that plan into a series of footsteps.

—Ferris Jabr, “Why Walking Helps Us Think,” The New Yorker (September 2014)

Moshe Learns to Say Good-bye

Aug 26, 2016 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Eikev

One last time
the people will hear from me
one last time
and if we get this right
we’re gonna teach ’em how to say
goodbye.
You and I—

—George Washington in Hamilton: An American Musical

Love the Stranger

Aug 26, 2016 By Ethan Linden | Commentary | Eikev

In our parashah this week we find an odd statement masquerading as banal—a revolutionary idea that at first glance seems familiar, but is something else entirely. In Deuteronomy 10:19 the Torah commands: “Ve-ahavtem et hager ki gerim hayitem be-eretz mitzrayim” (“Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”).

When is Fear Positive?

Aug 20, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Eikev

Fears of crisis have filled the news this summer: political gridlock and epic heat waves here in the United States; economic woes on this continent, as well as across Europe; riots in Great Britain; the massacre in Norway; and social upheaval continuing across North Africa and the Middle East.

The Root of All Blessing

Aug 12, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Eikev

Loyalty to covenant and the observance of mitzvot are the theme of Parashat Eikev. Even more movingly (and especially at this time of distress in Israel), the parashah speaks of the beauty and blessing of the land of Israel. In addition to enumerating the seven species (wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates), Torah relates: “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill . . . a land where you may eat food without stint, and where you will lack nothing” (Deuteronomy 8:7–10). 

The Species of Israel

Aug 27, 2005 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Eikev

This past summer, I walked through a dream. I had the blessing, along with Rabbi David Hoffman, of leading a very special group through the length and breadth of the Land of Israel. Some forty-two leaders from Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Mexico – many of them students of the JTS Kollot: Voices of Learning program – joined together in the presence of Chancellor Ismar Schorsch to journey through Jewish tradition and text. With Tanakh in hand, we began our journey at Beit Hatefuzot, The Museum of the Diaspora. There we were treated to a bird’s eye view of Jewish history. The following morning, we embarked on an expansive and emotional ten-day trek, in which we encountered the biblical, Rabbinic, medieval, and modern periods. More than a mission, this experience was a pilgrimage that animated Torah. And nowhere did this encounter come alive more than at Neot Kedumim, the Biblical Landscape Reserve in Israel.

What Does “Chosen” Mean?

Aug 7, 2004 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Eikev

Israel is the heart and soul of the Jewish people; it is the home of our nation. Over a very special ten days in July, I had the honor of teaching with the Jacksonville Federation’s Mission to Israel. Some eighty-five participants: fifty adults and thirty-five children, joined together to express solidarity with Israel. We witnessed first-hand the miracles of modern day Israel in the absorption of immigrants from arbah kanfot ha’aretz, the four corners of the world, and in the substantive educational programs designed to make the integration of young Ethiopian immigrants more nurturing and successful.

Love vs. Chaos

Aug 16, 2003 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Eikev

It is often said that Judaism emphasizes doing, not believing. Actions are what matter. This is only partially true. It has long been recognized that intention and emotion, while not sufficient for the practice of Judaism, are necessary to it.