Illustrations of Moses in the Amsterdam Haggadah, 1695
Jan 9, 2015 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Shemot | Pesah
Strikingly, Moses is barely mentioned in the text of the Haggadah, despite his prominence in the Torah’s account of the Exodus that begins with this week’s parashah. He is, however, prominently featured in some editions via the illustrations.
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Final Blessings
Dec 30, 2014 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Vayehi
One model of family caring for the dying is embodied powerfully in this week’s parashah. Jacob, aware that he is dying, speaks plain words to his sons: “I am about to die” (Gen. 48:21) . . . “I am about to be gathered to my kin” (49:29). By giving voice to the reality that his life is ending, Jacob opens up sacred opportunities with his family. He creates moments to put his blessings into words and communicates his wishes for what will happen to his body: that he be buried with his family in the family cave so that he can be gathered to his kin in all ways. The naming of this truth enables closure and peace.
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A Narrative for Our Lives
Dec 26, 2014 By Tim Daniel Bernard | Commentary | Vayiggash
No matter if we are philosophers, scientists, or grand viziers of Egypt, we all constantly engage in the process of slotting the “disordered fragments of raw experience” into an overarching framework.
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An Alternative Hero
Dec 19, 2014 By Alisa Braun | Commentary | Miketz
Joseph, not Moses, torn apart
dreams snakes brothers father
sins and returns loves and is silent
wanders between the gleanings of Ephraim and the delight of Manasseh
Joseph knowledge Joseph pain
Joseph summer
Leah’s Song
Dec 5, 2014 By Yonatan Dahlen | Commentary | Vayishlah
When you fell in love
Under a copper sky,
I saw you with her.
Sweat on your gentle lip,
You were weeping
Like the wadi in the rainy season.
And in my dreams,
I caught your tears.
Each one
Before it could hit the dust at your sandals.
If only I could be your tear catcher.
I would swallow every star
If you told me
Your tears come from Heaven.
How Full of Awe Is This Place!
Nov 28, 2014 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Vayetzei
In 1969, as a senior pursuing a BFA at the University of Memphis, my mother, Ann Kibel Schwartz, made a series of prints, including this one on themes from Genesis, as her senior thesis. She drew the images for these prints from magazines, newspapers, and print advertisements. The images were starkly modern, but their juxtaposition in collage, drawing on the ancient themes of the Torah, created an old-new whole.
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Abraham’s Search: A Hallmark of Human Grief
Nov 14, 2014 By Allison Kestenbaum | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
In an oft-told Buddhist story, a woman loses her son and is inconsolable. She approaches the Buddha and begs him to bring her son back. He instructs her to go around the village from house to house, seeking a single mustard seed from any home where no one has died. If she can find such a mustard seed, he will restore her son to life. So the woman knocks on each door and finds that there is no household that has not experienced loss. She returns without the mustard seed but with an enlarged awareness of the universality of loss that leads her to a path of compassion and peace.
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An Illustration of the Binding of Isaac From the JTS Library
Nov 7, 2014 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Commentary | Vayera
The Hebrew Bible in which this engraved frontispiece is found was printed in Venice in 1739 at the request of a physician named Isaac Foa. In addition to the Hebrew text, it contains Italian explanations of difficult passages. The engraver, Francesco Griselini (1717–1787), illustrated many non-Jewish works as well as notable borders for megillot, and later became known for his scholarly writing on natural history.
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