Cultivating an Ethic of Responsibility
Dec 18, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayiggash
Jewish history unfolds as a dialectic between exile and homeland.
Read More
Conversion: Then and Now
Nov 27, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayishlah
During my recent visit to Israel, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision of great import on the subject of conversion.
Read More
The Evolution of Judaism’s Moral Conscience
Nov 20, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Vayetzei
Why does Jacob abandon the security of his parents home in Beer-sheba?
Read More
Drinking the Waters of Torah
Nov 13, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Toledot
In rabbinic parlance, water stands for Torah.
Read More
“A Righteous Person Knows the Needs of His Beast.”
Nov 6, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
This week’s parashah presents us with the first instance of a dating service.
Read More
Making Our Way Through an Imperfect World
Jul 3, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Balak
The story of Balaam, the gentile prophet who came to curse the people of Israel, but stayed to shower them with blessings should not be wholly unfamiliar to us. It is alluded to twice in the liturgy of the daily morning service, once indirectly and once directly.
Read More
Korah: a Rebel with a Cause
Jun 26, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Korah
In the Jewish imagination, Korah personifies the archrebel. Rapacious envy appears to drive him to assemble a force of 250 “men of repute” to repudiate the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Stunned by the confrontation, Moses is unable to muster any sympathy for Korah. Moses often intercedes with God on behalf of his adversaries. Not this time.
Read More
Overcoming the Past
Jun 12, 2004 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shelah Lekha | Rosh Hashanah
This week’s parashah strikes a note that reverberates throughout the liturgy of our High Holy Day services: “I pardon (salahti), as you have asked (14:20).” Prayers for forgiveness (selihot-same word) punctuate the season of introspection from the week before Rosh Hashanah to the end of Yom Kippur. Not surprisingly, this verse from our parashah appears often in these prayers. The concept of atonement enables us to bridge the chasm between divine expectation and human reality. It prevents the perfect from becoming the enemy of the good. For humans, holiness is always a temporary state of being. Without forgiveness, we would find ourselves forever alienated from God.
Read More
