“He Taught Him a Tree” (?!)
Jan 23, 2013 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Beshallah
This week’s parashah contains some of the most memorable narratives in the entire Torah: the splitting of the Reed Sea, the miracle of the manna, the battle with Amalek. In the midst of all these narratives comes a pithily told “little tale.”
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How We Believe in God
Jan 30, 2013 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Commentary | Yitro
The Mishnah and the two Talmuds mostly address details of Jewish observance; they rarely discuss the purpose of individual commandments, nor how the mitzvot mesh to create an integrated religious ethos.
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Taking Time to Be There
Feb 6, 2013 By Lisa Gelber | Commentary | Mishpatim
Moses needs time to immerse himself in the law and his relationship with God. He needs to experience what it meant to climb this mountain, literally and figuratively. If he didn’t yet know that, God did.
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Parts of a Whole
Feb 20, 2013 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Tetzavveh | Purim
A strange fact about being human: we never see any object in its entirety. We perceive in three dimensions, but see only in two so that our seeing is always at the mercy of our believing.
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Meaning in Métier
Mar 6, 2013 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Pekudei | Vayak-hel
The midrash suggests that the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was given not because God needed such a thing, but to show the world—Israelites included—that the Israelites had been forgiven for the sin of the Golden Calf. It is curious, though, that such a gesture would be given as a do-it-yourself assignment.
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Animal Sacrifice on an iPad: Finding Meaning in Va-yikra
Mar 13, 2013 By Charlie Schwartz | Commentary | Vayikra
I would like to offer three of the many approaches to Va-yikra that might help infuse our reading of the book with meaning beyond flying goats and calves.
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The Light of Passover
Mar 25, 2013 By David Hoffman | Commentary | Pesah
Why did the Rabbis use the word light when they intended darkness? The Hebrew word leila (לילה) would certainly have worked. Why did the Rabbis not say what they meant?
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Being Holy in the 21st Century
Apr 25, 2014 By Gerald C. Skolnik | Commentary | Kedoshim
If I were challenged to present a one-sentence, pithy articulation of the overarching responsibility of a Jew in this world, I would be hard pressed to find abetter phrasing than the second verse of this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Kedoshim: “Kedoshim tih’yu, ki kadosh Ani Adonai Eloheikhem”(Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy).
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