Terumah – The Gift That Elevates
Jan 29, 2014 By Eitan Fishbane | Commentary | Terumah
Sometimes we all feel like we’re giving more than we get, that we do more than our share, or that our individual needs are being sacrificed for the sake of someone else’s happiness.
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Defining a Moral and Just Society
Jan 22, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Mishpatim
Sometimes an article in the newspaper reminds you of something in the Torah and makes you think in new ways about verses you have read many times before.
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Exodus 18: The Proverbial Visit of the In-Laws
Jan 15, 2014 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Yitro
“Come and listen to my story ’bout a man named . . . Jethro!”
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Living Practice: Not “How” but “Why”
Jan 9, 2014 By Ute Steyer | Commentary | Beshallah
“Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, ‘The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.’” (Exod. 13:17)
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Pesah: A Liberating Experience for Women
Mar 4, 2013 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Pesah
There is no festival more home- and family-oriented than Pesah. Sukkot may run a close second, but the seder places Pesah way ahead. Although celebrating at home with a lavish family meal should make this holiday a pleasure to anticipate, for many women this is not so. The painstaking conversion of the kitchen from leaven-filled to leaven-free status has turned the Festival of Freedom into an intense period of domestic labor rather than a celebration of personal and national liberation. That was not the intention of the halakhah.
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God Helps Those Who Help Themselves
Feb 12, 2013 By Raymond Scheindlin | Commentary | Purim
How is it possible to tell a story of redemption without even once mentioning the name of God?
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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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The Torah’s Prescription for Healing
Apr 9, 2013 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria
At a glance, the opening chapters of Parashat Metzora seem like a biblical antecedent of WebMD. Leviticus 13 describes the disfiguring symptoms of צרעת/tzara`at, starting with “a swelling, a rash, or a discoloration” that “develops into a scaly affection” (Lev. 13:1).
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