Standing with Moses on the Mountaintop
Feb 18, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Mishpatim | Shabbat Shekalim
Readers of Mishpatim cannot fail to be struck by the contrast between the main body of the parashah and its conclusion. The former consists for the most part of rather dry case law, covering such things as goring oxen, robbery by day and by night, and release from indentured servitude. The end of the parashah could not be more different in subject and tone.
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For Our Students
Mar 31, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol
I got valuable help this year in writing my annual Shabbat Hagadol message to teens and 20-somethings from six teens and 20-somethings who are studying at The Jewish Theological Seminary’s Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies.
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Filling Life with Life
May 5, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim
“The deeds of the ancestors are a sign for their descendants,” said the medieval commentator Nahmanides. Sometimes it seems that the weekly Torah portion captures the situation of our generation with remarkable prescience. So it is with Aharei Mot-Kedoshim.
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The Humanity of Moses
Jun 30, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Hukkat
Readers of the Torah suspect that, by this point in his long life, Moses does not much care for the work he does so selflessly. He seems worn down by the incessant kvetching of his people, and has long since grown used to the inscrutability of the God he loves and serves. We are drawn to this man. We want to know him and learn from him. In this way as in so many others, he accomplishes the Torah’s wishes, if not God’s. He draws us into the story, and makes us proud to be its heirs.
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How to Love Yom Kippur
Sep 12, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Yom Kippur
The importance of “permission to pray with those who have transgressed,” recited immediately before chanting Kol Nidrei, is underlined in some congregations by the practice of repeating the words three times for added emphasis. The declaration clearly has enormous rhetorical power. But what does it mean? How can these words, this claim, help propel us forward into Kol Nidrei and beyond?
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How Angels Make Us Better People
Nov 20, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Vayetzei
I’ve never thought much about mal’akhim (literally, angels), and I wonder if Jacob had thought about them either, before the encounter that took place when he departed the Land of Israel in flight from his brother’s wrath.
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Who Inherits Abraham?
Nov 14, 2014 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Hayyei Sarah
It is a well-known, if vaguely uncomfortable, psychological phenomenon that when looking for a partner, people are often attracted to those who are similar to their parents in appearance and personality. It is easy to see the logic behind this; when planning our futures, we seek that which is familiar to us from our pasts. This notion is often thought of as a modern phenomenon, reflecting a time when people choose their own mates. However, closer examination dates this concept back to the Torah, starting with the marriage of Isaac and Rebecca.
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Looking Upward and Outward
Nov 7, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Vayera
Sight and vision play an important role in the two opening narratives of Parashat Vayera.
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