Celebrating Human Initiative
Jun 8, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shelah Lekha
A nation’s calendar is a contract between its past and future. What we choose to remember is indicative of what we value. Our calendar is always a projection of our priorities. The subject matter that joins this week’s parashah and haftarah, the conquest of Canaan, sheds some light on why one event and not another embeds itself in our collective memory.
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The Meaning of the Shabbat Candles
Jun 1, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Beha'alotekha
If you have ever spent a Shabbat in Jerusalem, you have surely noticed that its imminent arrival is announced by the blowing of a shofar. The stores that are still open then close and the traffic left on the streets virtually halts. The atmosphere of Shabbat increasingly pervades the city. There is no artifice to the shofar; its harsh sound embodies an ancient practice.
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Change From Within
May 25, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Naso
The pronounced and unsettling shift to the right in western Europe springs from several sources. But feeding them all is the residual power of the nation–state as a determinative factor in ethnic identity. The mega–trends of immigration, globalization and European unification have triggered in many a deep–seated fear of the loss of their national character.
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Mindfulness of God’s Image
May 4, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai
Though Judaism is distinguished by a this–worldly ethic, the acquisition of material possessions is not a high priority. The singular adage of Ben Zoma from the early days of rabbinic Judaism (second century), became normative: “Who may be deemed rich? Those content with their lot” (Pirkei Avot 4:1). We need far less than we want. To take comfort in what we have is to derive pleasure in values other than wealth.
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Faith in the Face of Loss
Apr 6, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shemini
Death in old age is sad but not tragic. The pain of loved ones left behind is tempered by the knowledge that this is the way of the world. Thus King David on his deathbed instructs Solomon, his son, soberly: “I am going the way of all the earth; be strong and show yourself a man” (I Kings 2:2). There is no reason to protest. The loss will take resolve to overcome, but the naturalness of the death holds its own comfort.
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Judaism’s Two New Years
Mar 23, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shabbat Hagadol | Pesah
In the Middle Ages, when rabbis were largely specialists in and adjudicators of Jewish law, they preached in the synagogue but twice a year, on Shabbat Hagadol prior to Passover and on Shabbat Shuvah prior to Yom Kippur. The ritual intricacies of each festival called for some public instruction. The custom highlighted the affinity between these two seasons which each in its own way initiated the start of a new year.
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The Lesson of the Golden Calf
Feb 26, 1994 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Ki Tissa
One third of the book of Exodus is devoted to the construction of the tabernacle, God’s mobile dwelling in the wilderness. I suspect that we moderns find the devil, and not God, in the profusion and repetition of details. The Torah could mercifully have spared us its twice-told tale, first God’s instructions to Moses (Ex. 25-31) and then his execution of them (Ex. 35-40).
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Four Special Sabbaths
Feb 19, 1994 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Shabbat Zakhor | Tetzavveh | Pesah
Judaism does not allow Passover to catch us by surprise. Long before its arrival, while the ground is still covered with snow, the Jewish calendar alerts us to its coming. A series of four special sabbaths prior to the month of Nisan (Passover begins on the full moon of the 15th of Nisan) picks up the liturgical pace of the synagogue service. After a long and largely monotonous winter, the pace quickens as we are brought to anticipate the renewal of nature and the redemption of Israel. In the words of our tradition, “With the coming of Adar (the month before Nisan), we indulge in more merrymaking.” The last month of the year (Nisan is the first) goes out in a flurry of festivity which transcends the celebration of Purim.
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