Tears for the Temples

Dec 31, 2011 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Hanukkah

Reading this makes me think of the breaking of the glass during a Jewish wedding ceremony. In a moment of sheer joy at the marriage, we break a glass to remember the Temple and that our joy cannot be complete in light of its destruction. Here, too, the Rabbis imagine, Joseph and Benjamin cannot fully enjoy their moment with the foreknowledge that the Temples will be destroyed.

Remembering to Forget

Mar 3, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Shabbat Zakhor

How does one recall something that we are ultimately supposed to forget? That is one of the great paradoxes found in the Torah reading for Shabbat Zakhor and later reflected in a rabbinic tradition that stems from the midrash above.

The Difference a Day Can Make

Oct 3, 2014 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Yom Kippur

Wouldn’t it be grand to wipe the slate clean? What if there were a day in the calendar when the slate was simply wiped clean once again? No marks against you. No petty quarrels remembered, no grudges borne, no more grievances for trespasses petty or grievous. What if?

On This Very Day

Sep 26, 2014 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Ha'azinu | Shabbat Shuvah | Yom Kippur

It’s difficult to overstate the pathos of Moshe’s last days. This man (and he is most assuredly a man, not a god, not a saint), who never wanted to be a leader—and after his first, impulsive attempt at leading was met with contempt from those he tried to save and condemnation from Pharaoh, his adoptive father (Exod. 2:11–15)—carried the burdens of prophetic leadership with fierce loyalty to both of his masters, God and the people.

The Righteous Convert Of Vilna

May 21, 2014 By David Fishman | Short Video | Shavuot

The Problem With The Convert

May 21, 2014 By David C. Kraemer | Short Video | Shavuot

What The Rabbis Of The Talmud Learned From Naomi And Ruth

May 21, 2014 By Judith Hauptman | Short Video | Shavuot

Sacrifices Seen Through Love and Law

Mar 31, 2012 By David Levy | Commentary | Text Study | Pesah

Every year, the weeks during which the Torah portions of Leviticus are read, many Jews complain about the challenge of finding interest or meaning in such esoteric material. I, myself, also struggle to engage deeply with these texts when I forget that even our ancient Sages felt the need to bolster the relevance of these laws, which largely became defunct after the Second Temple was destroyed.