Brothers: Isaac And Ishmael

Sep 9, 2014 By Burton L. Visotzky | Short Video | Rosh Hashanah

Choosing Love and Life

Jul 14, 2012 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Pinehas | Tishah Be'av

Every summer I find striking the juxtaposition of Parashat Pinhas with its place in our calendar. This portion either soon follows (as it does this year) or immediately precedes 17 Tammuz. We always read the complete description of the biblical holidays’ offerings with the calamities listed above also in mind. This litany of misfortunes does not only include those related to the end of Temple-based worship; it also locates within the Torah the origin of each of these infamous dates observed as fast days. Those interpretations teach a deeper lesson about Jewish unity when considered with this week’s Torah portion and current events.

Eating in the Wilderness

Sep 24, 2010 By Alan Cooper | Commentary | Sukkot

With Sukkot on my mind, the wilderness controversy prompted me to imagine what the Israelites’ experience of the wilderness might be like nowadays in contrast to biblical times. How much of the hardship of their forty-year trek from Egypt to Canaan might they have been spared if their four-wheel (instead of four-legged)-drive vehicles had been guided by GPS rather than meandering pillars of fire and cloud, or if the signage in the desert had amounted to more than a few indecipherable graffiti (even more obscure than Garden State Parkway markers)?

Birth and the Giving of the Torah

Jun 7, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Shavuot

As I write these words, I am waiting for the imminent birth of a child which my husband and I hope to adopt.

Remembrance, Childbirth, and Renewal

Sep 27, 2003 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Rosh Hashanah

Remembrance. Childbirth. Renewed hopes and dreams.

An Environmental Journey

Oct 14, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Sukkot

One of my sweetest memories as a rabbinical student at The Jewish Theological Seminary relates to the holiday we welcome this week, Sukkot.

Expelling Our Own Scapegoats

Oct 3, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Yom Kippur

This coming Shabbat culminates the period of ‘aseret yemei teshuvah, the 10 days of repentance, as we commemorate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Teshuvah: Seeking the Hidden Face of God

Sep 26, 2014 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Ha'azinu | Shabbat Shuvah

This coming Shabbat, the Sabbath between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is known as Shabbat Shuvah, the “Sabbath of Return.”