The Good Ol’ Days

Jun 5, 2015 By Danielle Upbin | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

When the going gets tough, who doesn’t pine for the “good ol’ days”? Even when those past realities had challenges of their own, we tend not to remember them that way. It is human nature to favor selective memory. Consider our ancestors in this week’s parashah, crying for the fleshpots they enjoyed in Egypt, the cucumbers, garlic, and leeks (Num. 11:5). Did they forget about the slaughter of their firstborn, the harsh labor, the separation of families? In a moment of hunger and thirst for something they didn’t have, they forgot that they had actually been slaves in Egypt.

Al Hanissim

Dec 10, 2014 By The Jewish Theological Seminary | Prayer Recordings | Hanukkah

In preparation for Hanukkah, we are excited to share a recording of Al Hanissim, composed by Mike Boxer of the Jewish a cappella group Six13 and performed by the Chorus of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music.

Yikzkor: The Order of Giving

Apr 15, 2001 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Pesah | Shavuot | Shemini Atzeret | Yom Kippur

Synagogue attendance always swells at Yizkor. No matter how attenuated our sense of being Jewish, we are drawn back for a moment to offer a prayer (“may God remember”) in memory of those we have loved and lost. The observance ofYahrzeit and Yizkor remains hallowed. The proximity of death still fills us with reverence if not foreboding.

The Power of Prayer

Oct 3, 1995 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Yom Kippur

The High Holy Days don’t play to our strength. The extended services put a premium on prayer, an activity at which we are no longer very adept. Yom Kippur asks of us to spend an entire day in the synagogue immersed in prayer. But we find it easier to believe in God than to pray to God. It is this common state of discomfort that prompts me to share with you a few thoughts on the art of Jewish praying.

Humility Through Prayer

Aug 7, 2004 By JTS Alumni | Commentary | Eikev

By Rabbi Robert Kahn

When you have eaten your fill, and have built fine houses to live in, and your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold have increased, and everything you own has prospered, beware lest your heart become haughty and you forget the Lord your God who freed you from the land of Egypt, the house of bondage (D’varim 8:11-14).

This passage in Parashat Eikev comes as a warning to the Israelites that in the future, when life is good, not to forget either who gave you the good life, nor how you got there. Particularly when life is good, the Torah teaches us to remember our humble beginnings.

Blessings of Peace

May 29, 2004 By Melissa Crespy | Commentary | Naso

In a world filled with continual violence, where killings of Americans, Israelis and Iraqis by horrific means have become, to our great sorrow, daily items in our news – we ask ourselves: When will peace come? When will we be able to turn on our television sets, read our newspapers, and learn that no more bloodshed has occurred, that former enemies are speaking to each other, and parents can go to sleep at night knowing that they will find their children alive in the morning?

Abracadabra!

Apr 24, 2004 By Rachel Ain | Commentary | Metzora | Tazria

Abracadabra! These words, recited by magicians all over the world, when broken down into smaller words introduce us to the truest mystery-the creation of the world. A’bara K’adabra – I will create as I have spoken. Just as magicians claim to have the power to change the reality that is in front of them with words, so too, when God created the world it was done not with hands, not with tools, but with speech. In Genesis 1:3 the first thing that God does is to speak. This verse reads, “And God said: ‘Let there be light’; And there was light.” What is it about the power of the spoken word that causes it to transform worlds?

Making Peace on High and on Earth

Jun 22, 2002 By Lewis Warshauer | Commentary | Hukkat

Some years ago, during a visit to Japan, I met with a sociology professor at Tokyo University. She mentioned that she had just returned from her first trip to Israel, and I asked what her impressions were. The professor paused for a moment and then said — “The Israelis, they argue a great deal.”