Yom Yerushalayim鈥擨nhabiting the Land
May 1, 2013 By Burton L. Visotzky | Commentary | Behar | Behukkotai | Yom Yerushalayim
Our double Torah portion opens with God鈥檚 command to Moses to tell the Israelites, 鈥淲hen you come to the land that I am giving you, and you inhabit the land.鈥� No sooner did I read this verse as I prepared to write these words of Torah, than my own counting of the days flashed back 46 years to my first time ever in Israel, when I was a teenager on Camp Ramah Israel Seminar.
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How Do You Measure a Year?
May 8, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Bemidbar | Shavuot
We are doing an awful lot of counting this week: we count the final days of the Omer, and, as our parashah begins, take the census of the Israelite community. What does all of this counting have to do with the ways in which we measure what really matters?
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Going to the Head of the Prayer Line
May 14, 2013 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Naso
Sharp elbows at shul extend beyond the kiddush table line and back into the sanctuary. Prayer鈥攐r giving honor to God鈥攃an be a competitive business. There are lots of reasons why this is so, and some of them even have to do with loving God. But showing off how we love God can get us into trouble.
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New Generation, Old Leaders
May 24, 2013 By Ute Steyer | Commentary | Beha'alotekha
To paraphrase Moses鈥檚 meltdown in Numbers 11:11鈥�15, 鈥淟ord! I鈥檓 so done with them! I can鈥檛 take it anymore. These people are nothing but a bunch of whinging losers.鈥� Yet the People are doing what they have been doing since day one of the Exodus: complaining. 黑料社 the lack of water, the lack of food, and now the lack of meat. So why is Moses losing his temper so completely this time?
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Who Is Getting Stoned?
May 29, 2013 By Robert Harris | Commentary | Shelah Lekha
Among other subjects, the parashah narrates the story of the spies, one from each tribe, whom Moses sends to scout out the Land. Specifically, let us join the narrative at the point that Joshua and Caleb (the two good or 鈥渉eroic鈥� spies) attempt to encourage the community鈥攍argely ineffectively鈥攁fter the People express their fears that any effort to conquer the Promised Land will not be successful.
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Where Does Holiness Come From?
Jun 5, 2013 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Commentary | Korah
Parashat Korah can be challenging for a modern Jew. There is a good guy in this parashah鈥攊t鈥檚 Moses鈥攁nd there is a bad guy鈥擪orah. Modern readers, however, often find themselves sympathizing with the bad guy.
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Miriam’s Legacy of Leadership
Jun 12, 2013 By Shira D. Epstein | Commentary | Hukkat
If you were asked to rapidly rattle off the top three iconic biblical leaders, which would you name? There is a high probability that Moses would appear on the list or, possibly, Aaron or Abraham. Even if valued, Miriam most likely would not make the cut.
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Comfort Food
Jun 25, 2013 By Rabbi Abigail Treu | Commentary | Pinehas
When we go to help someone鈥攊n times of mourning, illness, or just a basic potluck pitch-in鈥攄o we give them what we need to give, or what they need of us? How are we to know, if we are not explicitly told, what will please, comfort, or help someone else the most? And the religious corollary to this line of thinking: do our answers change when it comes to bringing an offering to please or comfort not our friends, but God?
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