In the midst of the Holiness Code, the section of the Torah that we read this Shabbat with our double portion of Aharei-Mot/Kedoshim, we find an agricultural law that seems contrary to a farmer’s instincts. “When you enter the land and plant any tree for food, you shall regard its fruit as forbidden. Three years it Continue Reading »
We are in the midst of what Rabbi Donniel Hartman calls “the High Holy Days of the State of Israel.” This is the Shabbat that conencts Yom HaShoah veHagevurah, which we just finished observing, to Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha-atzmaut, which are observed and celebrated next week. It’s an emotional rollercoaster for Israelis in particular, and for many Jews Continue Reading »
From the moment I began collecting multi-volume Torah commentaries in my JTS days, I noticed a fascinating trend. In almost every set that contained five volumes, one for each of the books of the humash (an abbreviation for Hamishah Humshei Torah, the Five Books of the Torah), the thickest volume of all was Vayikra, Leviticus. Considering that the Continue Reading »
Of the many things I had a chance to learn about and discuss during my five days in Washington with AIPAC this week, none seems so timely as the topic of my Shabbat dinner session: “Zionism in Tension with Other Values.” The presenter, Yehuda Kurtzer, is well-known to our Engaging Israel students in his leadership Continue Reading »
On this Shabbat before Purim, as we have for the last few years, we take time for a close reading of a different chapter of Megillat Esther. This year, we’ll pay particular attention to chapter 3. It would be reasonable to say that the first two chapters of the Megillah are rather frivolous. We learn of the Continue Reading »
This week’s Torah portion, Terumah, begins a stretch of parshiyot whose primary concern is the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary that God instructs Moshe to build for the wilderness phase of Israel’s experience. But it’s not the first time we get details on sacred worship. In fact, right after the report on revelation that we call The Ten Commandments, we Continue Reading »
It is in this week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, that we first encounter one of the core concepts of our tradition: radical empathy. It is expressed in the phrase, “You shall not oppress a stranger, for you know the feelings of the stranger, having yourselves been strangers in the land of Egpyt (Exodus 23:9). Perhaps because Continue Reading »
What do you think of when you hear or read the name Abraham Joshua Heschel? I’m guessing that you know him best for his social activism, particularly in support of civil rights and the anti-war protests of the late 1960s. If you look up his page on myjewishlearning.com, two large photos of Dr. Heschel with Martin Continue Reading »
The Israelites stood on the shore of the Sea of Reeds, having crossed over miraculously in safety on dry land, with the pursuing enemy vanquished by the water. In this moment of extreme emotion, they were driven by the impulse to sing. Shirat Hayam–the Song of the Sea–is the product of this creative impulse. That’s what Continue Reading »
Now that God has arrived on the scene, the Israelites should be fully confident that their burdens will be removed. When Moshe and Aharon communicated God’s intentions through symbolic acts and words in last week’s Torah reading, the people believed. But when their leaders’ first foray into Pharaoh’s palace fails, they fall even deeper into Continue Reading »
