“What’s God?”蚤nd Other Questions Kids Ask

Aug 2, 2024 By Chaim Galfand | Commentary | Masei | Mattot

This week’s double Torah reading specifies 42 locations where the Israelites camped between leaving Egypt and entering Canaan. While the list could be seen as pro forma, a beloved teacher of mine妊r. Eliezer Slomovic蚤lways insisted that God is not a blabbermouth; everything in Torah is imbued with meaning, even a list of 42 place names. Toward the end of Douglas Adams� The Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy, a supercomputer famously reveals the Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe, and Everything to be the number 42. The numerical parallel to the 42 Israelite encampments provides a serendipitous opening to consider how the seemingly mundane might be the gateway to a wider awareness of something greater than ourselves.

Making Space for Life

Jul 26, 2024 By Joel Alter | Commentary | Pinehas

It not for nothing, this reputation God has for consuming anger. The Torah itself makes the case. Our parashah opens with yet another instance of God hovering at the brink. God is prepared to wipe us out in a rage over our incessant violations of the inviolable. We read inNumbers 25:10-15that God grants Pinehas a 彡ovenant of peace� for having leapt into action (at the end of last week parashah), publicly slaying two people who grossly violated sacred boundaries before the entire people. 弃inehas,� God explains, 徂as turned back My wrath from the Israelites by displaying among them his passion for Me, so that I did not put an end to the Israelites through My zeal.� (25:11)

Innovations in Ritual and Halakhah (Law) Around Jewish Divorce

Jul 22, 2024

What are the essential components of an egalitarian marriage ceremony and divorce? How can we ensure that the Conservative/Masorti movement’s ways of Jewish marriage and divorce reflect our spiritual values and ethical ideals? Rabbi Pamela Barmash, PhD and Rabbi Karen Weiss Medwed, PhD discussed the progress that has been achieved in this area and the challenges that remain.

The Sound of No Hands Clapping

Jul 19, 2024 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Balak

The Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud) will draw the connection between our parashah and clapping. It states that clapping, particularly when done in anger, is discouraged on Shabbat, and bases the prohibition on Numbers 24:10, where Balak, enraged by Balaam’s blessings instead of curses, claps his hands together in frustration. Balak clapping symbolizes a loss of control and submission to anger蚤ctions that go against the peaceful spirit of Shabbat.

Zionism and Antisemitism on Campus and Beyond

Jul 15, 2024

WithDr. Michael Kay(Day School Leadership Training Institute �08), Head of School, The Leffell School andRabbi Jason Rubenstein(Rabbinical School �11andKekst Graduate School �10), Executive Director, Harvard Hillel

Heroes and Humans

Jul 12, 2024 By Amy Kalmanofsky | Commentary | Hukkat

But Moses also has shortcomings. His initial reluctance when God first approaches him to become Israel liberator could indicate cowardice, or worse, a lack of faith(Exod. 4:11�12). Moses also has a temper. He gets angry at the people(Exod. 32:19) and at God(Num. 11:10�15).

X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos who Helped Defeat the Nazis

Jul 8, 2024

In June 1942, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form a new commando unit made of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. This top-secret unit, trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis.

Not for the Sake of Heaven

Jul 5, 2024 By Menachem Creditor | Commentary | Korah

Parashat Korah, a poignant ancient exploration of conflict and leadership, remains frighteningly current. Korah challenges the authority of his cousins, Moses and Aaron, accusing them of elevating themselves above the community they serve. The biblical narrative communicates the palpable tension of contrasting intentions behind this dispute and the qualities that distinguish servant leaders from those whose primary motivations are attention and power.

Judaism Is ｹ郞ｳｴｫﾃｽ Love

Jul 1, 2024

In his new book Judaism is ｹ郞ｳｴｫﾃｽ Love, Rabbi Shai Held offers the radical and moving argument that love belongs as much to Judaism as it does to Christianity. He sets out to contradict centuries of widespread misrepresentation that Christianity is the religion of love and Judaism the religion of law. Rabbi Held shows that love is foundational and constitutive of true Jewish faith, animating the singular Jewish perspective on injustice and protest, grace, family life, responsibilities to our neighbors and even our enemies, and chosenness.

The Large Significance of the Littlest Letter

Jun 28, 2024 By Malka Strasberg Edinger | Commentary | Shelah Lekha

Could one tiny letter really be so important? At the beginning of this week parashah, as Moshe sends twelve scouts to tour the Land of Canaan, we are told that Moshe changed Joshua name from Hoshea to Yehoshua.

Religious Misconceptions: American Jews and the Politics of Abortion

Jun 24, 2024

We begin by tracing the history of how American Jews contributed to reproductive politics by developing first amendment-based arguments for abortion rights. We also discussthe ways in which reproductive politics transformed American Judaism. In particular, we look at the many rituals that Jewish feminist leaders developed to support people undergoing abortion care and galvanize activists working for reproductive rights.

The Journey

Jun 21, 2024 By Jan Uhrbach | Commentary | Beha'alotekha

In other words, the path forward is never clear, and God isn冲 a divine GPS. Revelation and faith shape our vision of where we want to go; they offer a compass pointing to true north, orienting us in the general direction of that vision. But to get there, we need maps, road signs, traffic signals, and human guides with a variety of expertise排eligious and secular.

Jews in the American Political and Public Square

Jun 17, 2024

The extent of Jewish participation in the American political process far outweighs the relative number of Jews in the population. Yet the contemporary activism of Jews is consistent with a tradition of civic involvement from the earliest days of Jewish settlement in America. This webinar explored Jewish participation in the American political system. We briefly address the foundations of religious freedom in America through the nineteenth century, and then focus on the watershed politics of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, from labor strikes to landmark legal cases. In studying these issues, we plumb the depths of what it means to be a minority in a democratic society and what it means to be a Jew in the modern world.

What Blessing Do You Need Now?

Jun 14, 2024 By Andrea Merow | Commentary | Naso

In Parashat Naso we learn the blessing used by so many, calledbirkat kohanim, the blessing of the priests. Amid our longestparashah, nestled between laws of the Nazirites and final preparations for how to use the Tabernacle, our holy space, God teaches that people can use their words and actions to bless one another, all while noting that our blessings come from The Holy One.

Becoming Like the Wilderness

Jun 7, 2024 By Eitan Fishbane | Commentary | Bemidbar | Shavuot

With the start of Sefer Bemidbar, the narrative of the Torah turns to the long journey of Benei Yisrael through the wilderness廃unishment for the sin of the Golden Calf and preparation for entry into the Land of Israel. Passage into the sacred terrain first requires an arduous ordeal of wandering蚤 physical process of movement and quest. Penitence, pilgrimage, and transformation are anchoredin the space of wilderness.

What is the Torah, Actually? Preparing for Shavuot

Jun 3, 2024 By Benjamin D. Sommer | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Shavuot

We况e heard its stories; we况e heard it chanted in synagogue; we况e seen it hoisted in the air displaying handwritten ink on parchment; we况e taken classes on it. But what, actually, is the Torah? A law code? A history book? An ancient novel? A saga? None of these categorizations quite fits. In this session, we consider what defines the distinctive genre of the Torah, where this genre comes from, how it reappears in Jewish culture over the ages蚤nd what addressing these questions can teach us about the Jewish religion.

The Terrifying Third Aliyah of Behukkotai

May 31, 2024 By Marcus Mordecai Schwartz | Commentary | Behukkotai | Shavuot

Why do we continue to read such horrible curses, and another passage much like it in Parashat Ki Tavo (Deut. 28:1�68), each year? The simplest answer is that we read the entirety of the Torah each year, omitting nothing. However, the Mishnah (Megillah 3:6) already notes something special about the curses of the Leviticus passage: 弋he section of curses must not be broken up but must all be read by one person.�

ｹ郞ｳｴｫﾃｽ Alumni in the World: Scholarship and Impact

May 30, 2024 By ｹ郞ｳｴｫﾃｽ | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Join esteemed ｹ郞ｳｴｫﾃｽ alumni to hear about the important contributions they are making through their work as scholars and thought leaders in their fields. Through their engagement with Jewish text, history, and thought, they are enhancing the spiritual and personal lives of individuals, building more inclusive communities, and preparing the leaders of tomorrow, ensuring a stronger Jewish future.

What Can a Bird and a Seed Teach Us ｹ郞ｳｴｫﾃｽ Shemitah?

May 24, 2024 By Yael Hammerman | Commentary | Behar

In Parashat Behar, God tells the Israelites that when they enter the land that God will give them, 徼he Land shall observe a Sabbath of the Adonai摧veshavta ha兮retz Shabbat l僊donai (Lev. 25:2). This becomes known as the shemitah year. For six years, you can work to your heart content輩ou can sow, prune, and gather, but in the seventh year, the land shall have a full, complete rest: shabbat shabbaton yihiyeh la兮retz (Lev. 25:4)!

Gender, the Bible, and the Art of Translation

May 20, 2024

How should English translators of the Hebrew Bible approach questions relating to gender? When should gender-inclusive language (such as 廨od� or 徘erson�) be used for references to God and human beings, and when is gendered terminology (such as 廳ing� and 徇an�) called for historically and linguistically? What does it mean to faithfully render biblical Hebrew into contemporary English, and how can translators share their methodologies and choices with readers and communities? We explore these questions, focusing on the newest Bible translation released by The Jewish Publication Society,THE JPS TANAKH: Gender-Sensitive Edition.

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