How We Look at Things: Commentary on Parashat Re’eh 5782
By Rabbi Dena Bodian, Hebrew Seminary alum, ordained 2010; College Chaplain and Campus Rabbi at Wellesley College
This week’s parashah starts seemingly with a command: רְאֵה (Re’eh, “See”) (Deuteronomy 11:26). Just as earlier in the Book of Deuteronomy, we encountered the first […]
Comfort! A Commentary on Parashat Ekev 5782
By Rabbi Dr. Laurence Edwards, Ph.D., Professor of Bible, Jewish Thought, Jewish History
In the weeks that follow Tish’ah Be’Av (which was observed this year on August 7) there is a sense in which we see ourselves as mourners. We have recited the lamentations over the destruction of Jerusalem – traditionally done sitting on the floor or […]
Small Actions, Great Principles: Commentary on Parashat Va’etchannan
By Rabbi Daniel Vaisrub, Hebrew Seminary Professor of Talmud
Sometimes, you can learn great principles from small actions. A great example of this occurs in this week’s Torah reading, Va’etchannan.
Deuteronomy 4:41-43 tells us:
אָ֣ז יַבְדִּ֤יל מֹשֶׁה֙ שָׁלֹ֣שׁ עָרִ֔ים בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן מִזְרְחָ֖ה שָֽׁמֶשׁ׃ לָנֻ֨ס שָׁ֜מָּה רוֹצֵ֗חַ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יִרְצַ֤ח אֶת־רֵעֵ֙הוּ֙ בִּבְלִי־דַ֔עַת […]
A Planet of Self-Sabotage or Self-Love? A Tish’ah Be’Av Commentary
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, Hebrew Seminary President & Rosh Yeshivah
Before he became an unlikely household name in the 1960s, when he removed the high brow of Amilcare Ponchielli’s ballet Dance of the Hours by borrowing the composer’s tune for “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter From Camp),” Allan Sherman had been a struggling writer. The […]
Words That Build and Break Worlds: Parashiyyot Mattot-Mas’ei
By: Rabbi Jonah Rank, Hebrew Seminary President & Rosh Yeshivah
Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken
Everything’s broken
-Bob Dylan, “Everything Is Broken”[1]
Our trust breaks down when someone we admire or rely on says one thing and does another. Whether the word that never came to be began with a partner, a […]
Fixing the Broken Peace: Pinechas and the Outbreak of Violence
By: Rabbi Jonah Rank, Hebrew Seminary President & Rosh Yeshivah
As I write these words, 15 days after the mass shooting at the Highland Park 4th of July Celebration 2022, our news outlets continue to share updates about victims, their families, and the community. This senseless act of gun violence impacted our own community at Hebrew […]
Parashat Behalotecha
By: Becky Adelberg
There is a lot taking place in the Torah portion, Behalotecha. The afterbirth of a nation, the menorah is created, the first national music mandated, the first national holiday of Passover is celebrated and the Israelites complain and complain and complain.
In this Torah portion, the cleansing of the Levites is described. A process that necessitates being sprinkled with water of purification, receiving […]
Parashat Naso
By Ezra Kiers
Have you ever made a decision when you’re angry and wondered, “Could I have had a different outcome if I’d been calm?” Well, you’re not alone.
Parshat Emor
Written by: Ben Abrams, Hebrew Seminary Rabbinic student
In this week’s parsha, God’s voice comes in the form of a command, “Emor”, “speak!”
The first thing that I noticed when studying Emor was how the verse Leviticus 21:2 stated that close family members are more important than laws that govern the purity of the Cohanim when dealing with the […]
