By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President & Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
When my family splits the middle matzah at our Passover seder, I catch myself each year misteaching that we will take “the bigger half” and hide it as our afikoman. I am almost correct. Tradition compels us to hide the bigger portion of that cracked matzah, but—when […]
By Rabbah Rona Matlow, Professor of Jewish Diversity Studies at Hebrew Seminary
NOTE: The following message contains adult content. Reader’s discretion is advised.
Several years ago, I wrote a series of queer midrashim (מדרשים)—expositions that expand the scope of the Torah’s concerns, usually answering questions that the Torah does not. The Torah is replete with missing words, strange […]
By Rabbi Dr. Allan Kensky, Professor of Rabbinic Literature at Hebrew Seminary
Chayyey Sarah is about endings—and beginnings. In this portion, Sarah’s life comes to an end, and Rebecca is welcomed into the family. Abraham dies, and Isaac and Rebecca carry the faith forward. There is loss and grief, followed by a renewal […]
By Rabbah Rona Matlow, Professor of Jewish Diversity Studies at Hebrew Seminary
NOTE: The following message contains violence, abuse, and other adult content. Reader’s discretion is advised.
It has been reported that, during the lockdown stages of the pandemic, domestic violence increased greatly. With families being confined to their homes, tensions were much higher, and […]
By Rabbi Dr. Allan Kensky, Professor of Rabbinic Literature at Hebrew Seminary
The portion Lekh Lekha opens with an abrupt call from God to Abram, “Lekh Lekha—go forth.” Seemingly out of nowhere God calls on Abram to leave his home and family and set out for a new land. While we were introduced to Abram […]
By Rabbah Rona Matlow, Professor of Jewish Diversity Studies at Hebrew Seminary
I served in the US Navy for 22 years. During that time, I deployed on two submarines, two nuclear powered cruisers, an anti-submarine frigate, and a destroyer tender (repair ship). I travelled most of the world’s oceans and had the “pleasure” of experiencing quite […]
The New Energy When God Started Creating: Commentary on Parashat Bereshit 5784
By Rabbah Rona Matlow, Professor of Jewish Diversity Studies at Hebrew Seminary
In the beginning of the Torah, a small dense mass of words await a universe of expounding. For decades, English-speaking Jews would read Genesis 1:1–2 from Joseph H. Hertz’s 1937 The Pentateuch and […]
Could Nature Defend Miriam? Commentary on Parashat Beha’alotekha 5783
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President and Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
After publishing his 1981 bestselling book When Bad Things Happen To Good People, Rabbi Dr. Harold Kushner, of blessed memory, privately counseled grieving parents who, like he, had suffered the loss of a beloved child. Rabbi Kushner believed in a God whose interventions in the world […]
Samson and Gallant: Commentary on Parashat Naso 5783
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President and Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
Among my fondest memories of Highlights for Children remains the Goofus and Gallant comic strip, illustrating what is wrong to do (what Goofus does) and. what is right to do (what Gallant does).
Image of excerpt from […]
All the Letters in the Book of Numbers: Commentary on Parashat Bemidbar 5783
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President and Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
On the slow news morning of Tuesday, February 10, 1885—when the same front page also reported (as an entire story), “Wheat eighteen inches high is to be seen in California”—the Boston Journal shared a new fad in American education:
A favorite […]