Remember Who You Come From: Commentary on Parashat Ki Tavo 5782
By Ben Abrams, Rabbinical Student at Hebrew Seminary
The Israelites are reminded of their wandering, humble past when they are instructed to recite the formula אֲרַמִּי֙ אֹבֵ֣ד אָבִ֔י (Arami oved avi, “My father was a wandering Aramean”),[1] words that today are a critical part of the Haggadah we read on Passover. The […]
Be Human; Let Them Graze: Commentary on Parashat Ki Tetzei 5782
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President & Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
In a Biblical court of law, the ox stood a chance.
When Moses, in Parashat Ki Tetzei dictates to the Israelites a law about the treatment of oxen in the field, it appears at […]
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 […]
By Stacey Zisook Robinson
I remember your kindness
In the desert.
We wandered there
In the dry air
that carried the scent of almonds.
Oh! my Beloved,
You spread salvation before me,
Cast in iron
and tasting of copper,
pockmarked,
eroded with the weight of centuries
and rain.
My bridal veil is trampled
before those walls
And the […]
by Student Rabbi Stacey Zisook Robinson
I
have never seen such forever water.
I hear its incessant burbling,
a chant, perhaps to God,
Who has come to us as Fire,
Who has come to us as Smoke.
Who has come to us
at last,
bringing wonder and magic
and freedom,
perhaps.
I hear chatter of freedom,
but my back is striped still
and there is this forever Sea,
murmuring its prayers to
the […]
By Student Rabbi Stacey Robinson
Sing praise and
shout hallelujah
as bullets sing their siren song
and death is never far;
and sing praise
while fires rage and
children fall silent
behind barbed wire fences, and
children fall silent
with bellies distended, and
children fall silent
as their homes are devoured,
and they race against monsters and time.
Sing praise, for the monsters are winning.
Free the captive.
Feed the hungry.
Give shelter to those in need.
This is my song,
this praises […]
By Stacey Robinson
Put the stone under your head
and rest; don’t be disturbed
by the kaleidoscope of angels
on their merry ride of
up and down,
between heaven and earth
and there and back again.
They may be lost,
those angels, or at least
Stuck, intractable in their
proscribed tracks,
their lesson a cautionary tale
in thinking heaven is up.
Let your stone,
cold and hard,
remind you that
there is no place God is not,
even in that rock,
and all […]
By Student Rabbi Stacey Robinson
It was not evening,
nor night,
not quite –
although the sickle moon,
dusted in orange,
kissed the passing clouds
It was not morning,
tho the sun
stained the sky
scarlet,
and shivered there,
on the horizon
that was sea and sky together,
and neither sea
nor sky
alone.
And so we prayed,
gathered at the water’s edge,
in the not-evening-
Almost morning.
We opened our lips
on the border
of land that moved
with fluid grace,
next to the dark glass
of an obsidian […]
By Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer
In last week’s Torah portion, members of the community of Israel profane themselves by engaging in licentious behavior with Moabite women and worshiping the Moabite god. Hashem becomes incensed with Israel and tells Moses to impale the leaders committing these actions. “The Lord’s wrath may turn away from Israel.” (Numbers 25:4) Pinchas witnesses an Israelite consorting with a Midianite woman […]
As part of our 25th Anniversary Torah v Talmud debate, Hebrew Seminary Board member Allen Meyer presented the following well received and most enjoyable story about the relevance and longevity of Jewish values, traditions and peoplehood.
Chapter One
Albert Einstein boards a train. It leaves the station. The conductor comes to collect the tickets. He gets to Einstein who looks high and low for it. […]