The Future in a Narrow Time: Commentary on Shiv’ah Asar BeTammuz 5784
By Rabbi Lauren Tuchman, Hebrew Seminary Professor of Rabbinic Literature
The 17th of Tammuz commemorates five tragedies that befell the Jewish people and is the second of four fast days that are marked annually in remembrance of […]
To Wake Up as the People Who Never Sleeps: Commentary on Shavu’ot 5784
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
When I pray, I talk to God. When I study, God talks to me.
— attributed to Rabbi Dr. Louis Finkelstein (1895–1991)
Schwartz goes to shul to talk to God. Goldberg goes to shul to talk to Schwartz.
— […]
The Holiest Bad Influence: Commentary on Parashat BeChukkotai 5784
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
Heaven help me for the way I am
Save me from these evil deeds
Before I get them done
—Fiona Apple, “Criminal”
Even before Fiona Apple asserted in 1997 that doing wrong was purely in her nature, popular musicians had long suggested that they really had […]
Did My Mom Know She Was Teaching Me Torah? Commentary on Parashat Kedoshim 5784
By Ezra Kiers, Rabbinical Student at Hebrew Seminary
When I was a kid, I used to argue with my big sibling all the time. I’d get all worked up over them getting the toy we both wanted. They’d think I got the bigger scoop of ice cream and we’d yell, […]
She Leans Toward Liberation: Commentary on Beginning Passover 5784
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President and Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
The child of Sephardic Jews, Judah P. Benjamin—who would one day serve in the Confederacy’s Cabinet during the American Civil War—probably eyed the matzah on his seder plate and heard the same symbol-heavy Aramaic preface to the Passover tale recited by Jews around the world:
Mightier Than a Warrior: Commentary on Parashat Tazri’a 5784
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President and Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
I’m not normally a praying man, but, if you’re up there, please save me, Superman. – Homer Simpson*
No matter how deeply attuned we may feel to our Jewish practice, beliefs, or identity—Parashat Tazri’a notoriously has turned many Jews away from connecting with this […]
Holy Moses, as a Figure of Speech: Commentary on Parashat Va’era 5784
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President & Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
Last year, I had the pleasure of conversing with a young Deaf Jew who shared with me that they had always understood Moses as a Deaf person. Of course, all of the quotes that the Torah ascribes to Moses could be written Hebrew […]
Your Brother’s ID: Commentary on Parashat Vayyiggash 5784
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President & Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
If you are a celebrity, the names of your first pet, your childhood best friend, and the street on which you grew up might be just a few clicks away. These security questions provide little protection to folks with public lives. As for the rest of us? […]
By Ezra Kiers, Rabbinical Student at Hebrew Seminary
It’s early December and רֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ טֵבֵת (Rosh Chodesh Tevet, the beginning of the Hebrew month of Tevet), and these are particularly dark times. Yes, they are physically dark; the days are getting shorter, colder, and more severe. But they are also metaphorically dark; in light of the sociopolitical events of recent months both domestically and overseas, […]
Can 400 Humans Make One? Commentary on Parashat Vayyishlach 5784
By Rabbi Jonah Rank, President & Rosh Yeshivah of Hebrew Seminary
“Every vote counts” is a simple enough slogan. It is a truism that hammers home just how absolutely thin a majority it takes for a simple majority to rule. In 2020, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks won her seat in the United States House of Representatives after […]