I.
The Way of Torah
(Commentary
on portions of the Torah and Bible)
- B’reisheet—In
the Beginning, The Very Beginning
The first Torah portion—B’reisheet—is
not only the beginning of the Torah and the rest
of the Bible, but also an opportunity to think
about what it means to read a sacred text.
- Generations-Tol'dot
The
congregation celebrated the occasion of fourteen congregants reading
from Torah as B’not Mitzvah. The Torah they read was Tol’dot,
which contained the challenging story of Isaac’s blessing of
Jacob. How should we understand a tale of blindness and trickery?
- Looking
for God in All the Right Places
In the Genesis story of Joseph,
God is absent. What are we readers to learn from
this, and what might it teach us about our own
searches for the divine in our lives?
- The
Hanukah Haftarot
Hanukah is an eight-day observance.
As a result, it will always include one Shabbat,
and occasionally two (when the holiday begins
on a Friday night). The cycle of Torah readings
is not disrupted, as it is with other Festivals
(Sukkot, Passover, etc.), but a special prophetic
reading (Haftarah) replaces the usual one. Here
are a set of commentaries on the prophetic readings
at Hanukah time.
- Haftarat
Mikketz—Dreams of Power
One Torah portion in particular,
Mikketz, falls during Hanukah far more often
than not. It’s regular haftarah is therefore
rarely read. December 2000 was one of those rare
times. The next time will be in 2020!
- Darkness
& Light
In 2002 and 2003, the first candle of
Hanukah was a Friday evening, thus the holiday extended
over two Sabbaths. This will happen four times in the
decade (06 and 09), but then not again until 2026. The
relatively rarely heard second Haftarah of Hanuka is
compared and contrasted with the first Haftara.
II.
Cycle of the Jewish Year—Shabbat & Holidays
- Lieberman’s
Shabbat
When Senator Joseph Lieberman was
chosen to be Al Gore’s running mate in 2000,
much was made of his traditional Jewish practice,
particularly of his observance of Shabbat. Just
what might keeping Shabbat have meant to him, and
to us.
- The
Sabbath and its Discontents (Part
I) (Part
This is an extended essay on the development
of Shabbat, and trying to bring a comprehensive approach
to its observance to modern liberal Jews.
- Quick!
Fast!
The meaning and purpose of fasting
on Yom Kippur
- Hanuka
Bed-Time Story
A note on the historical origin
of the Macabbean revolt that is celebrated by the
observance of Hanuka, and it potential contemporary
relevance.
- Dedication
The holiday of Hanuka is derived from the Hebrew
word for ‘dedication.’ Just what is it that is dedicated
today?
- The
Inverted Holiday of Purim
Why Purim might be called an occasion
of serious fun…or silly solemnity.
- Questions
We all know that a young child is supposed to
ask questions at the Passover Seder, but are we all not like
young children when it comes to drawing meaning out of this ritual?
- Holocaust
& Israel
Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day)
and Yom HaAtzma’ut (Israel Independence Day) are
eight days apart on the Jewish calendar, and commemorate
events that took place in the same decade, yet we cannot
and should not emphasize any connection.
- Counting
to 33
Understanding the practice of S’firat
Ha’Omer [Counting the Omer] and Lag b’Omer
in contemporary Jewish thought.
- Shavuot—On
Jewish Learning
Beginning in the late nineteenth
century, the Reform Movement connected the Confirmation
service with the festival of Shavuot. Thus, the
connection between this holiday (Celebration of
the Giving of Torah) and Jewish education was sealed.
III.
Israel and the Middle East—The Enduring Drama
- Israel
2005 - A Unilateral Withdrawal
- Defining
Reform Jewish Zionism (Part
(Part II)
What is Zionism, and in what way can
Reform Judaism contribute to the welfare of the people
in Israel.
- Talking
About the Middle East
Regardless of one’s opinions
or attitudes regarding Israel, the Palestinians,
Arab nations, and beyond, there are useful ground
rules for engaging in a fruitful discussion.
- Seven
Fat Years
A looking back at the Oslo peace
process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
(PA) from the White House signing until the ‘second
intifada.’
- ARZA
Rabbinic Mission (Part I) (Part
II)
(Part III)
A report on traveling through Israel
in January 2001, a few months into the breakdown
in the peace process, at the time that the US Administration
changed from Clinton to Bush, and on the eve of the
election that put Sharon in power.
- Israel
Beyond the Crisis
In the midst of the worse violence
of the Palestinian uprising (spring 2002), there
was still a way to look realistically (not pollyannish)
at a path through the crisis toward resolution
and peace.
- The
Road to Iraq
“The Bush Administration wants
to get rid of Saddam Hussein in the worst way…and
they are going about it in the worst way.” Some
thoughts on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq.
- Thinking
About the Middle East…What’s New
A comparison of the current (in
2004, before Arafat’s death) arguments and
talking points regarding Israel and Palestine with
two seminal essays written over thirty years ago.
- Israel
2005
What
is the big deal about an Israeli withdrawal of
its settlements in the Gaza? Some thoughts on the
Land and the State.
- Religion
and the Jewish Nation-State
This
paper was written for ARZA. You may appreciate
it as a discussion on the relationship between ‘church’ and ‘state.’
- THE
SIX-DAY-PLUS-FORTY-YEAR WAR
Reflections
on the Fortieth Anniversary of the Six-Day War
- IRAQ:MID-DECADE ASSESSMENT
A five year review of the Iraq war.
IV.
Contemporary Jewish Issues
- Vouchers
and the Jewish Question
What is a Jewish interest in the
initiative to improve children’s education
by providing vouchers for private schools, including
parochial ones? This essay was written after a
Supreme Court decision permitting vouchers.
- Abominations?
A Jewish Approach to Homosexuality
 (Part
I) (Part
II)
The Bible seems to be clear in its condemnation
of homosexual activity. It may not be as straight-forward
as it seems.
- Medicine
& Politics
Some thoughts, Jewish and other, on the
never-ending debate on medical costs and health care.
- Life
After Death
According
to traditional Jewish thought, what happens next.
- Notes
on a Silly Season
In an election campaign (2004) in
which religion seems to be playing a particularly
important role, what is a specifically Jewish position
on religion playing footsie with politics.
- Religion
& State: Part I—
The
Tablets in the Courthouse
The religious right certainly felt empowered
by the results of the 2004 election, and began campaigns
regarding certain long-promoted pet projects. The first
of two essays deals with the question of displaying the
Ten Commandments in a US Courthouse.
- Religion
& State: Part II—
Teaching
Evolution
Why has conservative Christian thinking
been so dismissive of the scientific concept of Darwinian
evolution? What should a religiously faithful Jew think
about such alternatives as Intelligent Design?
- JEWS AND POWER
- A Tortured Response
What’s
the Problem?
Why
(Not) Torture?
- A
Rabbinic Approach to Economic Systems (New)
Rabbis are not economists or financial advisers, but rabbinic
literature is replete with insights regarding the economic fabric
of society. This essay, responding to the crisis in the U.S.
and world economy in the Autumn, 2008, describes one of the most
fundamental statements on economic organization found in Jewish
thought.
V.
Jews in Contact with Others
- Talking
to Christians
In fall 2000, a group of Jewish
scholars promulgated a document they called Dabru
Emet (Speak Truth), to be a response to the changes
in Christian attitudes toward Judaism that had
begun with the Catholic document Nostra Aetate
in 1965. This was an important and far-reaching
document, worthy of comment.
- After
9/11
The
attack on the World Trade Center created, among
other things, an opportunity to think about religious
radicalism and Islam.
- Dialogue
Interfaith dialogue is not that easy to do well.
This essay was written a number of years ago, but posted on the
eve of Vassar Temple’s dialogue with the Mid-Hudson Islamic
Center.
- Pre-Viewing
Mel Gibson’s The Passion
Enough was known about Gibson’s
controversial and ultimate box-office hit on the
death of Jesus, that some comments could be raised
even before seeing the film.
VI.
On Being a Reform Jew
- Real
Jews -
Just why Reform is an authentic
form of Judaism, every bit as ‘traditional’ and
grounded in Jewish history and thought as Orthodoxy.
- The
Site Map of the Reform Jew -
A distinct element of American Jewish
life is the development of organizations and federations
that connect individual Jews beyond their own families
and synagogues. Here is a description of the institutions
of the Reform Movement.
- A
Walk in the Woods
Reform Judaism has had a number
of successes in developing and preserving the religious
identity of American Jews. None are more successful,
however, than the Reform Jewish camps. None
are more successful, however, than the Reform Jewish
camps.
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