Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

In Professor Michael Walzer's now-classic study of the political history of the Passover story, Exodus and Revolution (1985), he concludes with three fundamental teachings that illuminate the ongoing relevance of the narrative to our contemporary lives: Read more...

Last week I had one of those perfect moments as a teacher. The passage of Talmud we were studying was a challenging one, but my students had studied hard before coming to class, so we were off to a good start. We struggled together to put all the pieces of a complex passage into place, and when we finally achieved clarity in interpreting the difficult page, I noticed that we had gone a full fifteen minutes over our allotted class period. It was a rare moment where time – at least for me, the teacher – seemed to have stood still. Read more...

This Purim I adorned myself with a pair of pants, a skirt, a blouse and yet another skirt (draped as a toga) all bearing a black and white pattern of different sorts. I asked people to guess who or what I am. Read more...

This Shabbat marks a new beginning, as we open a fresh book of the Humash, Sefer Vayikra/the Book of Leviticus, for our weekly Torah reading. Along with pushing ahead in our annual progression through our Torah scroll this week, we'll hear from a second Torah as well. Our Maftir portion for this Shabbat is Parashat Zachor – literally the "Parashah of Memory" – read every year on the Shabbat before Purim. Read more...

And Moses instructed them as follows: Every seventh year, the year set for remission [of debts], at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place that He will choose, you shall read this Teaching aloud in the presence of all Israel. Gather the people - men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities – that they may hear [the Torah] and so learn to revere the Lord your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching. Deuteronomy 31:10-12   Read more...