The Test of the Eighth Day

Last updated on: March 22, 2022 at 3:41 pm By Hebrew College

Parashat Shemini (Leviticus 9:1-11:47) By Rafi Ellenson | March 22, 2022 Often, we don’t see our imperfections until we’ve completed our first drafts. This isn’t a problem. It’s a beautiful and essential part of human nature. We don’t and we can’t achieve perfection. We can only try and try again where we fall short. Consider the creation narrative in Genesis. Seven days creates one perfect, whole, complete cycle of creation and rest. After that—on the eighth day—is when humanity really... Read more

Stuck in Scranton: Danger and Gratitude in Parashat Tsav

Last updated on: March 16, 2022 at 10:10 am By Hebrew College

Parashat Tzav (Leviticus 6:1–8:36) By Joey Glick | March 15, 2022 My mom’s journey with stage-IV lung cancer started with a bang, with ever worsening scans, with aggressive chemotherapy, and with deep, heartfelt conversations. I knew that things had gotten bad when my mom, a lifelong worry-er, told me on the phone that her anxiety was gone: “Joe, I feel like this is all making me understand that I don’t need to sweat the small stuff.” I immediately booked a... Read more

“God Does Not Play Dice with the Universe”

Last updated on: March 10, 2022 at 1:22 pm By Hebrew College

Parashat VaYikra (Leviticus 1:1–5:26) and Parashat Zakhor (Deuteronomy 25:17–19) By Rachel Adelman | March 08, 2022 In this essay, I want to unfold one word for you, like a map by which we might direct our path towards this coming season of Purim, in language play on va-yiqra’ / va-yiqar. This week’s Torah reading opens: And [He] called to Moses [vayiqra’ el Moshe] and the LORD [Yhwh] spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting saying: Speak to the Israelites... Read more

Acknowledging holiness along the way

Last updated on: March 3, 2022 at 10:50 am By Hebrew College

Parashat Pekudei (Exodus 38:21–40:38) By Rabbi Becky Silverstein | February 28, 2022 One of the things I miss most about going to shul regularly is the moment when the final line of a book of Torah is read. In many places, the kahal (community) rises and calls out, “chazak, chazak, v’nit’chazek” (“be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened”). These words are then echoed by the Torah reader. This thirty second ritual takes an otherwise ordinary moment in the... Read more

Vayakhel: A Love Letter to Liminal Space

Last updated on: February 24, 2022 at 8:51 pm By Hebrew College

Parshat Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20) By Yael Werber | February 22, 2022 I have never considered myself a big traveler, but this year, as I am going to school in Boston and working as an intern at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City, I have found myself in transit more often than not. While I have tried multiple different modes for getting to New York, I have ultimately decided that the one that works best for me is flying.... Read more

Revelation, Co-creation, Illumination

Last updated on: February 15, 2022 at 11:44 am By Hebrew College

Parashat Ki Tissa (Ki Tisa: Exodus 30:11–34:35) By Rabbi Adina Allen | February 14, 2022 The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone of Judaism. Torah teaches that the stone tablets containing the commandments were given to us after we escaped Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, and arrived at Mount Sinai. Like the manna that sustained our bodies as we wandered in the desert wilderness, the tablets sustained us as we emerged as free people and navigated the unknown of how to... Read more

For Dignity and Adornment

Last updated on: February 8, 2022 at 3:23 pm By Hebrew College

Parshat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) By Frankie Sandmel | February 7, 2022 In the past few weeks we’ve seen God as an architect designing the mishkan, a trip leader guiding Israel through the desert, and a performance artist delivering the commandments amidst pomp and circumstance at Sinai. This week we meet God, the fashion designer: וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֑יךָ לְכָב֖וֹד וּלְתִפְאָֽרֶת׃ Make holy clothing for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. (Exodus 28:2) God’s instructions about what Aaron should wear to... Read more

Somewhere Between the Cherubim

Last updated on: February 1, 2022 at 4:03 pm By Hebrew College

Parashat Terumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19) By Leah Carnow | February 1, 2022 As a child, I loved “The Wizard of Oz.” Although I grew up watching plenty of movies in color, I remember feeling amazed as Dorothy swirled from the black and white world of Kansas to the colorful world of Oz. The yellow brick road, the blue and white gingham dress, and, of course, the shiny ruby slippers, are etched in my memory. To see the world in rainbow color... Read more

Close But Not Quite, Near Yet Still Far

Last updated on: January 25, 2022 at 1:50 pm By Hebrew College

Parshat Mishpatim (Exodus 21:1–24:18) By Rabbi Avi Strausberg | January 24, 2022 After about eight months of not seeing my 96-year-old grandmother and still deep in the pandemic without a clear end in sight, my wife and I decided we couldn’t afford to let another six months go by without a visit. We loaded our two small kids into the car and drove the five hours from DC to the Bronx in order to see my grandmother. We stood outside... Read more

Far and Near Embrace

Last updated on: January 18, 2022 at 6:23 pm By Hebrew College

Parashat Yitro (Exodus 18:1–20:23) By Rabbi David Maayan | January 18, 2022 This week’s Torah reading gives us the opportunity to reflect upon the value of distance, as well as closeness in our relationships, even with the Divine. It centers on the climactic moments of the Mount Sinai revelation, a paradigm for Jews of a direct encounter with the Divine. Rabbinic tradition does not speak of the “Ten Commandments,” but rather of the aseret ha-diberot, the “Ten Utterances.” This term... Read more