Sabbath & Holidays
Bo: The Great Escape
Wednesday, January 16, 2013 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Why did God kill all the first-born of Egypt? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:17Va’era: Confronting Leviathan
Wednesday, January 9, 2013 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Moses, snakes, and serpents—and what all that has to do with the story of creation. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:46Sh’mot: The Gathering
Wednesday, January 2, 2013 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
A mysterious connection between Moses and Elijah—coincidence? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:47Vay’hi: Echoes of Abraham
Wednesday, December 26, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Two allusions to the story of Abraham make one thing clear: Joseph's getting thrown off the bus. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:18Vayigash: Bound Together
Wednesday, December 19, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Two biblical expressions for love—one of which will lead us to a surprising place. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:09:53
Warfare on Shabbat: The Legacy of the MaccabeesFriday, December 14, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ezra and Nehemiah were so successful in instilling Shabbat observance that Jews refused to take up arms on Shabbat to defend themselves—with disastrous results.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Pharaoh's heart is pounding—not the last time this will happen to a biblical king. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:23
Clothes Make the ManFriday, December 7, 2012 by Chaim Saiman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The recent daf yomi Shabbat 63 appears to present just the technicalities of what can and cannot be transported on Shabbat. Yet it is simultaneously an exploration of war, peace, and the nature of manhood.
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Was it "courtiers" who had the dreams that Joseph interprets in prison—or eunuchs? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:24
The Sigd Festival Comes Home to JerusalemWednesday, December 5, 2012 by Shai Afsai | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the Sigd, Ethiopian Jews would walk to a mountaintop and pray to return to Jerusalem. Now they are in Jerusalem, and the Sigd is a national holiday in Israel.
Editors' Picks
"Rabbi, do we Jews believe in reincarnation?" Hyim Shafner, Institute for Jewish Ideas. "Knowing full well that much of Kabbalah, philosophy, and even Midrash does accept the notion of reincarnation, I tried to muster a definitive 'No!'"
We Failed Zuckerberg Dana Evan Kaplan, Forward. A Reform rabbi argues that his movement's pluralistic theology is to blame for the detachment of young Jews from their faith.
Never on Saturday Tevi Troy, Washington Jewish Week. "During the Katrina disaster, President Bush declared to his senior staff that there would be no weekend . . . As a Sabbath observer, I wondered what to do."
Good Queen Bless Jonathan Fishburn, Fishburn Books. While Jews have long prayed for the welfare of their rulers, the upcoming Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II calls for special liturgical compositions. (PDF)
The Hermeneutics of Hasidism Zackary Sholem Berger, Tablet. Although writers who reject the Hasidic world capture public attention, the really interesting literature comes from writers who struggle with Hasidism but love it too much to leave.
There's a Key in My Challah! Jeffrey Saks, Torah Musings. Does the post-Passover tradition known as "shliss challah" derive from symbolic readings of the season's texts—or, rather, is it a Christian symbol of Jesus rising in the dough?
Hitler and Pharaoh Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe. The nexus of Passover and Yom Hashoah teaches a single lesson—that persecution of Jews was preceded by the persecutors' sense of victimhood.
P.O.R.K. Leah Stern, Times of Israel. "Our children have suddenly become ultra-Orthodox. What do we do?" P.O.R.K. to the rescue!
The Carp in the Bathtub Alan Deutschman, Salon. In the Brooklyn of the writer's youth, they didn't know from ahi tuna, but carp made good pets—and great gefilte fish, too.
Prayers and Poems David Yezzi, New Criterion. Poetry and prayer have been allied traditions from the beginning.