Sabbath & Holidays
Ha’azinu: Nobodaddy
Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
So you're worshipping an un-god? Then God will get Himself an un-people. (But what is that?) (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:10
Happy Yom Kippur to You?Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by Shlomo M. Brody | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
"Happy" is certainly not the first word that comes to mind for most of us when we describe our Yom Kippur experience. After all, the Torah commands us to afflict ourselves on this day (Leviticus 23:26-31).
Wednesday, September 19, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Moses writes down a poem to be God's witness against the Israelites—or is he writing down the entire Torah? With a bonus from Joshua 1. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:22Nitzavim: The Quad Cities of Sin
Tuesday, September 11, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Everyone knows about Sodom and Gomorrah—but what were Admah and Zeboiim? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:44Ki Tavo: Conceptual Chronology
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Mysteriously, the Israelites are exiled in the middle of Deuteronomy 28 but are still in their land as the chapter goes on. Is the Torah always written in chronological order? We'll let Nahmanides and Abarbanel tackle this problem. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:12:08Ki Teitzei: Man and the Land
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
When Achilles drags Hector's body behind his chariot, Apollo says, "He does dishonor to the dumb earth." Deuteronomy expresses a similar sentiment. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:54Shoftim: Bloodshed
Wednesday, August 22, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
The case of the "Priests and Elders Murder Mystery." (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:46Re’eh: Threats and Rewards
Wednesday, August 15, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
We'll trace the blessings and the curses through Deuteronomy and across the river. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:02Ekev: The Turning Point
Wednesday, August 8, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
"If" the Israelites obey the Lord, they will be blessed (of course). But this week's unusual word for "if"—ekev—signals something more. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:46
Is Romantic Love a Jewish Value?Friday, August 3, 2012 by Ben Greenfield | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Today is the happiest day in the Hebrew calendar. According to the Mishnah, Tu b’Av (the 15th of the month of Av) was a joyous occasion on which the unmarried women of ancient Jerusalem would dance in the vineyards, hoping to find a match.
Editors' Picks
Digital Davening Michael J. Broyde, Torah Musings. Smartphones have already begun to supplant traditional siddurim; but the potential of the digital revolution to transform the experience of prayer has barely been realized.
Changes Fred MacDowell, On the Main Line. On Orthodox liturgical reform during the 19th century, and the case of one British synagogue.
Is the Kotel Plaza a Synagogue? David Golinkin, G’vanim. How should the State of Israel respond to the increasing religious policing around the Western Wall that is slowly but surely turning the area into a Haredi synagogue? (PDF)
Sha-bot Gil Student, Torah Musings. Can a robot be a Shabbos goy? The question is not simple, but it is not without Talmudic precedent.
Radical Orthodoxy Daniel Boyarin, Book of Doctrines and Opinions. The Talmud scholar imagines a religious practice, "free of the ethnocentrism and even racism that characterizes so much of contemporary orthodox language . . . that would authentically enable my own radical political commitments." (Interview with Alan Brill)
Go Ahead, Buy that Train Set Dennis Prager, Jewish Journal. A holiday season defense of material pleasures.
Hanukkah (from "Meditations on the Fall and Winter Holidays") Charles Reznikoff, Poems of Charles Reznikoff. Go swiftly in your chariot, my fellow Jew,you who are blessed with horses;and I will follow as best I can afoot,bringing with me perhaps a word or two.Speak your learned and witty discoursesand I will utter my word or two— not by might not by powerbut by Your Spirit, Lord.
Choose Your Poison Philologos, Forward. Why do some say l'chaim when blessing wine: to confirm that the drink hasn't been poisoned, to dispel grim associations, or simply to make sure that all present are ready for the blessing?
Faith is Not Quite the Word Martha Himmelfarb, Daily Princetonian. The scholar of religion talks about Israel, interreligious friendship, trends in American Judaism, and her own practice, including saying kaddish for her father, sociographer Milton Himmelfarb. (Interview by Robert George)
Changing Jewish Liturgy Aryeh A. Frimer, Torah Musings. Over the millennia, changes to Jewish prayers have been introduced by printing errors, or forced upon Jews by censors. Now, changes are proposed to correct an "androcentric bias."