Sabbath & Holidays
Naso: Speech! Speech!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Torah Talk with Michael Carasik There is something extremely unusual about the way God's voice speaks to Moses in the Tent of Meeting—both grammatically and theologically. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:12:17
Shavuot: The Stopping PointFriday, May 25, 2012 by Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
There is always something going on in the Jewish festival calendar. From the fast of the 10th of Tevet through Hanukkah right around to the next fast of the 10th of Tevet on December 23rd, it's hard to go more than four or five weeks in a row without finding some special day to be observed.
Sleepless on ShavuotThursday, May 24, 2012 by Moshe Sokolow | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Two practices long associated with Shavuot, the "time of the revelation of the Law" (z'man matan Torateinu), are the enrolling of children in religious school and the marathon all-night study vigil (tikkun leyl Shavuot).
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Torah Talk with Michael Carasik When is a tribe not a shevet? When it is a mateh (and vice versa). We begin "the Book of Tribes" this week, and one of the two Hebrew words for "tribe" will play a major role. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:22B’har-B’hukotai: A Jeffersonian Jubilee
Wednesday, May 16, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Torah Talk with Michael Carasik It's the section about the jubilee year, so naturally I'm thinking about Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson. . . (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:48Emor: More than Kin, and Less than Kind
Wednesday, May 9, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Torah Talk with Michael Carasik Leviticus tells the priests they must avoid ritual contamination with death—unless the death is that of a close family member. But the text uses a standard Hebrew word in a very unusual way in order to issue this command. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:10:22Aharei Mot-K’doshim: Abide with Me
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Torah Talk with Michael Carasik This week we are told that the Tent of Meeting "abides" in the midst of the Israelites—something that a tent ought not to be doing. (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:28
Independence DayThursday, April 26, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Every spring, within a single week, Israel commemorates Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Ha'atzma'ut. These days revisit the core drama of the modern Jewish experience. They are also among the most controversial in the Israeli calendar.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Torah Talk with Michael Carasik Our text begins by discussing a woman who does the verb tazria before giving birth—but does it mean that she conceives, delivers the baby, or . . . ? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:54Sh’mini: One Offering Too Many?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 by Torah Talk with Michael Carasik | Jewish Ideas Daily » Weekly Portions
Torah Talk with Michael Carasik This week, Aaron gets his first chance to offer a sacrifice—but there are too many people making too many offerings. What's going on? (Click here for source sheet.) Download | Duration: 00:11:43
Editors' Picks
The Fast of Fasts Philologos, Forward. In rabbinic times, when a Jew spoke of "the fast," there was no need to be more specific—as even a passage in the New Testament interestingly attests.
At the Bar of Justice Eliezer Segal, Jewish Star. In envisioning the great annual "day of judgment," the ancient rabbis and poets invoked legal and military images drawn from Greek and Roman life.
Repentance, Prayer, and Tzedakah David Golinkin, Schechter Institute. A history and analysis of U'netaneh Tokef.
Seven Thousand Ways to Say "Happy New Year" Lydia Aisenberg, Givat Haviva. Telling the story of Zionism through Rosh Hashanah greeting cards. (With images.)
Obama's Advice for Your Rabbi Tevi Troy, Wall Street Journal. Just in time for the High Holy Days, the White House is giving rabbis political talking points to take to the pulpit.
Loaves and Wishes Vered Guttman, Washington Post. On Rosh Hashanah, cuisine becomes a system of meaning. (With recipes)
Why I Love "Why we Pray" Matthue Roth, Matthue. Choosing just six prayers and treating them in depth, Rabbi Barry Freundel has written today's best-conceived and most fully-realized guide to the Jewish liturgy.
Meet the American Shul Emily Katz, H-Net. Everything you ever wanted to know about the history, the mores, and the character of "the most significant institution in the life of [American] Jews."
It's a Bird! It's a Challah! Leah Koenig, Forward. Rolls shaped like birds, symbols of divine protection and mercy, are among traditional Ashkenazi foods for Rosh Hashanah and the meal before Yom Kippur.
Where Faith is Weak, Life is Weak Jonathan Sacks, Jewish Chronicle. Intermarriage, assimilation, and vulnerability are not the causes but the symptoms of a transcendent malaise affecting a people once aflame with devotion.