Torah Commentary

Torah Commentary

The Opposite of Faith

When I began writing this series of Torah commentaries for ReformJudaism.org I forgot that, because the Reform movement celebrates only one day of Shavuot, we read Parashat Naso over two weeks to align with the traditional calendar of Torah readings. I therefore thought I could skip writing about the sotah ritual—a trial by ordeal for a woman suspected of infidelity.

Women Facing Abuse as Suffragists and in the Torah

Did you know that Gloria Steinem’s grandmother, Pauline Perlmutter Steinem , was not only a sisterhood president of her Reform congregation, but also a suffragist? The legacy of activism in the Steinem family, paired with lessons learned from Parashat Naso, reminds us to be on guard against gender-based discrimination meant to preserve an unjust status quo.