The Heart of Torah: How Our Actions Bring it to Life
What makes the Torah different from any other book we read?
I posed this question years ago to a group of second graders as we began a lesson about Simchat Torah.
Siblings Squabbles with Purpose, from the Book of Numbers to the History Books
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year
Not All Rebellions Look (or End) Like Korach's Did
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year struggle “in the wilderness” to pass the 19th Amendment.
Hospitality: Can We Do Better?
Biblical stories often form prototypical frameworks that define and shape later Jewish behaviors.
Another Miriam Worth Remembering
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States this year, Rabbi Carole Balin, Ph.D., is sharing eight chapters of an "alternative Book of Numbers” designed to tell the stories of Jewish women who combined civic engagement with Jewish values in a 40-year struggle “in the wilderness” to pass the 19th Amendment.
Noah: A Case Study in Transformation
At the beginning of Parashat Noach , it is apparent that the earth and everything living on it are in need of serious transformation. We read: "The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with violence" and ". . .
On the Permanence of Graves
Burying one's dead-what could be a more rudimentary cultural ritual? The scene in which Abraham buys a gravesite from a Hittite for Sarah is often commented upon for the highly stylized negotiation that results in the acquisition.
God as Matchmaker
With so many matchmaking and online dating services, it's no surprise that people are looking for love, but as a recent Pew study1 shows, their search results in marriage less and less often. That's because relationships of any kind are seldom easy.
Abraham, the Rabbis, and Us
Why was Abram told to leave his home and family and go out into the wilderness? (Genesis 12:1) The Midrash, the vast collection of rabbinic reflections on the Torah, offers a number of answers.