On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah – Mishpatim: When Judaism Calls Us to Speak Out Courageously
Parashat Mishpatim presents a full catalog of laws, rituals, observance, and obligations that guide us in living a Jewish life of moral depth and courage. But, Rabbi Rick Jacobs asks, how do we, as liberal Jews regard these laws – which of them are we obligated to observe, and how?
Stories We Tell: The Miser's Slippers
Stories We Tell: The Samovar
Stories We Tell: Where is Your Target?
Stories We Tell: How to Give a Blessing
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - D’varim: Why Tragedies Happen, and How to Respond
Parashat D’varim is the first portion of the Book of Deuteronomy, and this year it is read just before Tishah B’Av – a day that, throughout Jewish history, has been one of tragedy and destruction.
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Balak: The Beauty of Humility
Parashat Balak’s accompanying Haftorah portion features the famous verse: “God has told you what is good and what the Eternal requires of you only to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” For many, if you wanted to distill Jewish trad
On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah - Matot-Mas’ei: Cities of Refuge
The double parashah of Matot-Mas’ei introduces the concept of cities of refuge.
Ethical Existence Is in the Details
Through a web of seemingly disjointed scenarios, the Book of Deuteronomy is filled with large and small methodologies for preserving the possibility of ethical behavior even in the worst contexts.... Reading the Torah portion Ki Teitzei demands facing a battery of situations in which the average human being might not behave ethically, even in the smallest detail of life, and yet prescribes a way to be ethical nonetheless
It’s Not All About Us: Redemption, Revelation, and the Land of Israel
Being human means dangling simultaneously between two core realities. At one and the same time, on one hand you matter a great deal – it’s all about us! -- and on the other hand, you’re not the only thing that matters.... This dialectic is especially emphasized in Parashat Eikev, in Deuteronomy, chapters 8-11, as the Israelites approach a climactic moment in human history. Will redemption and Revelation really allow for the possibility of creating an ideal society?