Study
Parashat Nasso: Summary
God describes the service of the Gershon family of Levites; laws relating to the suspected adulteress and the nazirite are given; God tells Moses and Aaron the priestly blessing; the heads of tribes bring gifts to the Tabernacle.
Ashrei: Psalm 145
The internal and external structure of this carefully-crafted Psalm serves to reinforce its theme of praising God as the caring, divine ruler of all creation.
The Limits Of Power And Conquest
The Book of Numbers, full of bloodshed and division, ends with a call for unity and a discussion of the sanctity of life.
The Family Album
The list of places through which the Israelites traveled in the wilderness teaches us to understand Judaism through our everyday experiences.
Soviet Jewry Between the Wars
Soviet Jewry Between Wars. World War I and the Jews. Jewish History from 1914 - 1948. Modern Jewish History. Jewish History and Community.
Jewish Tradition and the Lifecycle
Jewish lifecycle rituals reflect a communal orientation, the democratic nature of traditions, the relationship between the biological and the social, and the inevitability of evolution and change.
Creation Mysticism: Fashioning the World From Letters
An early group of Jewish mystics conceived of the Hebrew alphabet as the building blocks of creation.
Dramatizing the Torah
The Torah reading in most synagogues is inaccessible, the author says, and needs to be "livened up" through the use of drama and performance art.
National Redemption
The blessings that conclude the Amidah's center section emphasize God's redemption of Israel.
Radical Theology: Confronting the Crises of Modernity
The findings of modern science and the tragedy of the Holocaust led some Jewish thinkers to redefine God.
The Blessings Around the Shema
The structure of these three blessings reflects the historical progress from creation to revelation to redemption.