Though we have customs and rituals that give us some degree of a common experience during our holidays, our unique associations with festivals like Chanukah are what we remember most vividly. It's important to remember these traditions and moments from our pasts so we can contemplate why the holidays are important to us. These are some of my memories about Chanukah from when I was growing up. Some are common, some are particular to me.
In just a few days the holiday of Channukah is going to start, but that also means that we are in the thick of the Christmas season. In the modern world, Jews have the opportunity to experience Christmas as a time when people all across the shared culture of our national identities choose to hold the virtues of kindness and peacefulness in especially high regard. Though it is still a Christian religious holiday, there are ways observant Jews can appreciate many of the sentiments of the Christmas season.
Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. In this week's Torah portion, Vayeitzei, there is a very interesting use of a particular motif. The parsha begins and ends with the laying of a pillar, but what those two pillars symbolize could not be more different.
It's unsettling how much the story of Jacob and Esau has in common with the current conflict in Israel between the Israeli and Palestinian people, but then again all long wars between nations are a reflection of this tale. It is both sad and reassuring that the understanding of brother set against brother is as old as any human record. The unfortunate part is that we, as the people of this world, should have moved beyond this by now, but there is an indication of hope in this parsha as well.
Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. The Torah portion for this week, Chayei Sarah (the life of Sarah) marks the passing of the head of Abraham's family to Isaac upon his marriage to Rebekah, a Mesopotamian woman who embodies the ancient Hebrew concept of propriety. But really, this story is essentially a stately romance of antiquity. Like the great novelized romances of Victorian literature, kindness and manners are shorthand in this story for love and a prosperous partnership between the man and woman concerned. In fact, much of this parsha revolves around this concept of an above-board approach to delicate emotional business.
Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. This week, the Torah portion is Vayeira, some of the most famous, as well as some of the most busy, chapters of the Tanakh. In this portion we find the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the rather dark story of Lot, the expulsion of Hagar and most importantly the akedah, the binding of Isaac. There is no portion of the Torah so loaded as this one, but as most parshiot go, this one runs on a theme.
Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. Today I want to examine a special topic, one that concerns all people regardless of faith or culture. People of all backgrounds deal with the loss of loved ones, but every culture approaches the experience of bereavement differently. Today, I will explain the basics of the Judaic customs surrounding death and mourning.
Judaism has always been an education-centered religion. There are morals in our liturgy about teaching our laws and precepts to our children every day, as there are lessons in the Torah about the importance of personal growth through hands-on experience. The use of new technology in the dissemination of our cultural knowledge is integral to the survival of Jewish thought. From stone engravings to printed manuscripts, ancient Judaism benefited from the advances of the times. Likewise, modern Jews must continue to update how we communicate our ideas.
Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. The Torah portion for this week is the story of Noah and the Great Flood. This is obviously one of the most allegory-heavy sections of the Tanakh and as such it serves a strong foundation for an effectively endless series of lessons.
Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Judeo Talk. This week we return to the beginning of the Five Books of Moses, having read the concluding passages of the Tanakh in the past two weeks. Rather than continuing to pursue direct biblical exegesis every week on this blog, I feel that it would be appropriate to explore the importance of applying the lessons of Torah to our modern lives. So, every week I will be inviting you to think about how some element of Torah can manifest in your daily existence by analyzing the words, themes and history of particular passages, some from the parsha, some from the haftarah and some from other sources like the psalms or other supplementary texts. This week we will be looking at one of the larger meanings of the creation story as well as the haftarah from Isaiah that accompanies the first portion of the Tanakh.