Noting the verb roots of the verse, Eitan Cooper, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of The Schechter Institutes calls attention to a Talmudic debate between Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachmani and Resh Lakish on how men and women were created. This debate shows how even the ancient scholars engaged in debates on gender identity and sexual orientation.
Parshat Shemini – Aaron’s Silence
Parashat Shemini: “Vayidom Aharon.” Aaron was silent, says the text. Was it shocked silence? Perhaps. Or, perhaps, it was silence which results from the depth of one’s emotions, too overwhelming to express in words?
Seize The Moment in Parashat Tetzaveh
Rabbi Dr. Reb Mimi Feigelson, Mashpiah Ruchanit (Spiritual Mentor) and senior lecturer of Rabbinics and Chassidic Thought at the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary, relates to the fifth aliyah of the Parasha:
Life Cycle, Tu Bishvat, the environment …and the contested phosphate quarry near Arad
Tu Bishvat is mentioned in the Mishna as Rosh Hashanah L’Ilan, the New Year of the Tree. It gained in popularity when the 16th-century Kabbalists in Safed began to hold a Seder Tu Bishvat and eat up to 30 types of fruits, while the Zionists in the 20th century began to plant trees on Tu Bishvat.
When Disaster Strikes By R. Miriam Berkowitz
One Saturday night in November, 1995, I was making havdala with JTS rabbinical students spending a year in Israel Matt Berkowitz, Matt Eisenfeld z”l and Shai Held in their apartment in Rehavia. The calmness of the evening broke down when an urgent announcement of the tragic and unexpected murder of then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was made on the radio.
Parshat Toldot: Earning the Name By Eitan Cooper
As Parshat Toldot opens God responds to Rebecca that she is pregnant with twins, not just any twins, but two nations inside of her, In a struggle for power.
Hospitality In the Face of Fear
As we mourn the victims in The Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Rabbi Ilana Foss shares her perspective on our moral obligation in tragedy’s wake.
What Does “Be Fruitful and Multiply” Mean? By Eitan Cooper
Israel is already one of the most densely populated countries in the world. What are the potentially destructive implications of our extraordinarily high birthrate?
Judaism and Christianity: Bridging the Gap Dr. Ari Ackerman
Dr. Ari Ackerman, Dean of the Schechter Institute asks: Can Judaism and Christianity cooperate, or is there an unbridgeable gap between these two religions?
TALI Partnership with the Ministry of Education in Israel
