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Isaiah 53 (A Commentary)
by Rabbi Jeffrey Adler “Mi heemin lishmuateynu uzroa al-mi niglatah?” “Who has believed our report? To whom is the arm of Adonai revealed?” These words open the 4th and last of Isaiah’s “Servant Songs”, 4 prophecies describing the “Eved Adonai”, the “Servant of Adonai”, Who suffers and dies. Iconic rabbinic commentator Rashi interpreted this figure…
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What Memorial Day Means
by Jonathan Feldstein Each year I try to think of how to depict Memorial Day in Israel in a way that’s meaningful and juxtapose it in relation to how it’s observed in the US. Many thoughts race through my head. And each year I see Memorial Day through a different prism. This year’s prism is…
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Keep Your Eyes on Iran. Syria. Iran in Syria
by Jonathan Feldstein It’s an irony that as Russia celebrated Victory Day, 73 years since the Allied victory of the tyranny of the Nazis, President Putin hosted Prime Minister Netanyahu as an honored guest. The timing and symbolism were meaningful. At the same time, Israel was preparing to launch a bold military strike against the…
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“A Really Good Investment After All” – Jeremiah 32
by Rabbi Jeffrey Adler The Torah reading for this past week was a double portion: Behar and Bechukotai, amounting to Leviticus 25-27. The attending Haftarah reading to Behar is most of Jeremiah 32; I would like us to now take a look at this fascinating passage. In this passage, Jerusalem is surrounded by Chaldean troops.…
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Psalm 114
by Rabbi Jeffrey Adler Psalm 114 is the second listed in the special collection of Psalms known as “Hallel”, or, “praise”, psalms popularly and traditionally recited during the Jewish holiday cycle, most notably, at Passover. This one particularly relates specifically to Passover, that celebration so typical of the divine intervention throughout the history of Israel…
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Psalm 113
by Rabbi Jeffrey Adler Psalm 113 is the first listed in the book of Psalms under the grouping of 6 psalms known as the “Hallel”, special psalms of praise traditionally recited at special seasons of the calendar, most notably, Passover. This psalm lauds Adonai more for Who and What He is, more than for what…
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Solomon’s Wisdom, Hamas’ Cynical Stupidity
by Jonathan Feldstein Reading about current events and the renewed Gaza demonstration incited by Hamas, I’m reminded of the well known story recounting the wisdom of King Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-28) judging to whom a baby belonged that two women each claimed as theirs. The women came to Solomon to adjudicate their dispute. One of…
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The Holocaust for the Next Generation
by Jonathan Feldstein It’s safe to say that every year since the Holocaust ended, one could safely say Holocaust commemoration and education has never been more important. That’s especially in the past generation as survivors, whose first hand testimony to the unspeakable horrors they suffered, during which six million Jews were murdered, age and die.…
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Liberating Thoughts about the Holocaust
by Jonathan Feldstein 73 years ago this week, three young men who were neighbors of my family, borrowed weapons from Soviet troops occupying post-war Poland, and returned to their home town to escort the remaining Jews out of Kanczuga for the last time. The three young men had survived the war that ended three months…
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Passing Over At Passover
by Rabbi Jeffrey Adler After a tenure of 4 centuries of slavery in Egypt, the time finally came for Israel’s deliverance. Adonai had told Avram during the reaffirmation of His covenant in Genesis 15, that “your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will be enslaved and oppressed 400…
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A Watchman To Watch Over The People