Parashat Ha Shavua Commentaries

As we go marching, marching, in the beauty of the day, A million darkened kitchens, a thousand mill lofts gray, Are touched with all the radiance that a sudden sun discloses, For the people hear us singing: Bread and Roses! Bread and Roses!  - James Oppenheim Read more...

"Eicha yashva badad, hair rabati am, haitai k'almana - Lonely sits the city, once great with people. She that was great among the nations has become like a widow". Read more...

Note: This drash references an earlier contribution written by Rabbi Elliot Dorff. Please click here to read. Read more...

If one had to briefly describe the Fourth of July, they might say that it is a holiday commemorating a rebellion by America against their British ruling power. In acquiring this independence, America was able to forge a land open to diverse views and population groups, something we commemorate on Independence Day (also known as the Fourth of July). It is interesting that this year, as we approach the Fourth of July, we find that it directly follows parshat Korach. Read more...

It is often the case that the things that "everybody" knows to be true – aren't. Marie Antoinette never said: "Let them eat cake." Vincent Van Gogh did not cut off his ear to impress a lover. And, despite what my well-meaning mother told me, swallowed gum doesn't sit in your stomach for seven years, and if you make a funny face there is absolutely no chance of it sticking that way. There are lots of similarly popular myths about Jewish law: Read more...