SHABBAT READING
Hosea’s Abusive Marital Metaphor Ends with Courtship, Not Violence: Prof. Rabbi Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, The Torah.com, May 17, 2023 — One of the most confounding biblical depictions of marriage appears in Hosea 2:1–22, read as the Haftarah to the Torah portion of Bemidbar. On one hand it contains beautiful lines of YHWH, as Israel’s metaphorical husband, speaking tenderly to his wife:
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A DIRE REALITY
Canadian Senator Sounds Alarm—’Jews Are No Longer Safe in Canada’: Jewish Breaking News, WIN, May 30, 2025 — In a powerful and urgent statement, Conservative Senator Leo Housakos has declared that antisemitism in Canada has reached a crisis point.
HALACHAH EXPLAINED
Podcast: Chaim Saiman on the Roots and Basis of Jewish Law (Rebroadcast): Mosaic Magazine, June 14, 2024 — Jewish communities have just concluded the celebration of Shavuot, a pilgrimage festival in times of the Temple and the moment when, fifty days after the Jewish people’s exodus from Egypt, God revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses.
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Shavuot: Zeman Mattan Torateinu?: Shmuel Lubin, The Lehrhaus, June 6, 2019
Hearing God’s Voice: Two Models for Accepting the Torah: Prof. Sam Fleischacker, The Torah.com, Nov. 4, 2013
Shavuot – Moral Clarity, and the Legacy of Kindness: Jeffery Levine, Times of Israel, May 30, 2025
From the Book of Ruth to Swords of Iron: Malkhut in Our Time: Sarah Rindner, Book of Books, June 3, 2024
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More than Just Cheesecake: Why Shavuot is the Most Underrated Holiday: Wondering Jews, May 28, 2025 — Mijal and Noam explore why Shavuot often feels like the “forgotten” Jewish holiday. Is it just about cheesecake, or is there a deeper reason it remains overlooked?
Shavuot, Torah, and Humanity: Jeremy Rosen, Algemeiner, May 16, 2021 — The rabbis of the first century decided to make Shavuot the anniversary of the Mount Sinai revelation. They added this cerebral, constitutional dimension (nowhere mentioned specifically in the Torah) to the holiday’s earlier agricultural significance.
Exploring the Meaning and History of Shavuot: Yoram Ettinger, Algemeiner, May 22, 2023 — The Jewish holiday of Shavuot begins on Sunday at sundown. Here are some facts about the holiday, ahead of this year’s celebration.
A Shavuot Story: How Ruth’s Loyalty Inspired American Liberty: Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern, Jewish Journal, May 28, 2025 — On the holiday of Shavuot, the biblical book of Ruth is read in synagogue. Explanations for this practice include the springtime setting of both the tale and the holiday, as well as the heroine’s acceptance of Judaism, which thematically connects to the festival’s commemoration of the acceptance of God’s law at Sinai by the Israelites in the days of Moses.