Author Archive: Michael Fessler

Exodus Study Group, Week 3 and 4

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On January 17 and 24, we revisted Exodus Chapter 1 through the lens of the most prominent medieval Torah commentaries. We used Michael Carasik’s The Commentator’s Bible: Exodus, published by the Jewish Publication Society, which is an excellent reworking of these classic commentaries for modern readers.

In addition, on January 24, we reviewed a piece of contemporary Israeli women’s midrash on the midwives story, from the collection Dirshuni: Contemporary Women’s Midrash. The specific piece we reviewed can be read here:

The Midwives Saw and Feared –  Dirshuni

I unfortunately forgot to hit “Record” on our January 17 class, but the video for January 24 can be found below.

On January 31, we’ll move on to Chapter 2 of Exodus.

 

 

 

Exodus Study Group, Week 2

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This week, we continued with our close reading of the first chapter of Exodus, reviewing verses 15-22 in several translations.

Here is the text sheet we used this week:

Exodus, Chapter 1 - Week 2 (PDF)

Next week, on Wednesday, January 17 at 6:30 PM, we'll make another pass through Exodus Chapter 1 through the lens of the most prominent medieval Torah commentaries. We'll be using Michael Carasik's The Commentator's Bible: Exodus, published by the Jewish Publication Society, which is an excellent reworking of these classic commentaries for modern readers.

The video of this week's discussion appears below:

 

 

Exodus Study Group, Week 1

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Our Exodus (Shemot) study group met for the first time on Wednesday, January 3.

Here is the study sheet that we used during the class:

Exodus Study Group Week 1.

Note that on the sheet, I shared four translations of our Torah text:

1) Jewish Publication Society (JPS)

2) Everett Fox

3) Richard Elliott Friedman

4) Robert Alter

The first two are available online as options for viewing the Torah on the Sefaria website:

https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.1.1?ven=Tanakh:_The_Holy_Scriptures,_published_by_JPS&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en

https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.1.1?ven=The_Five_Books_of_Moses,_by_Everett_Fox._New_York,_Schocken_Books,_1995&lang=en&with=Translations&lang2=en

JPS is the translation used in our chumash, Etz Hayim

Everett Fox's translation can be acquired in book form  here: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Books-Moses-Leviticus-Deuteronomy/dp/0805211195

Richard Eliott Friedman's translation is here: https://www.amazon.com/Commentary-Torah-Richard-Elliott-Friedman/dp/0060507179

and Robert Alter's translation is here: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Books-Moses-Robert-Alter/dp/B000YITC1G

The video of the class  can be viewed here:

 

 

Tisha Ba-Av Resources for 2023

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Friends,

Here are some readings that we'll be using for this year's Tisha Ba'Av service — I'm uploading him here so folks on Zoom can find them easily.

Through our laments for the brokenness of our world, may we ultimately find purpose and hope.

Sources on Judaism and Reproductive Health

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