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5 09, 2006

Parashat Ki Tavo

By ahsilver|2006-09-05T18:16:38-04:00September 5, 2006|

By Rabbi Emily Korzenik

Very early in the portion, Ki Tavo presents the
Torah as familiar and beloved.

My father was wandering Aramean and he went down to Egypt and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great,
mighty, and populous. And the Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us . . . And we cried unto the Lord, and He heard our voice and saw our affliction. And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders. (Deut. 26: 5-8)

Immediately we are in the Haggadah, famously rejoicing at a Passover Seder. Reading this well known passage from the Torah scroll, we are reminded of how integral The Five Books of Moses are to Jewish life Read More >

23 08, 2006

Parashat Ki Tetzei

By ahsilver|2006-08-23T10:45:20-04:00August 23, 2006|

By Rabbi David Greenstein

According to traditional enumerations of the mitzvoth (commandments) in the Torah, our portion includes 74 ordinances, more than any other portion. These mitzvoth encompass the full range of the Torah’s concerns for how we are to meet the challenge of our paradoxical beings, made up, as we are, of both physical and spiritual natures. A particularly telling instance of this concern is found in the Torah’s warning regarding the proper treatment of executed criminals:

Should there be a person guilty of a capital crime, and he is executed, you shall hang him from a tree. But do not let his corpse hang on the tree over night. Rather, make sure to bury him that very day, for it is a Divine curse to be hung. Thus you will not defile your land that God Your Almighty gives you as an estate. (Deut. 21:22-23)

These verses embrace a series of paradoxes Read More >

17 08, 2006

Parashat Shoftim

By ahsilver|2006-08-17T09:49:02-04:00August 17, 2006|

By Eleanor Pearlman

The first verse of Parashat Shoftim
(Deut. 16:18) sets a tone of much of what
follows in the parashah:

‘Shoftim v’shotrim teiten l’kha
b’khol sh`arekha
Asheir Adonai Elohekha notein
l’kha-lish‘vatekha
V’shaftu et ha-`am mishpat
tzedeq’
‘Judges and officers shall you appoint
in all your cities-
Which HaShem your God, gives you-for
your tribes;
And they shall judge the people with
righteous judgment.’ (Artscroll, Stone
Ed.)
Reading this verse out loud, one is struck by the
gentleness and softness of the verse. The ‘sh’
sounds of the verse permeate throughout giving the
verse a feeling of calm, quiet, and security-the
sound that would encourage a disturbed child to
sleep in peace. There are seven sounds (‘sh’) that
are utterances of quiet peace. Without even
translating or understanding the words, the reader
is lulled by the sweet surrender, as this
parashah begins. Also, the number seven has
many other positive associations in the
Tanakh: rest on the seventh day, rest on the
seventh year, freeing of Jewish slaves after the
49th (7×7) year. Although Read More >

3 08, 2006

Parashat Eqev

By ahsilver|2006-08-03T11:56:02-04:00August 3, 2006|

By Rabbi Eric Hoffman

Someone was leading worship in the presence of the
Talmudic sage Rabbi Chanina. In the Avot
benediction he extended the string of adjectives for
Ha-Eyl: ‘the God, the great, the heroic, the
awesome, the mighty, the strong, the fearless . . .’
and on he went. Rabbi Chanina waited until he had
finished. Then he said, ‘Have you exhausted all the
praises of your Master? We couldn’t even say the
first three, ‘the great, heroic and awesome God,’ if
Moses had not said them (in this week’s sedra,
Ekev, Deut. 10:17) and the Men of the Great
Assembly had not ordained them in the Avot
benediction!’ (Neh. 9:32) Once we start
describing God, we ought never to be able to stop,
so instead of imposing our own arbitrary limits on
God’s limitless goodness, we accept the formulation
of Torah and tradition. [BTBerakhot 33b]

These Men of the Great Assembly are actually seen
as restoring the fullness of Moses’s spare Read More >

3 08, 2006

Parashat Re’eh

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2006-08-03T11:50:13-04:00August 3, 2006|

By Irwin Huberman

During periods of war and conflict, it is difficult to get
up every day with a feeling of hope and optimism. On
a daily basis, the Biblical commandment to ‘love your
neighbour as yourself’ (Lev. 19:18) is put to
the ultimate test.

Rather than lean on values of compassion and loving
kindness which form the basis of Judaism, we are
pulled towards suspicion, fear and
trepidation.

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Re’eh,
recognizes this natural conflict, and wastes no time
outlining the dilemma. God speaking through Moses
states in the beginning, ‘See, this day I set before
you blessing and curse.’ (Deut. 11:26) The
Torah clearly lays out the choices and ultimately
teaches us that in order to survive we must actively
choose life over death, and blessings over curses.

It is not easy. Every day, we are pulled by forces of
pessimism which encourage us to give up hope, Read More >

31 07, 2006

Parashat Vaâ€™Etchanan

By ahsilver|2006-07-31T16:18:56-04:00July 31, 2006|

by Joan Lenowitz

In this week’s parashah Moses continues to
relate the history of the peoples’ journey toward
the Promised Land. Whereas the first chapters of the
Book of Deuteronomy deal primarily with how the
nearby nations were to be approached in both war and
peace, Parashat Va’etchannan is more
concerned with elucidating the importance and
incentives for keeping God’s law once the people
arrive in the land, with a particular emphasis on
communicating the law to the next generations. It
includes the ‘Sh’ma.‘ and a reiteration of
the Ten Commandments.

But Moses begins by recounting his own fervent plea
to God (Va’etchannan) to allow him to
‘Cross and see the good land that is
on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain,
and the Lebanon.’ (Deuteronomy 3:25) These
three descriptive terms suggest a panoramic view of
what is beyond the Jordan River, the land, the
mountains directly on the other side, and the
Lebanon mountains of the northern part of Israel,
with their white appearance. The land is just Read More >

28 07, 2006

Parashat D’varim

By ahsilver|2006-07-28T16:22:20-04:00July 28, 2006|

Parashat Devarim/Shabbat Hazon
by Rabbi Aryeh Meir

‘These are the words that Moses addressed to all
Israel on the other side of the Jordan – . . . in
the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this
Teaching (Torah). He said: The Lord our God spoke
to us at Horeb, saying: You have stayed long enough
at this mountain. Start out and make your way to
the hill country . . . Go, take possession of the
land that the Lord swore to your fathers. . .’

With these words, Moses sets the stage for the rest
of the history of Israel. In these culminating
speeches that are the content of this last of the
five books of the Torah, Moses urges a reluctant
nation to realize its destiny. They have been
wandering in the Sinai wilderness for almost forty
years, going round and round the mountain called
Sinai, unable to move forward and inherit the
promised land. They encountered obstacles Read More >

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

All shall unite to do God's will with an open heart.

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