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31 08, 2011

Parashat Re’eh

By ahsilver|2011-08-31T11:52:16-04:00August 31, 2011|

By Rabbi Dorit Edut and Cantor Liat Pelman

A Dialogue on Blessings vs. “Curses“

Dorit: As we approach the month of Elul next week and thoughts of Rosh HaShanah are not far off, we are confronted by a verse in this week’s Torah portion:

“See this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God….” (Deut.11:26-28, NewJPS translation).

How do we understand this verse really? Is this loving, all-powerful God also One who “curses” humans?

Liat: I am so grateful that you chose to put the word “curses” in quotation marks. Reading the Torah literally, as in this verse, is a turn-off for me; I relate to the saying: Life is hard, but God is good-all the time.

Dorit: Let’s look Read More >

10 08, 2011

Parashat VaEthanan

By ahsilver|2011-08-10T22:24:56-04:00August 10, 2011|

By Cantor Marcia Lane

In this second parashah in the book of Deuteronomy Moses continues his long death-bed peroration to the Israelite people. He reiterates the division of the land to the tribes, restates (with minor differences) the Aseret HaDibrot “ commonly called the Ten Commandments “ and states the most primary faith-statement of Judaism, the Shema. Here, in one neat package, is the legal and emotional basis for Jewish thought and practice. Creed and deed, paired in the same parashah.

In the Torah portion, Moshe tells the people of the dangers of worshipping anything other than God. œFor your own sake, be very careful “ since you saw no shape when Adonai, your God spoke to you in fire at Horeb “ not to make for yourself a sculpted image. ¦ (Deut. 4:15-16). And this is such a potent theme for Moshe that he says again, œTake care not to forget the covenant Adonai Read More >

3 08, 2011

Parashat D’varim

By ahsilver|2011-08-03T23:37:50-04:00August 3, 2011|

Vision, Lamentation, and the Question of “How?”

By Rabbi Regina L. Sandler-Phillips

The Shabbat on which the first portion of Deuteronomy is chanted from the Torah each year is called Shabbat Hazon ”the œSabbath of Vision. Its name comes most directly from the accompanying haftarah or prophetic reading, which proclaims “The vision of Isaiah, son of Amotz, which he envisioned over Judah and Jerusalem… (Isaiah 1:1).

At first glance, the œvision of these paired Torah and haftarah readings seems to be one of impending doom more than anything else. Each reading anticipates the imminent arrival of Tisha b’Av, our Jewish day of tragedy and mourning, during which we read the book that is called Lamentations in English and Eikha in Hebrew. Read More >

8 09, 2010

Parashat Ha’azinu

By ahsilver|2010-09-08T10:57:04-04:00September 8, 2010|

By Michael Kasper

How do we make sense of God as elegant, majestic, and breathtaking in one moment and vindictive, jealous, and consumed in the next?Â Is there a force more cunning than God shows himself to be in this week’s parashah?

There are only two places in all of Torah where Moses recites or sings extensive poetry – Shirat ha-Yam (Song of the Sea) and Ha’azinu (Give Ear) which is also known as Shirat Moshe (Song of Moses).Â And since the Hebrew word for song or poem is the same, shir, it is as if a heavenly light is particularly shown to direct our attention and focus our minds.Â We are left to imagine the voice of Moses, its timbre, timing, resonance, and feeling.Â And we are left to speculate what state of emotion he could possibly have been in as he Read More >

1 09, 2010

Parashat Nitzavim-VaYelekh

By ahsilver|2010-09-01T16:25:12-04:00September 1, 2010|

Nitzavim-VaYelekh, our double portion for this week, includes the 7^th Haftarah in a series of Haftarot of Comfort and Consolation, read on the 7 Shabbatot following Tisha B Av. It is read on the Shabbat just preceding Rosh Hashanah as we are entering the period of intense personal introspection and accounting that is the essence of the Days of Awe.

The Haftarah comes from the Book of Isaiah, and is generally assumed to have been written by a prophet who lived in exile in Babylonia after the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Â As with many of the prophetic writings, he writes about national issues, specifically God s redemption of the Israelites and their promised triumphant return to Zion after generations of exile.

The prophet is comforting the exiles with the assurance that God has forgiven their sins (presented in earlier writings) and that they will be returning to Zion, to Jerusalem. Read More >

24 08, 2010

Parashat Ki Tavo

By ahsilver|2010-08-24T18:26:39-04:00August 24, 2010|

By Steve Altarescu

If Deuteronomic theology has not troubled you so far, Ki Tavo will now challenge you as it pushes the concept of reward and punishment to the limit. For the purpose of review here are some highlights of this theology from earlier in the Book of Deuteronomy.

œGive heed to the laws ¦that you may live to enter and occupy the land. (Deut: 4:1)

œObey ¦that it may go well with you. (4:25)

œGod ¦keeps the covenant faithfully ¦of those who love God and keep God s commandments but instantly requites destruction on those who reject Him. (7:9-10)

œIf you do obey these rules ¦God will maintain ¦the covenant. (7:12)

œSee, this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing if you obey the commandments ¦and curses if you do not obey the commandments. (11:26)

In summary, the Israelites were told that if they followed the commandments they would be blessed and rewarded, and if they did not they would be cursed and Read More >

18 08, 2010

Parashat Ki Tetze

By Rabbi Len Levin|2010-08-18T20:54:26-04:00August 18, 2010|

By Rabbi Leonard Levin

A famous midrash tells how Moses argued with the angels that the Torah, though a creature of heaven, was destined for use on earth. œDo you have urges to murder, to commit adultery, to steal? We earthly creatures, who are imperfect, need laws to tame our urges and work for self-improvement. You are already perfect! It is we who need the Torah (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 88b-89a).

Ahad Ha-Am, similarly in his essay œPriest and Prophet, contrasted two currents in Biblical thought. The prophet had a counsel of perfection, and dreamed of a society where justice would flow like a mighty stream and the lion would lie down with the lamb. The priest proposed a practical compromise, incorporating as much of the ideal as his contemporaries could digest, moving society forward one step at a time. Read More >

11 08, 2010

Parashat Shoftim

By ahsilver|2010-08-11T19:47:39-04:00August 11, 2010|

This week we are privileged to read a parashah that covers a multitude of disparate subjects, including the laws of royalty and magicians, but is introduced by the subject relating to the parashah’s title: Shoftim – Judges. In the first verse, we are enjoined to appoint justices; and then in the next two verses we, and not the professional judges to be appointed, are given a set of commands of how we are to apply various concepts of justice. What is it we are prohibited from doing: take bribes, and show favoritism. As to the latter prohibition, Torah does not identify the likely recipients of favoritism. Nevertheless, the natural inclination is to conclude that it is the powerful and the rich who are to be its likely beneficiaries. But does this “natural” conclusion comport with our present society?

This past television season marked the 20th, and last, season of Read More >

3 08, 2010

Parashat Re’eh

By ahsilver|2010-08-03T17:08:12-04:00August 3, 2010|

This week’s Torah portion begins with these words, “See, this day I present before you a blessing and a curse. Blessing, that you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin upon you this day and curse if you do not obey the commandments….” (Deut.11:26-28) Why does it begin with the word “see”? The sentence would stand on its own without it. What are we to “see”?

Deuteronomy is in essence a review of where we have been. It asks us to examine our past actions as well as look ahead to the future. It requires us to have vision, the ability to “see” with all of our being in order to discern the blessings from the curses. As we get ready to enter the Land, God wants us to open our eyes and our hearts to the possibilities that lie ahead, learning from the mistakes that we made along Read More >

28 07, 2010

Parashat Ekev

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2010-07-28T11:41:23-04:00July 28, 2010|

By Sandy Horowitz

Towards the end of my high school senior year, I woke up one morning with an intense neck spasm, barely able move my head without severe pain. It subsided after awhile, thanks to painkillers and an embarrassingly unattractive neck collar.

Viewing this incident as a physical mirror of my mental state at the time, it s clear that the timing wasn t coincidental “ I wasn t feeling ready for whatever might lie ahead as I stepped into adulthood.

The term k sheh-oref, or œstiff-necked , which appears several times in Ekev and in the Exodus text which is referenced in this week s Torah portion, also speaks to us about the question of our ancestors readiness to meet their future, as they prepared to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. 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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