Divrei Torah Archives | Page 29 of 78 | Academy for Jewish Religion

20 04, 2017

Parashat Shemini

By ahsilver|2017-04-20T21:10:10-04:00April 20, 2017|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

This week’s parashah begins with Moses’s instructions to Aaron, his sons, and the elders of Israel:

On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel. He said to Aaron: “Take a calf of the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and bring them before the LORD…” (Leviticus 9:1-2)

Much of the parashah consists of instructions regarding the sacrifices and other regulations regarding dietary restrictions. Near the beginning of the parashah Moses relayed the following instructions to the Children of Israel. “Moses said: “This is what the LORD has commanded that you do, that the Presence of the LORD may appear to you.” (Leviticus 9:6)

The midrash Yalkut Shimoni (13-14th century) brings the following interpretation (par. 521):

Moses said to Israel: Remove that [evil] urge from your hearts in order that you all be of one feeling of awe and Read More >

12 04, 2017

Hol Hamoed Pesah

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2017-04-12T21:55:15-04:00April 12, 2017|

Miriam the Healer

Rabbi Jill Hammer

As we approach the seventh day of Pesach, when we read the narrative of crossing of the Sea, I am thinking of the prophetess Miriam, who dances and sings to celebrate the crossing and the victory of YHWH. At my own seder, I have long had a cup of Miriam, filled with fresh water to represent the well of water that followed Miriam through the wilderness, quenching the thirst of the wandering people (cf: Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 9a). This custom, invented by contemporary Jewish women, gives me great pleasure, as Miriam is a role model of mine. Yet I did not know how intimately Miriam is associated with protection and healing, and with the salt water of the sea.

Recently, as I have read about Sephardic Jewish women’s prayers and rituals, I have learned that the veneration of Miriam is especially deep in Sephardic Jewish traditions of Read More >

7 04, 2017

Passover

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2017-04-07T06:20:02-04:00April 7, 2017|

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

One of the key principles that the Haggadah follows in recounting the story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is “matchil be’genut u’mesayim be’shevah” (literally, “one begins with the disgrace and ends with the glory”), i.e. one starts with the negative or low point of our history and concludes with the positive. What is the negative? On this Rav and Shmuel disagree, as recorded in the Talmud (Pesahim 116a) – “Rav said that one should begin by saying: At first our forefathers were idol worshippers, before concluding with words of glory. And Shmuel said: The disgrace with which one should begin his answer is: We were slaves.

It would appear that by following this order, whether according to Rav or Shmuel, we are focusing our attention on the glorious outcome of the Exodus story, namely our emancipation from Egypt and achievement of freedom. By starting out with what we were in the beginning, Read More >

29 03, 2017

Parashat Vayikra

By Rabbi Len Levin|2017-03-29T22:40:39-04:00March 29, 2017|

by Rabbi Len Levin

Moses: A Leader with a Small Ego
A Dvar Torah for Vayikra

There are two peculiarities in the opening of Leviticus that elude the English reader.

The first is that the first clause is missing a subject. Vayikra el Moshe — “and he called to Moses.” Who called? The kabbalists suppose it is an unusual part of God – maybe “Ehyeh” (I will Be) instead of the accustomed “the Lord.” Modern scholars suggest that it shows continuity with the previous passage in Exodus Chapter 40, “Moses was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the Presence of the Lord filled the Tablernacle…so He (i.e. the Lord) called to Moses from the Tent of Meeting.”

The second peculiarity is that the word Vayikra (he called) is written with a small aleph as its last letter. There are a number of places in the written Torah where letters are written either smaller Read More >

22 03, 2017

Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2017-03-22T08:53:40-04:00March 22, 2017|

by Cantor Sandy Horowitz

Ancestors. We begin praying the Amidah by invoking them: as we acknowledge the presence of God, we do so by stating that this is also the God of our patriarchs. In recent times, more liberal streams of Judaism added the matriarchs; as a woman it is comforting to read the names of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah alongside (well actually, following) Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

It can be an equally meaningful though different experience to pray from a traditional siddur in which our maternal ancestors have not been added, this too. I still recite their names after reading the printed names of the patriarchs, as a conscious acknowledgement of their textual invisibility. It is an opportunity as well to reflect on the broader notion of inclusion and exclusion.

Ancestors. Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei provides a rare opportunity to acknowledge the entire community of ancient Israelite women, our collective female ancestors who are mentioned here Read More >

16 03, 2017

Parshat Ki Tisa

By ahsilver|2017-03-16T22:45:12-04:00March 16, 2017|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

This week’s parashah, Ki Tisa, includes one of the most dramatic episodes in the entire Torah, the Golden Calf. The description found in the Torah has rebellion, passion, emotion, idolatry, and violence, all of the ingredients needed for a good story. I would like to focus on something that happened after the calf was constructed and Moses descended from Mount Sinai.

Moses saw that the people were out of control—since Aaron had let them get out of control—so that they were a menace to any who might oppose them. Moses stood up in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come here!” And all the Levites rallied to him. He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Each of you put sword on thigh, go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay brother, neighbor, and kin.” Read More >

8 03, 2017

Parashat Tetzaveh-Shabbat Zachor-Purim

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2017-03-08T17:51:19-05:00March 8, 2017|

What It Means To Be Godfearing: Parashat Tetzaveh/Shabbat Zachor/Purim

Rabbi Jill Hammer

Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you left Egypt; how he happened upon you on the road and harassed you at the rear, all the stragglers that followed after you, when you were tired and weary, and he did not fear God. (Deut. 25:17-18)

The sages connect the Book of Esther to the story of Amalek, the tribe that attacked the Hebrews as they left Egypt. Deuteronomy identifies the people of Amalek with a particular kind of evil: attack on the vulnerable. Amalek does not attack the warriors of the Hebrews; he attacks weary, tired refugees from Egypt at the rear of the line: the infirm, the old, the parents with children who cannot walk quickly. Amalek demonstrates a complete lack of empathy for people who have suffered and have no strength to fight back, seeing in this situation Read More >

1 03, 2017

Parashat Terumah

By ahsilver|2017-03-01T23:03:53-05:00March 1, 2017|

Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler was a central 20th century figure associated with the musar school of Jewish thought. One of Rabbi Dessler’s most well known essays is Kuntres Ha-hesed, literally, the Booklet of Kindness. It was later published in his collected writings titled Mikhtav me-Eliyahu, a Letter from Eliyahu, and has been studied and taught by students and teachers throughout the Jewish world.

In this essay Rabbi Dessler addressed the relationship between giving and taking. What are the origins of giving and taking? What is the relationship between the two? Can people be described as “givers” or “takers”? If so, what does that say about them. What is the relationship between giving, taking, and love?

As to whether people can be described as “givers” or “takers,” Rabbi Dessler wrote the following:

These two powers—giving and taking—form the roots of all character traits and of all actions. And note: there is no middle way. Every Read More >

22 02, 2017

Parashat Mishpatim

By Rabbi Len Levin|2017-02-22T17:36:46-05:00February 22, 2017|

From Sanctity to Social Justice: The Message of Mishpatim

By Len Levin

“And these are the judicial rules that you shall set before them.” (Exodus 21:1)

Last week, God’s majesty was revealed in thunder and smoke, proclaiming the cardinal rules that express universal human morality. The rabbis declared that they were broadcast in seventy languages (Midrash Tanhuma), and history corroborates that they have been disseminated to the ends of the earth.

This week, the focus shifts to the prosaic and the particular: What are the rules for a slave’s manumission after six years of labor? If my ox gores your ox, how much compensation is due? If you borrow my animal and it dies, who bears the loss?

Judaism is famously a religion with a great emphasis on law. The word halakhah (from the verb, to walk) could have been translated “the way” (the Jewish Tao, if you will), but it denotes the detailed prescription of the Read More >

16 02, 2017

Parashat Yitro

By ahsilver|2017-02-16T07:10:34-05:00February 16, 2017|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

The highlight of this week’s parashah is the reading of the Ten Commandments. While there are midrashic compilations on individual books of the Bible, the Ten Commandments merited having their own individual midrash, Midrash Aseret ha-Dibrot, the Midrash of the Ten Commandments. This midrash was edited during the Middle Ages and draws upon many sources, both Jewish and non-Jewish. It is not structured like a classical midrash, and Joel Rosenberg wrote that “[it] represents the transition in Jewish literature from interpretation of Scripture to pure fiction, in a more modern sense of the term.”

Below is an edited version of a story included in this midrash about the commandment against adultery, a story that describes the trials and tribulations of a certain Rabbi Meir.

A tale is told of Rabbi Meir, that he used to go up to Jerusalem on each and every festival. And he would stay at the home 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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