Divrei Torah Archives | Page 37 of 78 | Academy for Jewish Religion

4 03, 2015

Parashat Ki Tisa

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-03-04T23:06:36-05:00March 4, 2015|

Cantor Sandy Horowitz

“Wanted: Two senior craftsmen to lead team of builders in creating the largest portable dwelling ever made. Must be wise and able to learn from others; only those endowed with the spirit of God may apply. Technical skills a must.”

Imagine reading such a job posting? Say you’re a pretty good builder or engineer with solid management experience, you had decent SAT scores and attended a respectable college; now you’ve found what looks like the perfect job assignment, and they’re asking for things like — wisdom — what gives? Nobody graded you on wisdom in college!

Yet these are the qualifications cited in Parashat Ki Tisa, when God tells Moses to appoint Bezalel and Aholiav not only to build the tabernacle and the ark but all the vessels, vestments and accessories therein.

The task is daunting, and it’s got to be done right, after all, we’re talking about nothing less than God’s sanctuary-in-the-desert. Read More >

26 02, 2015

Parashat Tetzaveh

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2015-02-26T00:10:46-05:00February 26, 2015|

Parashat Tetzaveh: The Garments of the High Priest
by Rabbi Jill Hammer

Parashat Tetzaveh teaches us about the garments of the high priest who was to serve in the mishkan, the sanctuary: “These are the vestments they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a coat, a turban, and a sash.” (Exodus 28:4) There are also a headplate or tzitz, and pants, mentioned elsewhere. In this parashah, we learn of magnificent and mysterious garments, of fine materials, in rich colors. When the Jews went into exile, when the Temple was destroyed, what became of these wonderful garments?

A midrash, found in Esther Rabbah, claims that during their famous parties in Shushan, Ahasuerus and Vashti wore the garments of the high priest, garments that had been carried off during the attack on the Temple in Jerusalem. This midrash gives the royal parties of the Persian empire a sinister cast: to make a claim that the Read More >

18 02, 2015

Parashat Terumah

By Rabbi Len Levin|2015-02-18T22:11:40-05:00February 18, 2015|

God is Elevated by the Gift of Our Talents
Rabbi Len Levin

“Speak unto the Israelites, that they take for Me an elevation-offering (terumah); from each person, as his heart moves him, shall you take My terumah.” Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev commented: Every person is obligated to serve his or her Creator through deed and thought, for the person’s intention and holy thought, s/he raises the Shekhina up from the dust, and through the deed s/he raises herself up and does good on her own behalf” (Kedushat Levi on Ex. 25:2).

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak presumably knew Hebrew well enough to know that the word terumah meant simply an offering. Why was a word from the root rum (“raise high”) used to designate this? Perhaps because when a person brought an offering to the priest, he would perform the gesture of raising the basket of produce or small animal as a token of formal presentation. Read More >

11 02, 2015

Parashat Mishpatim

By ahsilver|2015-02-11T23:59:38-05:00February 11, 2015|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

In his comments on this week’s parashah, Yeshayu Leibowitz pointed out an interesting comment by the Gaon of Vilna on Exodus 21:5-6.

But if the slave declares, “I love my master, and my wife and children: I do not wish to go free,” his master shall take him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall then remain his slave for life.

The Gaon makes the following comment in his book Aderet Eliyahu on these verses.

“Or to the doorpost”: The simple meaning of the verse is that the doorpost (mezuzah) is also valid, but the halakhah uproots scripture (אבל ההלכה עוקרת את המקרא), and so it is in the majority of this parashah, and in a number of parshiyot in the Torah, and this is the greatness of the Oral Law that it goes Read More >

4 02, 2015

Parashat Yitro

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2015-02-04T21:55:31-05:00February 4, 2015|

Parashat Yitro
Rabbi Isaac Mann

This week’s Torah portion begins with the story of Yitro, father-in-law of Moses, coming to the Israelite camp along with his daughter Zipporah (Moses’ wife) and her two sons, after hearing about the Exodus from Egypt and G-d’s role in that event. The Torah goes into some detail about the initial encounter that seems rather unusual and even unnecessary — “Moses went out to his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him, and they greeted each other, and they went into the tent” (Ex. 18:7). One might expect such trivial details in a modern novel, but what purpose does it serve in the Torah with regard to Moses’ and Yitro’s coming together? Would one expect that they did not greet each other warmly? After all, there is no indication of any enmity between the two, as we find, for example, with regard to Jacob and Esau, where the Torah Read More >

28 01, 2015

Parashat Beshalah-Shabbat Shirah

By ahsilver|2015-01-28T23:18:00-05:00January 28, 2015|

Hazzan Marcia Lane

Although the most distinctive aspect of this week’s parashah is the magnificent crossing of the Sea of Reeds, this parashah is full of fascinating detail, and precursors of other episodes to come. At times it appears that the Torah is talking to itself. This inter-textuality is both a challenge and a joy. It keeps the investigation of Biblical language fresh and it feeds the art of interpretation. For example, this week we have the following familiar scene of complaining:

The Israelites said to them (Moshe and Aharon): If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by stewpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death! (Exodus 16:3)

When the people grumble — as they will repeatedly throughout their journey — God tells Moshe:

I have heard the grumbling of Read More >

21 01, 2015

Parashat Bo

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-01-21T21:05:22-05:00January 21, 2015|

by Cantor Sandy Horowitz

The recitation of the ten plagues at the Passover Seder table is one of the rituals used to retell the story of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. This ritual is often done hastily, as we dip our finger in wine and name each plague. As we consider this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Bo, let us slow down this ritual in order to examine the significance of last three of these plagues. All three relate to darkness.

In continuation from last week’s Torah reading, a pattern has been established in which Moses asks Pharaoh to free the Israelite slaves and let them leave Egypt, Pharaoh refuses, and God casts plagues upon the Egyptians. Of this week’s final three, the first is the plague of locusts. In Exodus 10:15 we read, “They obscured the view of the earth, and the earth became darkened [vatehshakh ha-aretz].” Pharaoh asks Moses’ Read More >

15 01, 2015

Parashat Va-Eira

By ahsilver|2015-01-15T23:30:56-05:00January 15, 2015|

Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

There is a new satirical TV show in Israel called Ha-Yehudim Baim, the Jews are Coming. For the show there is no figure in Jewish history who is off limits. Whether it be Moshe Rabbeinu or Moshe Dayan, no one is immune. One sketch that has been broadcast on a number of episodes is the “Commentator’s Gallery.” In this segment, which is based upon raucous shows that discuss political issues, the two important Bible commentators Rashi and Umberto Cassuto debate, if one can call it that, issues related to the Bible. A host tries to keep things under control, often separating Rashi and Cassuto after they trade barbs.

One topic that was discussed on a recent episode was the Ten Plagues. The following dialogue took place between the characters. [The video in Hebrew can be viewed here.]

Host: Another hot topic this evening…the Ten Plagues.

Rashi: I’m in favor.

Cassuto: Read More >

6 01, 2015

Parashat Shemot

By Rabbi Len Levin|2015-01-06T15:58:29-05:00January 6, 2015|

Who Is A Jew?
by Rabbi Len Levin

“And these are the names of the children of Israel who went down to Egypt with Jacob: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah…” (Ex. 1:1-4)

Who are the Jewish people? Are they a biological family, a nation, a community of faith, a cultural group, or partners in a common destiny transcending all these categories?

The answer we get in the Bible seems deceptively clear. After enumerating the ancestors of the seventy nations of humanity in Genesis Chapter 10, the Torah goes on to focus on Abraham and his descendants. The Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites (not to mention the Philistines) are given remote pedigrees, descended from non-Semitic branches of the Noahide family of humanity. The neighboring nations of Edom, Ammon, Moab, Ishmael, Midian, and Amalek are all given places as siblings or cousins in the Abrahamic family tree. Israel is identified with the descendants of Read More >

2 01, 2015

Parashat Va-Yehi

By ahsilver|2015-01-02T02:06:47-05:00January 2, 2015|

Parashat Va-Yehi
Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

Many people associate this week’s parashah with endings. Much of the parashah consists of Jacob’s final testament to his children, and next week we no longer read about the trials and tribulations of Abraham’s descendants, but rather of the rise of Moses as a leader and the Israelite’s enslavement in Egypt. Despite this emphasis on the end of an era, an interpretation found in the Talmud understands a verse found at the beginning of this week’s parashah as a sign of beginning.

Until Abraham there was no such thing as [the sign of] old age. Whoever saw Abraham thought, “This is Isaac.” Whoever saw Isaac thought, “This is Abraham.” Abraham prayed for mercy so that he might have [signs of] old age, as it is said, “And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age” (Gen. 24:1). Until the time of Jacob 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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