Shmot Archives | Page 17 of 18 | Academy for Jewish Religion

14 02, 2007

Parashat Mishpatim

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2007-02-14T20:07:15-05:00February 14, 2007|

What God Wants of Us
By Irwin Huberman

For thousands of years, rabbis, scholars, and commentators have parsed, dissected, and analyzed the laws of the Torah to help better understand one thing:

What does God want of us?

Tradition tells us that we are created B’tzelem Elohim – in the image of God. If only we could grasp the true meaning of Torah, perhaps we could better understand how to be true partners with God in creating a perfect and complete world.

Throughout the generations, rabbis and commentators have debated how to properly follow the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) contained in the Torah.

Some rabbis and commentators have guided us towards the meticulous observance of each mitzvah, while others have suggested that capturing the essence of the commandments is most important.

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Mishpatim, provides fodder for this ongoing discussion. No fewer than 51 mitzvot are contained in the parashah, covering everything Read More >

6 02, 2007

Parashat Yitro

By ahsilver|2007-02-06T12:26:00-05:00February 6, 2007|

Reason & Revelation
By Suri Krieger

A riddle:
5 scrolls, ancient word
Direct dictate of God heard
Moses writes it all down
On top Mt Sinai, holy ground . . . What am I?

Have you got the answer? OK
Hold that thought, and let’s try another:

5 scrolls, a few thousand years
Words of poets, priests and seers
Reworked by the hands of so many scribes
Until finally edited and codified . . . What am I?

Parashat Yitro, stands out as one of the quintessential parshiot ‘ portions – in our whole Torah cycle. It contains both the moment of Revelation at Sinai, and the giving of the Ten Commandments, aseret ha-dibrot. Based on this parashah, a debate between Revelation and Reason has been raging for centuries. (I use this dichotomy to stand for the problem of whether the traditional claims for how the Torah was given to Israel ‘ Revelation – are Read More >

22 01, 2007

Parashat Bâ€™shalah

By ahsilver|2007-01-22T10:23:38-05:00January 22, 2007|

By Steve Alatarescu

As we know, the God of the Torah can be seen as protective but also capable of unspeakable cruelty. The God of liberation portrayed in the plagues in this week’s parashah, B’shalah, needs a makeover in order for us to have a God Who helps in our present-day liberation, personal and communal.

The Israelites in our parashah are portrayed as needing the protection and the direction of a tough God. God sees us as scared and soft. The Israelites experienced the plagues, including the killing of the first-born, and, in this parashah, the drowning of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the sea. They follow Moses, perhaps shocked by the course of events, and faithfully go through the Red Sea. They can’t help but know that this God is serious about their liberation and they are about to learn about God’s plan for becoming a holy people. Read More >

18 01, 2007

Parashat Va-era

By ahsilver|2007-01-18T09:07:51-05:00January 18, 2007|

By Arnold Saltzman

In parashat Va-era we learn that God is not only the Creator, but the preserver of existence. God has established His covenant and therefore He cannot forget B’nei Yisrael ‘ the Children of Israel – in our ordeal of slavery. God tells Moses that He has heard our groaning and remembered His covenant (Exodus 6:5). This portrait of God, Who is compassionate, feeling, caring, and loyal, stands in opposition to the perplexing portrayal of God Who, as the Bible reports many times, ‘hardens the heart’ of Pharaoh.

The midrash discusses these instances. In Midrash Rabbah, Exodus VII, 3, we learn that God said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Although I really set out to punish him [Pharaoh], I want you to show him the respect due to his regal position.’

We also learn in another midrash that Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn (kaved), even without God’s additional action of hardening it: ‘God said Read More >

8 01, 2007

Parashat Shemot

By ahsilver|2007-01-08T07:41:06-05:00January 8, 2007|

By Charles R. Lightner

‘. . . but the bush was not consumed’

Perhaps no single phrase in our history has been so influential as that included by Moses in his formulation of the Shema: ‘Adonai Echad.’ We can trace the development of the basic monotheistic idea in our texts over time in a fairly straightforward way. That there exists only one God, however, does not express the full range of meaning our sages have found in the phrase ‘Adonai Echad.’

The phrase can also be read as describing an attribute of God i.e. oneness or unity. Read alongside Exodus 3:14 ‘And God said to Moses, ‘I Am that I Am’. . .’ it can convey the idea of pure existence or beingness. It also anticipates Isaiah 6:3 ‘The whole earth is filled with His glory.’ That God is both immanent and transcendent is a fundamental concept of our tradition, especially our mystical tradition. Read More >

8 01, 2007

Parashat Bo

By ahsilver|2007-01-08T07:27:45-05:00January 8, 2007|

By Barbara Wortman

This D’var Torah is written in memory of my father, Herbert Press (z”l) on the 2nd anniversary of his Yahrtzeit

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Bo, we are instructed to observe the festival of Passover, and to tell our children: ‘God did this for me when I went out of Egypt on account of this.’ (Exodus 13:8) In fact, children are mentioned 3 times in connection with the Exodus from Egypt: 12:26-27; 13:8; 13:14. The special connection with children in this parashah emphasizes the things that we do on the night of Passover in order to arouse the inquisitiveness of children. Curiously, the questions asked by the children are set in the future tense, even though the answers refer to the past.

Perhaps, the key to this is found in the Song of Ha-azinu (Deut. 32:7): ‘Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your Read More >

26 06, 2006

Terumah

By ahsilver|2006-06-26T15:23:37-04:00June 26, 2006|

The Giving of Gifts

By Katy Allen

The Glory of the Lord dwelt upon Mount Sinai, hidden within a cloud’and God called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. Then the Glory of the Lord appeared’as a consuming fire on top of the mountain. Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (Ex. 24.16’18)

While Moses is in this cloud, God speaks to him. The first thing God tells Moses is that he should tell the people ‘ those whose hearts so move them’to bring gifts. God then lists the gifts they should bring: among them are gold and silver, copper, yarn, linen, ram skins, and acacia wood.

How will all these gifts be used? God describes it all in intricate detail. They are Read More >

20 06, 2006

Yitro

By ahsilver|2006-06-20T09:45:43-04:00June 20, 2006|

Parshat Yitro-Mishpatim

By Steven Saks

Often the original movie or book is better that the sequel. Last year I caught the end of Beverly Hills Cop, staring Eddie Murphy on TV. I had not seen it in years, and I had forgotten how funny a movie it was. It was genuinely a good comedy. However, not to many people will say the same of Beverly Hills Cop Two. And Beverly Hills Cop Three bombed.

Does the Torah follow the same pattern as the movies? Parshat Yitro, which precedes Parshat Mishpatim, is certainly an exciting Parsha. Yitro, the Midianite priest and father-in-law of Moses joined the Hebrews after he heard that God had saved the Hebrews. Yitro brings his daughter Zipporah and grandchildren, thus reuniting Moses with his wife and children.

The excitement continues with the revelation at Sinai. After three days Read More >

4 05, 2006

Va-yahkel-Pekudei

By ahsilver|2006-05-04T09:42:47-04:00May 4, 2006|

By Suri Krieger

So, it seems that God has appointed me, Betzalel, to be master craftsman of the Mishkan, the holy sanctuary! Oh my God, how daunting! May I be worthy of the task.

The Task’let’s see here, what specs do we have on the list: a Tent of meeting, cherub’embroidered curtains, a number of gold plated furniture items including an ark, an altar for sacrifice, an altar for incense, a wash basin, a menorah, designer clothing for Aaron and sons, anointing oil, exclusive incense; rings, rolls, skins and poles’everything from practical to cerebral!

Why, this kind of work presumes a pretty high level of skills’skills in everything from sewing to carpentry, not to mention metal work, gemology and tanning! Oholiav and I will have to do some major research to get this thing underway!

Curious that these sanctuary details come up over and over! Moses told me he was given this information Read More >

23 03, 2006

Ki Tissa

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:57:47-05:00March 23, 2006|

From Proverbs to Exodus and Back Again
By Anne Heath

Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold,
So is a wise man’s reproof in a listening ear.

Proverbs 25:12

A mochiakh chakham‘a wise judger, a wise reprover, a wise man’s reproof’is to the listening ear at a moral level as a nezem zahav
(earring of gold) is to the ear at a decorative level. This week’s
exploration of the famous biblical episode of the golden calf from
Exodus, Chapter 32, centers on earrings that serve externally as
objects of adornment and internally and organically as instruments of
hearing, especially hearing the Word of the Lord. Earlier in Exodus we
gather information crucial to our exploration. In Exodus 11:2 we read
God’s instruction to Moses to:

Tell the people to borrow, each man from his neighbor and each woman from hers, objects of silver and gold.

In Hebrew, 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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