וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם

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

וְיֵעָשׂוּ כֻלָּם אֲגֻדָּה אֶחָת לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹנְךָ בְּלֵבָב שָׁלֵם

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

Parashat Tetzaveh

Parashat Tetzaveh

By Halina Rubinstein

This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh (Ex.27:20-30:10), is also Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat before Purim. We will read this portion as well as the verses that command us to remember the encounter of Israel in the wilderness with Amalek (Deut. 25:17-19), who sought to destroy them cruelly and gratuitously. Generations later, Saul’s failure to kill Agag the Amalekite king ‘ a failure that will ultimately cost him his reign– is the theme of the Haftarah reading (I Sam.15:2-34).

One of the distinct features of this Torah portion is the minute description of the priestly vestments, particularly those of the High Priest. Clothing has great significance in the Bible. The first act of hesed (kindness) was performed by God when He made garments to cover Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit that made them aware and ashamed of their nakedness. Ever since, one of the things that distinguishes us Read More >

By ahsilver|2007-03-01T08:00:27-05:00March 1, 2007|

Parashat Terumah

By David Ian Cavill

I think that when most of us look at Exodus 25:8 “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” (New JPS) it reads as a commandment from God. We see instruction and a promise from God to be present among the people if the mikdash (sanctuary) is constructed in a certain way. I’d like to suggest that this is not a commandment but rather a question. Moreover, I’d like to propose that it is in fact Moses, who speaks these words, and not God.

The first nine verses of the parashah form their own discreet unit of text. In my opinion, these verses summarize the rest of the reading. Furthermore, every verse in this section has a parallel later on in the text. Each of the gifts that God deems acceptable in verses 3-7 is revisited later on in the Read More >

By ahsilver|2007-02-15T09:13:35-05:00February 15, 2007|

Parashat Mishpatim

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 >

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

Parashat Yitro

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 >

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

Parashat Bâ€™shalah

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 >

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

Parashat Va-era

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 >

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

Parashat Shemot

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 >

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

Parashat Bo

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 >

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

Parashat Vayâ€™hi

Fidelity and Imagination
By Rabbi David Greenstein

The last verses of this last portion of the book of Genesis have Joseph, on his deathbed, making his brothers swear that, ‘As the Almighty will surely remember you, you must take my bones up with you from this place.’ The narrator then reports that Joseph died and was embalmed. The book closes with a dark image of closure: ‘And he was placed into a coffin chest in Egypt.’ (Gen. 50:25-26)

But, of course, this is only an apparent image of closure, since we are meant to wonder whether Joseph’s brothers or their descendants will remember Joseph’s bones and retrieve them when redemption arrives.

The empty lines in the Torah scroll that separate these verses from the start of the next book, Exodus, give us space to ponder and imagine what the other brothers were thinking and feeling as they watched their brother – their victim and Read More >

By ahsilver|2007-01-03T05:45:05-05:00January 3, 2007|

Parashat Vayehi

Fidelity and Imagination
By Rabbi David Greenstein

The last verses of this last portion of the book of Genesis have Joseph, on his deathbed, making his brothers swear that, ‘As the Almighty will surely remember you, you must take my bones up with you from this place.’ The narrator then reports that Joseph died and was embalmed. The book closes with a dark image of closure: ‘And he was placed into a coffin chest in Egypt.’ (Gen. 50:25-26)

But, of course, this is only an apparent image of closure, since we are meant to wonder whether Joseph’s brothers or their descendants will remember Joseph’s bones and retrieve them when redemption arrives.

The empty lines in the Torah scroll that separate these verses from the start of the next book, Exodus, give us space to ponder and imagine what the other brothers were thinking and feeling as they watched their brother – their victim and Read More >

By ahsilver|2007-01-03T05:45:05-05:00January 3, 2007|

Parsashat Vayigash

By Tamara Silberman

As Bereshit begins to draw to a close, the 11 sons of Jacob are reunited with their long lost brother. The leader of the brothers, Judah, the one who sets the moral code for his brothers, has to contend with the second most powerful man in Egypt, not realizing that this it is Joseph. Judah entreats Joseph to act justly concerning his younger brother Benjamin.

Parashat Vayigash offers Joseph that moment to manipulate his brothers and to be in charge of the nuclear family that sold him into slavery. In last week’s parashah, Joseph’s guards put the goblet in Benjamin’s sack. This puts the brothers completely at Joseph’s mercy, not just for the food they sought, but for their very lives. The brothers return to the palace silently. Knowing full well that the goblet was planted, not stolen, they do not know what Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-12-13T08:56:39-05:00December 13, 2006|

Hannukah

Learning from Latkes
By Hayley Mica Siegel

A flurry of spinning dreidels, the subtle jingle of chocolate gelt bags, the prominent displays of sufganiot (jelly donuts) in bakery windows, and the radio’s blasting of Adam Sandler’s ‘The Hannukah Song’ signify that Hannukah is around the corner. Although Hannukah is found in the Apocrypha and not in the Tanakh, the Jewish communities’ celebration of the Hasmoneans’ (Maccabees’) victory over the Greeks in 161 BC has become one of the most beloved and well-known holidays in the Jewish calendar. Although the Hasmoneans’ struggle for religious sovereignty and autonomy handily provide topics such as assimilation, the freedom to practice Judaism, and the Menorah’s origins in the Torah for stimulating discussion, these important subjects commonly get swept under the rug in the midst of giving, receiving and buying Hannukah gifts and presents for the eight nights of the hag.

However, while the desires for ‘material’ accoutrements burn brighter Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-12-13T08:47:12-05:00December 13, 2006|

Parashat Miketz

Joseph, Hannukah and Conservation
By Irwin Huberman

Tradition tells us that it is the responsibility of the Children of Israel to act as a ‘light unto other nations’ (Isaiah 49:6). This week’s Torah portion, Miketz, read on the second Shabbat of Hannukah, provides us with two sparkling examples of how to use that light.

How lucky we are to live in America where few of us worry about lack of food, or fuel to warm our homes. With winter upon us, there is a tendency to take these precious things for granted.

But this week’s Torah portion provides us with a reminder of how fragile our good fortune is. Joseph is brought out of captivity to interpret two of Pharaoh’s dreams. In the first dream, (Genesis 41-17) Pharaoh describes how seven scrawny cows consume seven plump cows, but in the end the first cows remain thin.

Pharaoh slides back into sleep and dreams a Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2006-12-13T08:31:04-05:00December 13, 2006|

Parashat Vayishlah

By Michael G. Kohn

What is deceit? Is it ever acceptable to deceive another? And is it ever proper to hold a community responsible for the act of a single person? These questions practically jump from the pages of this week’s parashah, where we read the tragic episode of the rape of Dinah, Leah’s daughter.

She is taken by Sh’khem, son of Hamor, a prince of the land. Upon learning that Dinah had been defiled by Sh’khem, her brothers and Jacob, her father, met with Hamor, who entreated them to allow his son to take Dinah as his wife. Jacob’s sons responded to this request that they could not give their sister as a wife to an uncircumcised man. Then, they floated an option ‘ that if all the men of the city were to be circumcised, they would give their daughters to them and take their daughters Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-12-06T08:24:22-05:00December 6, 2006|

Parashat Vayetze

Escaping What You’ve Embraced
Peg Kershenbaum

What does it take for us to see ourselves as we really are? How do we become aware of the impact we have on the lives and well-being of others?

Jacob’s meeting with Laban was probably the incident that had the most impact on him, up to that moment. Up to that time, Jacob’s character had developed almost unchecked. From before birth he had wrestled with his brother in utero; his emergence grabbing his twin’s heel had given him his name, ‘supplanter.’ In his youth he had tricked his hungry brother by means of some food, gaining the birthright he had coveted. And as a young man he had deceived his blind father regarding what they both thought might be the father’s final blessing. Both to avoid the murderous rage of his brother and to find a suitable wife, Jacob had fled back to his mother’s family in Haran. Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-11-29T12:40:26-05:00November 29, 2006|

Parashat Toldot

Parashat Toldot: Fathers and Sons
By Rabbi David Greenstein

Parashat Toldot is the only Torah portion devoted to the life of Isaac. Abraham merits a much more extended treatment by the Torah (as does Jacob, later). Isaac seems to exist in the shadow of his illustrious father. This is borne out by the very first sentence of this Torah portion, which begins: ‘And these are the offspring of Isaac, son of Abraham; Abraham begat Isaac.’ (Gen. 25:19) The second part of the verse is jarring. Not only is it redundant – for Isaac has just a second ago been referred to as ‘son of Abraham” ‘ it is also completely contrary to the first part of the verse, for it tells us of Abraham’s offspring instead of telling us of Isaac’s. It is as if, just as the Torah is about to start talking about Isaac, she cannot refrain from returning to talking about Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-11-16T21:20:20-05:00November 16, 2006|

Hayei Sarah

By Kathy Novick

This week we read Parashat Hayei Sarah ‘ The Life of Sarah. Many think of the irony of this title since the parashah begins with the death of Sarah and its impact upon Avraham. We read of Avraham mourning then rising and ACTING. We learned from social workers, chaplains and clergy who worked after 9-11 at Ground Zero that giving people tasks, no matter how insignificant, helped them to move from a state of numbness to reconnecting with life, however painful that might have been. Avraham’s action was very significant to him and to us. Avraham was very careful in choosing the field and the cave at Machpelah. He was also very insistent about his choice. It was to be a place to remember his Sarah. Permanency was key in their long relationship. Throughout the difficulties of their lives from moving away Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-11-08T09:51:10-05:00November 8, 2006|

Parashat Vayera

By Jaron Matlow

In this week’s parashah, we find myriad fascinating events which are very difficult to understand. One example is the story of Sarah, Abraham, Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac (21:9-13). The peak of this event (21:10) is that Sarah tells Abraham to drive out the slave woman (Hagar) and her son (Ishmael), because the son of this slave woman will not inherit with my son, with Isaac. This results in the very common thread in Sefer Bereishit (Genesis) – that the younger son is selected to carry on the line and the older son is somehow set aside. It is also important to remember that in Sefer Bereishit, it is often the wives who take the actions that ensure the younger son is selected.
The text tells (21:9) us that Ishmael did something to Isaac (metzaheik) which could mean various things from teasing or mocking to much worse actions. Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-10-30T07:20:50-05:00October 30, 2006|

Parashat Lekh L’kha

By Eleanor B. Pearlman

What motivates a person to go on a journey? I think of the push/pull theory of immigration: one leaves to escape intolerable discomfort and anticipates a better life somewhere else. Such departures involve pain in the present and hope for the future. At a certain point in life one may leave the familiar to seek adventure or knowledge. One may leave to learn about one’s self and one’s place in the universe. One may leave to establish one’s identity. Is it the timing, the task, or the divine directive that motivated Abram’s journey in Parashat Lekh L’kha, our weekly parashah? There seem to be both covert and overt reasons for his departure.

The placement of Parashat Lekh L’kha after Parshiyot B’reshit and Noah permits one interpretation. On one level, Abram’s journey seems to reflect the stage of individuation in human development. Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-10-18T15:39:27-04:00October 18, 2006|

Parashat Noah

By Enid C. Lader

This past September marked the fifth year of remembering the tragic events of 9/11 and the thousands who lost their lives. As the television cameras panned the site of the World Trade Center and politicians pledged renewed effort to build towers even taller to replace the ones lost and pundits decried the amount of time that has passed without our rebuilding, I could not help but be reminded of the story of the Tower of Babel.

In this week’s Torah portion we read that:
‘Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words’ They said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and burn them hard.” And they said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the sky, to make a name for ourselves”’ (Gen. 11:1, 3, 4)

God becomes very angry with these people, destroys their tower, Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2006-10-18T15:35:29-04:00October 18, 2006|

Parashat B’reishit

By Linda Shriner-Cahn

The holidays have come and gone, and we begin anew, back at the beginning, with an opportunity to come to the Torah with fresh eyes, ready to wrestle new meaning and deeper understandings from the text.

Rabbi Marc Gellman wrote a midrash for children that provides us with the opportunity to do just that. . . .

This midrash on creation begins with God, the Angels, and rocks and waters. Out of this stuff, this mess ‘ this tohu vavohu ‘ creation begins.

As creation begins, the separation of waters, the Angels ask, ‘Is it finished?’ and God responds, ‘Not yet.’

Throughout the process, step-by-step, the Angels ask, ‘Is it finished,’ and God responds, ‘Not yet.’

Finally, yes, finally, God creates man and woman, God is ready to rest and asks man and woman to finish the process of creation. However, man and woman find this process daunting. After all, they do not Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-10-18T14:44:35-04:00October 18, 2006|

Shmini Atzeret

Shemini Atzeret/Simhat Torah
Neal L. Spevack

Shemini Atzeret is observed on the 22nd of Tishrei or the eighth day of Sukkot but is considered a separate holiday. Outside of Israel, Simhat Torah is on the subsequent, ninth day. Shemini Atzeret has its initial source in Lev. 23:36 ‘Seven days you shall bring offerings by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day you shall observe a sacred occasion and bring an offering by fire to the Lord; it is a solemn gathering you shall not work at your occupations.’ It is also stated in Num. 29:35, ‘On the eighth day you shall hold a solemn gathering you shall not work at your occupations.’

Shemini Atzeret is an agriculturally based holiday. Israel had no rivers like the Nile or the Tigris and Euphrates. Israel’s rainfall only came in the winter. Ancient Israel completed its harvest on Sukkot, and the rain followed to renew the ground Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-10-09T08:05:58-04:00October 9, 2006|

Sukkot 5767

Sukkkot: Stepping Outside of Our Comfort Zones
By Hayley Mica Siegel

Almost as much as the Jew looks forward to Shabbat after a busy week, it is certain that the entire Jewish community lets out a collective sigh of relief during the celebration of Sukkot. After ten days of praying, fasting, repenting, and reflecting, we shift our gears into celebration mode. Immediately following the intense periods of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are instructed to prepare for Sukkot, a joyous ‘hag‘ (holiday). Required to abstain from labor during the first and last days of the festival, we learn about the specifics of the celebration in Vayikra. (Leviticus 23:40-42) In the Torah, we read that Hashem commands the Israelites to, ‘take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a citron tree, the branches of a date palm, twigs of a plated tree, and brook willows . . . you shall Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-10-03T08:19:59-04:00October 3, 2006|

Sukkot

Stepping Outside of Our Comfort Zones
By Hayley Mica Siegel

Almost as much as the Jew looks forward to Shabbat after a busy week, it is certain that the entire Jewish community lets out a collective sigh of relief during the celebration of Sukkot. After ten days of praying, fasting, repenting, and reflecting, we shift our gears into celebration mode. Immediately following the intense periods of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are instructed to prepare for Sukkot, a joyous ‘hag‘ (holiday). Required to abstain from labor during the first and last days of the festival, we learn about the specifics of the celebration in Vayikra. (Leviticus 23:40-42) In the Torah, we read that Hashem commands the Israelites to, ‘take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of a citron tree, the branches of a date palm, twigs of a plated tree, and brook willows’you shall dwell in booths for a Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-10-01T07:47:19-04:00October 1, 2006|

Parashat Ha’azinu

By Rabbi Malka Drucker

We wander through life searching for bridges to move us closer to each other and nearer to God. Parashat Ha’azinu shows us how to build bridges between heaven and earth while being, itself, as the last portion of the year, a bridge between the end and the beginning. Its very form, a song, opens the heart to receive its urgent message of hope and direction; as we reach the inevitable end of the
book, its passion inspires and propels us to begin the study
again.

The portion opens with Moses declaring, ‘Listen heaven! I will speak! Earth! Hear the words of my mouth! (Deut. 32:1). Like a dying father who warns his children that he no longer will guide, scold, or defend them, Moses calls upon heaven and earth to be witnesses: Human beings are inclined to do better when we know we Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-09-21T13:08:13-04:00September 21, 2006|

Rosh HaShanah

What Will You Be Wearing?
By Peg Kershenbaum

I remember how my brother and I used to get new clothes for the holidays: something new for Rosh Ha-Shanah and something else new for Pesah (by which time we would have grown). It was difficult for my mother to pick out clothes that would fit us and fit the family budget. Even though I would get school clothes during the same outing, I would save three dresses for Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. (Yes, believe it or not, there was a time when we had to wear dresses or skirts to school and to shul!)

I was never much of a ‘fashion plate’, but seeing the new clothes in my closet always made me anticipate the holidays eagerly. I wanted to look my best. Yom Tov was a time when I felt pretty and special and accepted and a little proud, all at Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-09-08T13:44:57-04:00September 8, 2006|

Parshat Nitzavim/VaYelekh

By Bruce Alpert

A number of years ago, I was part of a synagogue committee that evaluated the then new, gender-neutral edition of the Reform movement’s Gates of Prayer. The new siddur offered revised versions of several of the older book’s Kabbalat Shabbat services. One change ‘ having nothing to do with gender issues ‘ occured on the first page of the first service. Where the older version read ‘May God bless us with Shabbat joy, May God bless us with Shabbat holiness, May God bless us with Shabbat peace,’ the new version read ‘May we be blessed with Shabbat joy, May we be blessed with Shabbat peace, May we be blessed with Shabbat light.’

So focused was I on the siddur’s many other linguistic innovations that, at the time, I barely did more than note this change. Since then, however, I have come to think of this as Read More >

By Bruce Alpert|2006-09-08T13:25:44-04:00September 8, 2006|

Parashat Ki Tavo

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 >

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

Parashat Ki Tetzei

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 >

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

Parashat Miketz

By Yechiel Buchband

I have long loved the saga of Yosef in Sefer B’reshit. For me, the most beloved person in the story is Yehuda. I love his story of personal development, growth and redemption, which serves as a beautiful counterpoint to the story of Yosef. Early on he took a leading role in the sale of Yosef and denied Tamar the right of Yibbum to which she was entitled. By the end of the story, he is clearly the leader of the brothers, another late-born yet preeminent son (like Yitzhak and Ya’akov).

To my mind, Yehudah’s defining moment is not the famed address before Yosef (which is certainly moving and memorable), which opens Parshat VaYigash, but rather the earlier, far shorter text (Gen. 43:8-9) in which he convinces his father Yisrael to allow him and his brothers to take Binyamin with them in order Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-08-17T20:10:51-04:00August 17, 2006|

Parashat Shoftim

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 >

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

Parashat Eqev

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 >

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

Parashat Re’eh

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 >

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

Parashat Vaâ€™Etchanan

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 >

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

Parashat D’varim

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 >

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

Mattot-Massei

By Michael Kohn

The double parashah, Mattot-Massei, concludes
the Book of Numbers. The narrative predominantly
describes the final preparations for the Israelites
to enter the land covenanted by God to their
ancestors. Among these preparations is the
allocation of land to the various tribes. But
before that can occur, something remarkable happens
‘ representatives of the tribes of Gad and Reuben
approach Moses, Elazar and the leaders of the
Israelite community and tell them that they do not
want to cross the Jordan and take up their
inheritance in the covenanted land. Instead, they
wanted to remain on the east side of the river and
be granted their inheritance in those lands. As
stated by the tribal representative, the expressed
purpose for their request is because they had found
the lands of Jazer and Gilead to be choice lands for
their livestock, of which they had an abundance.

Moses tries to shame them: ‘Should your brothers go
to war, while you settle here?’ And then asks Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-07-20T11:56:40-04:00July 20, 2006|

Parashat Pinchas

by Cantor Marcia Lane

(In honor of my birthday and in memory of my father, Gerald Rabinowitz, z’l.)

There are five basic sections of this week’s
parashah: The brief conclusion of Pinchas’
slaughter of those who were deemed sexually
immoral, a census and geneology of all the tribes, the
plight of the daughters of Zelophehad, the
designation of Joshua as new leader of the people,
and the long recitation of sacrifices and offerings to
be made at each of the holidays.

I’ve had trouble writing something coherent about
this parashah, mostly because there’s too
much. Too many names, too many events that don’t
seem to go together into a unified whole, too much.
But, given the need to make sense out of it (and,
frankly, not wishing to talk about the violence of
Pinchas and the brit shalom ‘ the covenant
of ‘peace’ which was bestowed to him!), I remain
intrigued by names, and Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-07-12T06:51:59-04:00July 12, 2006|

Parashat Korach

by Laurie Gold

In a few days from now, many people in the United
States will be celebrating Independence Day.
Barbecues, baking at the beach, and watching fireworks are just some of the activities we may enjoy. While relaxing (or catching up on our work), few of us will think about the origins of this secular holiday: the victory of rebels against a ruling power.

We probably won’t consider that one of the leaders
of this rebellion went on to become our nation’s first
president, and that some of his fellow rebels became
presidents as well. They were honored and respected. Many complimentary books have been written about them. These men who played an important role in the colonial revolution fared a lot better than did Korach and his supporters, the rebels featured in this week’s Torah portion.

Approximately ten years ago, when I was wrote my first dvar Torah, it was also on this Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-06-30T16:39:44-04:00June 30, 2006|

Sukkot

Sukkot
By Margaret Frisch Klein

The words of Qohelet that we read during Sukkot are haunting, ‘To everything there is a season and a purpose under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die . . . A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.’ It became the popular hit ‘Turn, Turn, Turn,’ in the sixties when the Birds set it to music, which you can still hear on the radio, mostly on oldies stations.

There is a beautiful niggun, part of our daily evening service, ‘Ufros Alenu Sukkat Shlomecha’”Spread over us the shelter, the sukkah of Your Divine peace,’ that is also haunting and appropriate for Sukkot. That prayer recognizes the fragility of peace and of shelter. This Sukkot more than ever, in the wake of Katrina, Rita and the even more recent devastating earthquakes, we need to make this connection from the spiritual realm Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-06-27T00:33:42-04:00June 27, 2006|

Emor

The Sacred Calendar and the Cycle of Time

By Michael Kohn

To everything’turn, turn, turn
There is a season’turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven¹

In his book The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that ‘Judaism is a religion of time, aiming at the sanctification of time. . . . Jewish ritual may be characterized as the art of significant forms in time, as architecture of time. Most of its observances’the Sabbath, the New Moon, the festivals, the Sabbatical and the Jubilee year’depend on a certain hour of the day or season of the year.’ And these observances recur year after year after year.

At least half of Parashat Emor speaks of these observances’the mo’adim, those appointed times fixed by God, as mikra’ei kodesh, holy convocations. The first described is Shabbat. Thereafter, the Torah describes in order: Pesah, Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-06-26T23:37:31-04:00June 26, 2006|

Terumah

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 >

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

Shlah Lekha

by Halina Rubinstein

In this week’s Torah portion, Moses decides to send
scouts on a reconnaisance mission to Canaan. Twelve
men, one from each tribe, are chosen and given
specific instructions on what they have to observe.
They come back with a sample of the land’s
indigenous fruits and a mixed review. They all
report that the land flows with ‘milk and honey’ but
their agreement ends here; of the twelve scouts, ten
give a frightening report of a land that eats up its
inhabitants and is populated by powerful giants.
Upon hearing this, the people start crying in sheer
terror, and they not only complain but rebel and
contemplate going back to Egypt. Only Joshua and
Caleb encourage the people to continue with the plan
of entering the land. They reassure the Israelites
that they will prevail; but these words only provoke
the mutinous people even more and the people are
ready to stone Joshua and Caleb to death.

The result of this act of disbelief incenses God. He
will Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-06-21T08:30:27-04:00June 21, 2006|

Yitro

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 >

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

Parashat Bâ€™haâ€™alotâ€™cha

By Cantor Jaclyn Chernett

The troubled Moses cries to God in his loneliness.
How can he continue to cope with the constant
complaining and irresponsible behaviour of his people!
He is worn down by his burden, but at no time does
he seek to relinquish leadership. For Moses, the
leader, the prophet, the only alternative would be
death.

The calling of the prophet is indeed a lonely one.
Prophecy has been described in many ways during
the long years of our literary tradition. The prophecy
of Moses is a paradigm of the most intense
relationship with God ‘ nobody else ever experienced
it this way: With him I speak mouth to mouth,
plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness
of the Lord. (Num. 12:8)

Miriam and Aaron, in the same text-breath, are, too,
accredited with the prophetic relationship with God
but not in the same Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-06-14T09:38:19-04:00June 14, 2006|

Parashat Naso

By Cantor Arnold Saltzman

In Parashat Naso the Priestly Benediction,
also known as Birkat Kohanim is set apart in a
very important manner, punctuated with spaces not
unlike the text for Shirat Hayam ‘ the Song at
the Red Sea – and the Ten Commandments.

The kohanim, the priests, have the power to
bless the people, and this power comes from God and
is channeled through the kohanim, going back
through Aaron and Moses, the Patriarchs, Noah, and
Adam and Chava to whom God gave the
blessing ‘Multiply on Earth.’ (Gen. 1:28) The power to
bless originates in God.

The Priestly Blessing is a three-fold blessing. Some
explain that there are three phrases in order to
remember the patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak and
Ya’akov, and that God blesses us because of their
merit.

The first blessing begins with ‘Y’varekhekha –
may God bless you’ ‘ understood by one tradition to
refer to one’s possessions. If a Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-06-08T12:45:29-04:00June 8, 2006|

Shavuot

By Jonathan Zimet

On Shavuot we recall, and re-enact, the revelation
event of our history. There, in the desert, we see a
large group of ex-slaves, traveling by foot. Then,
on just three days notice, they experience something
so awesome that it had to transcend our usual
physical senses. Dark clouds, blinding flashes of
light; deafening voices and silent voices.

The account relates: “V’khol ha-`am ro-im et ha-
kolot v?et ha-lapidim“, the entire people saw the
thunder (and fires) (Ex. 20:14). Such an experience
is so overwhelming and transcendent that we cannot
make complete sense of it or translate it with our
usual senses. Similar descriptions have been
reported in prophetic visions and in near-death
experiences, where activity in our physical organs is
largely suspended.

Clearly, our people directly encountered God in what
became the transcendent and defining experience in
our history. God engraved a covenant Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-06-01T07:24:50-04:00June 1, 2006|

Parashat Bemidbar

Counting the Models of Religious Leadership in The Book of Numbers
By Rabbi Rena Kieval

I would like to dedicate this dvar Torah about
religious leadership to my fellow graduates, my
teachers, and all the students at AJR, where
individuals are embarked on this path in so many
different ways and bringing a multiplicity of talents
and roles to the holy work.

What makes a religious leader? In Sefer Va-yikra
(Leviticus) we learned in exhaustive detail about
the roles of the kohanim – priests, whom the
Torah refers to as meshuchim – anointed ones
(Num. 3:3). They are God’s elite religious
functionaries who live apart from the people, who
must meet strict standards of taharah ‘ purity – and who strive for, or symbolize, perfection.

In Sefer Bamidbar (Numbers), which
we begin reading this week, God announces the
selection of another group of religious leaders, the
levi’im – levites. The Torah calls Read More >

By Rabbi Rena Kieval|2006-05-26T14:34:24-04:00May 26, 2006|

Emor

By Rabbi Isaac Mann

The opening verse of the parashah – “Say (emor) to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and you shall say (v’amarta) to them ‘do not defile yourself to someone who died amongst his people,'” (Lev. 21:1)is a major source in the Midrash and Talmud for an important rabbinic teaching. From the redundancy of “emor” “v’amarta” the Rabbis derive that the adult priests must teach their young to follow in their ways, and just as the former are forbidden to be defiled by contact with a corpse so too the young must be instructed to follow this law. Thus the phrase of “and you shall say to them – v’amarta aleihem – applies to the offspring, so as to say, “You shall teach them what I am teaching you.”

By extension, the Rabbis teach us that every adult Jew must teach his children to follow the laws of the Torah. We Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2006-05-18T16:19:57-04:00May 18, 2006|

Behar-Behukotai

By Yechiel Buchband

As we open our portions, we may expect to find the
common phrase ‘Adonai spoke to Moses, saying . . .’
But we get a new addition to that phrase:
‘VaY’daber Adonai el-Moshe b’Har-Sinai
Laymor’ (Lev. 25:1). We might well wonder,
weren’t all these many mitzvot in Sefer
VaYikra spoken on/at/near Mt. Sinai? Why add
these words here?

Rashi frames the question a bit differently,
anticipating the first topic dealt with in the portion,
the Sabbatical or sh’mitah year. He asks – in
words so apt that they’ve become a saying in
Hebrew ‘ Mah inyan Sh’mitah eytzel Har-Sinai?!
(What’s the issue of Sh’mitah doing next
to Mt. Sinai; or, what does one thing have to do with
another?) Quoting the midrash in Sifra, Rashi
answers that the words b’Har Sinai come here
to inform us that just as this mitzvah of
Sh’mitah was taught at Sinai along with all its
rules and detailed regulations (here in the Written
Torah, in the next verses), so all the other
mitzvot (which Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-18T16:16:19-04:00May 18, 2006|

Bâ€™har-Bâ€™hukotai

By Yechiel Buchband

As we open our portions, we may expect to find the
common phrase ‘Adonai spoke to Moses, saying . . .’
But we get a new addition to that phrase:
‘VaY’daber Adonai el-Moshe b’Har-Sinai
Laymor’ (Lev. 25:1). We might well wonder,
weren’t all these many mitzvot in Sefer
VaYikra spoken on/at/near Mt. Sinai? Why add
these words here?

Rashi frames the question a bit differently,
anticipating the first topic dealt with in the portion,
the Sabbatical or sh’mitah year. He asks – in
words so apt that they’ve become a saying in
Hebrew ‘ Mah inyan Sh’mitah eytzel Har-Sinai?!
(What’s the issue of Sh’mitah doing next
to Mt. Sinai; or, what does one thing have to do with
another?) Quoting the midrash in Sifra, Rashi
answers that the words b’Har Sinai come here
to inform us that just as this mitzvah of
Sh’mitah was taught at Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-18T16:16:19-04:00May 18, 2006|

Passover 2006

You! Open Up for Them!
By Rabbi David Greenstein

One of the famous sections of the traditional Haggadah’the Passover discussion of the Exodus that takes place at the seder’is the description of the questions of the Four Children and the suggested responses to them. Roughly translated, the four children are: the wise one, the wicked one, the simple one and the one who does not know how to ask.

This section has had much attention devoted to it in the
voluminous literature that has developed around the themes of the Haggadah. Especially today, with our concerns for Jewish continuity and the multiplicity of ways that people have adopted as their own expressions of Jewish identity, there has been a lot of discussion around ways of understanding these ‘types.’ One problem has been to fruitfully use these constructs without falling into the trap of stereotyping people.

But even more particularly problematic is the image of the Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-04T11:29:52-04:00May 4, 2006|

Shemini

By Joan Lenowitz

The completion and certification of Seven World Trade Center, the building that stands in the place of the tower that was destroyed on 9/11, signals a new era in energy and environmental design. The building achieves preeminence as the first to receive ‘gold’ certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, an industry coalition which grades buildings on such features as energy and water consumption, indoor air quality and use of renewable materials. (New York Times, April 16, 2006)

Scientists, who have studied the effects of the kinds of changes being made in such buildings in the U.S., have concluded that in addition to the potential savings from reduced consumption of energy and raw materials in the construction and operation of the buildings, and the external conservational effects on the environment, there are also categories of expected savings from effects on the humans who occupy those buildings.

They estimate savings Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-04T10:01:16-04:00May 4, 2006|

Tzav

Making Your Guilty Conscience Holy

By Hayley Mica Einhorn

In this week’s parashah, Tzav, the Kohanim are commanded to make a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sin offering, a guilt offering, and a sacrifice of well-being to HaShem (God). The Torah tells us that, ‘The guilt offering is like the sin-offering. The same rule applies to both: it shall belong to the priest who makes expiation thereby.’ (VaYikra/Leviticus 7:7) Despite this, the Torah describes the guilt offering in a different way than the sin offering. While the parashah describes the various procedures that are performed by the priest during the sin offering, the Torah initially describes the guilt offering as kodesh kodashim or ‘most holy’ (Vayikra 7:2) and then goes on to elaborate the specific procedure of the priests.

This distinction immediately caused me to wonder, Why does the Torah describe the guilt korban (sacrificial offering) as ‘holier’ than a sin offering? Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-04T09:57:26-04:00May 4, 2006|

VaYikra

Saying I’m Sorry
By Michael G. Kohn

Spring has arrived in New York. Alfred Lord Tennyson once wrote: ‘In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.’ And the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote: ‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.’ How do we show our love of God? Well, while the Temple stood in Jerusalem, we showed our love through voluntary offerings at the Temple. And in this week’s portion, parashat Vayikra, the Torah enumerates five, the first three of which are the olah, or burnt offering, the minhah, or meal offering, and the zevah-sh’lamim, or peace offering.

Now, Erich Segal once wrote: ‘Love means never having to say you’re sorry.’ However, for those who love God, but have transgressed one of God’s commandments, the Torah commands that they say they’re sorry. The final two offerings enumerated in Vayikra’hatat, or sin offering, and asham, or guilt Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-04T09:44:44-04:00May 4, 2006|

Va-yahkel-Pekudei

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 >

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

Vayehi

By Michael Kohn

Vayehi is the final parashah of Sefer Bereshit and brings to a close not only the lives of Jacob and Joseph but the narrative of the Patriarchs as well. It is a major transition point in the Torah narrative, inasmuch as the second chapter of Sefer Shemot begins with the birth of Moses. And as Prime Minister Sharon lies seriously ill in Hadassah Hospital, regardless of the outcome of his current condition, it is obvious that a major transition point, like that described in this parashah, is occurring today in Israel.

In Vayehi, the Torah employs interesting juxtapositions of the third Patriarch’s two names’Jacob and Israel’perhaps as a way of illustrating the transition. For example, at the very outset, the Torah tells us: ‘Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the span of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time for Israel Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-04T09:39:44-04:00May 4, 2006|

VaYâ€™hi

By Michael Kohn

Vayehi is the final parashah of Sefer Bereshit and brings to a close not only the lives of Jacob and Joseph but the narrative of the Patriarchs as well. It is a major transition point in the Torah narrative, inasmuch as the second chapter of Sefer Shemot begins with the birth of Moses. And as Prime Minister Sharon lies seriously ill in Hadassah Hospital, regardless of the outcome of his current condition, it is obvious that a major transition point, like that described in this parashah, is occurring today in Israel.

In Vayehi, the Torah employs interesting juxtapositions of the third Patriarch’s two names’Jacob and Israel’perhaps as a way of illustrating the transition. For example, at the very outset, the Torah tells us: ‘Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the span of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time for Israel Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-04T09:39:44-04:00May 4, 2006|

Aharei Mot-Kedoshim

Parashat Aharei Mot/Kedoshim:
The Lingering Pain of Loss
By Eleanor Pearlman

The beginning of the parashah (Torah portion) of Aharei Mot/Kedoshim begins with the words, Vay’hi aharei mot (After the death) – in reference to Nadav and Avihu, two of the sons of Aaron. These deaths occurred in Parashat Shemini, three parshiot before our current parashah. The reason for their punishment is uncertain, as many varying explanations by the commentators mean there is no one reason for such a difficult death/punishment that is universally understood or accepted.

10:1 ‘. . . And they (Nadav and Avihu) offered before the Lord alien fire which He had not commanded them.
10:2 And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them.’

While, at this time, Moshe offered some words of explanation, Aaron remained silent, ‘vayidom Aharon.’ (10:3) There was nothing for Aaron to say, for there are no words to express such a horrendous and sudden loss. There Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-05-02T21:02:22-04:00May 2, 2006|

Chayyei Sarah

What Was Missing in This Family

Parshat HaShavua, 22nd Heshvan 5765
By Dorit Edut

When
someone in our family or circle of friends dies, we are often left
feeling that there is a huge gap in our lives that can never be filled.
It is a time of reflecting about the qualities of this person and what
they meant to us’and then, in turn, what qualities we may lack or not
have developed sufficiently in ourselves.

This week’s parshah, ironically titled ‘The Life of Sarah’Chayyei Sarah,’
begins with the death of our first matriarch and what happens in the
aftermath. We see Avraham in deep mourning and having to negotiate for
a burial place for Sarah with his Hittite neighbors; Yitzhak is not
present until the end of the chapter when we see him in the fields,
meditating and praying Minha, according to the Talmud (Brachot 26a&b), perhaps saying some form of Kaddish and definitely missing his mother’s Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-04-01T21:18:54-05:00April 1, 2006|

Bereshit

On Endings, Beginnings and Tikkun ha-Olam:
A-HA Experience at AJR

By Peg Kershenbaum

Vayar Elohim et-kol-asher asah v’hinei-tov m’od; vay’hi-erev vay’hi-voqer yom hashishi
And God saw all that He had made. And behold: it was very good!
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Gen. 1:31)

We begin anew the hora
of Torah, linking the end of the holy season with the start of the
term’s sacred studies. That it will be a year of challenges and yet of
great promise I hope to demonstrate in this, the first of our
community’s renewed series of divrei torah.

Each week as we recite Kiddush, we
join the ending of the verse above to the beginning of the next verse: vay’chulu hashamayim v’ha aretz vchol-tz’ va am.¹
Yet each day we affirm that ‘God renews daily the work of creation.’
Are the works of creation actually complete or not? Rashi was puzzled
by this, Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-04-01T20:56:29-05:00April 1, 2006|

Ki Tissa

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 >

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

Tetzaveh

Urim and Tummim
By Charles Lightner

Parashat Tetzaveh opens with the requirement of the ner tamid (continuously illuminating lamp), and it closes with the commandment of the ketoret tamid

(continuously burning incense). Between those two commandments the text
contains eight additional references to things that are to be done
‘continuously’ or ‘eternally.’ While it could be argued that one or two
of these commandments are symbolically observed in our day, clearly
none is observed as originally prescribed. Yet the text is filled with
references to unending practices! Perhaps these matters can be always a
part Jewish life in some way that lacks the concrete reality of the
original.

The most opaque of the matters dealt within the portion is that of the object/s called the Urim and Tummim
(Ex. 28:30). There is no universally accepted explanation of the
physical reality, the oracular function, or the mechanics of this
element of the priestly garb.

It is clear that the function was oracular. It is clear that Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:55:12-05:00March 23, 2006|

Terumah

By Peggy de Prophetis

This D’var Torah is dedicated to Rabbi Stephen Grundfast, an AJR alumnus,

who taught me Torah trope and set me on this path.

‘You shall make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be
made of hammered work; its base and its shaft, its cups, calyxes, and
petals shall be one piece. Six branches shall issue from one side of
the lampstand and three branches from the other side of the lampstand.
On one branch there shall be three cups shaped like almond-blossoms,
each with calyx and petals, and on the next branch there shall be three
cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, so for
all six branches issuing from the lampstand.’ (Ex. 25:31’33)

Parashat Terumah is a blueprint for the construction of the
Tabernacle and its fittings, provided by the Lord in His words to
Moses. The description of each item begins with ‘You shall make . . Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:52:04-05:00March 23, 2006|

Mishpatim

Law and Order by the Numbers
By Peggy de Prophetis

This parashah begins with God’s words to Moses, ‘These are
the rules that you shall set before them.’ It continues with a long and
detailed list of the mitzvot that the Israelites are commanded
to follow. These include statements concerning slavery, murder,
kidnapping, cursing, damages, the poor, judges, witnesses, observance
of Shabbat, the sabbatical year, and the festivals. It ends with Moses
gathering the people at Mount Sinai and the Israelites saying, ‘All the
things that the Lord has commanded, we will do.’ (Ex. 24:3)

In the Talmud (Mak. 23b), a fourth century rabbi, Rabbi Simlai, numbered the mitzvot at 613’248 positive mitzvot (mitzvot aseh) and 365 negative mitzvot (mitzvot lo ta aseh).
The number 248 represents what people in Talmudic times believed to be
the number of parts in the body, and 365 represents the number of days
in a solar year. However, it wasn’t until later times that the mitzvot to be Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:23:50-05:00March 23, 2006|

Yitro

A Treasured People
By Daniel Price

In this week’s Torah portion, neatly nestled between Yitro’s sage
advice to Moses to delegate, and the Ten Commandments, is a
controversial verse that has been central for Jews over the centuries.
It has been both a source of hope and strength for a marginalized
people through the ages, and it has been used against us. As a liberal
Jew I have found it to be a source of concern. I certainly understand
it within a historical context, but I refute it from a theological
context. I have to. I am not an apologist, but I am a product of the
teachings of liberal Judaism of the past half century.

I am speaking of Exodus 19:5, where G-d speaks to Moses, saying:
‘Now then if you (the Children of Israel) will indeed obey Me and keep
My covenant you shall be my ‘treasured’ possession among all the
peoples.’ The word written in the Torah is ‘segulah.’ This word, Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:19:52-05:00March 23, 2006|

Beshalah

The Shabbat of The Song
By Cantor Marcia Lane

Have you ever noticed that, when you fell in love, you fell in love with all

of your beloved? You fell in love with the shape of the face, with the
sound of the voice, even with the way your loved one walked. Believe
me, it’s that way with Torah, too. I fell in love with all of it: the
sound of Torah chanting, the content of the words and the concepts, how
they were juxtaposed phrase against phrase, and the very physicality of
the Torah scroll. I love the way you can look at each scroll and admire
the handwriting of the sofer who wrote it. And I completely love The Song.

On February 18th we will read Parashat Beshalah, which includes the Song at the Sea. For that reason this Shabbat is named Shabbat Shirah‘the
Shabbat of Song. This is only the second time that the word for song
has been used in Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:16:29-05:00March 23, 2006|

Bo

The Secret to our Survival
By Irwin Huberman

What is it about Judaism that has enabled it to survive for
thousands of years, in spite of constant prejudice, harassment and
affliction?

Since our inception, Jews have been under attack, both in Israel,
and throughout the world. How could any religion withstand such
pressure over such a prolonged period?

In fact, the odds have been so stacked against the Jewish people,
the Talmud tells us that potential converts must be warned when first
approaching a rabbi ‘that Israel at the present is persecuted and
oppressed, despised, harassed and overcome by afflictions.’ (Yabamot
47a-b) Those words, recorded almost two thousand years ago, were true
then, and continue to resonate today.

So what is the secret formula that leaders and followers among other
religions have sought for centuries? And are there lessons that Jews of
today can learn, as we grapple with the issues of assimilation and
continuity?

The secret of survival is no secret after all. It is contained in this Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2006-03-23T08:14:21-05:00March 23, 2006|

Va’era

By Heidi Hoover

In this week’s parashah we begin with God’s reassurance to
Moses that God is El Shaddai, the same One who appeared to Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, and that God will indeed free the Israelites. This
appears to be in order to restore Moses’ confidence in God. That
confidence (which was always shaky anyway) doesn’t seem entirely
restored, because when God then reiterates the command to Moses that he
should go and speak to Pharaoh, Moses again protests that his oratory
abilities are not up to the job. As a result, Aaron is sent along with
him.

Then there is an interruption in the narrative flow, where the
families of three of the Israelite tribes’Reuven, Simeon, and Levi’are
listed. After this partial genealogy, the narrative continues to what
is probably one of the most familiar parts of the Torah’the plagues
brought down on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The first seven
plagues’blood, frogs, lice, insects (or wild beasts), cattle disease,
boils, and hail’are described in Va’era. Read More >

By Rabbi Heidi Hoover|2006-03-23T08:13:01-05:00March 23, 2006|

Shemot

The Fast and the Slow
By Greg Schindler

This D’var Torah is dedicated in honor of the Bar Mitzvah of my son, Gabriel Jonah.

The story is told in the Talmud of a man who came to the sage Hillel
and requested, ‘Teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.’
(Shabbos 31a) The man had previously made this request of the sage
Shammai, who chased him away. But Hillel did not chase the man away.
Rather, he said to him, ‘That which you hate, do not do to others. The
rest is commentary.’ While you may be familiar with the story up to
here, there is one more line to the tale. Hillel then adds: ‘Now go and
study!’

In this simple account lies a great truth of learning. Learning comes in two ways: The ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow.’

The ‘Fast’ is the flash of insight where’out of the blue’an idea
takes form in our mind. This is Hillel’s reduction Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:09:36-05:00March 23, 2006|

Vayehi

By Michael Kohn

Vayehi is the final parashah of Sefer Bereshit and brings to a close not only the lives of Jacob and Joseph but the narrative of the Patriarchs as well. It is a major transition point in
the Torah narrative, inasmuch as the second chapter of Sefer Shemot begins with the birth of Moses. And as Prime Minister Sharon lies seriously ill in Hadassah Hospital, regardless of the outcome of his current condition, it is obvious that a major transition point, like
that described in this parashah, is occurring today in Israel.

In Vayehi, the Torah employs interesting juxtapositions of the third Patriarch’s two names’Jacob and Israel’perhaps as a way of illustrating the transition. For example, at the very outset, the Torah tells us: ‘Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the span of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time for Israel to die drew Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:06:13-05:00March 23, 2006|

Vayehi

By Michael Kohn

Vayehi is the final parashah of Sefer Bereshit and brings to a close not only the lives of Jacob and Joseph but the narrative of the Patriarchs as well. It is a major transition point in
the Torah narrative, inasmuch as the second chapter of Sefer Shemot begins with the birth of Moses. And as Prime Minister Sharon lies seriously ill in Hadassah Hospital, regardless of the outcome of his current condition, it is obvious that a major transition point, like
that described in this parashah, is occurring today in Israel.

In Vayehi, the Torah employs interesting juxtapositions of the third Patriarch’s two names’Jacob and Israel’perhaps as a way of illustrating the transition. For example, at the very outset, the Torah tells us: ‘Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; and the span of Jacob’s life was one hundred and forty-seven years. When the time for Israel to die drew Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:06:13-05:00March 23, 2006|

Vayigash

Toward Reconciliation
By Harvey Israelton

At the end of last week’s parashah, Miketz, Joseph’s brothers
had returned to Egypt to appear once again before Joseph, and they had
brought with them Joseph’s only full brother, Benjamin (Joseph and
Benjamin were Rachel’s only children). Joseph had stated that Benjamin
will remain with him as his slave and that the other brothers may
return home. This week’s parashah, Vayigash, begins with one of
the most dramatic scenes in all of Bereshit: Judah making a moving plea
for mercy for Benjamin, or more precisely, for their father Jacob, so
as to spare Jacob the loss of both his favorite children.

After his plea for mercy, Judah offers to remain as a slave in place
of Benjamin. This is a very different Judah than the man we saw at the
moment when the brothers threw Joseph into the pit so many years ago.
Although Judah was among those who argued against killing Joseph, it
was he who suggested that Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T08:03:50-05:00March 23, 2006|

Miketz

Shabbat Chanukah

By Michael Rothbaum

In memory of Naomi Goodman, z”l, past president of the Jewish Peace Fellowship

About 2,200 years ago, as many of us know, a ragtag group of
insurgents known as the Maccabees defeated what was then one of the
strongest military forces in the known world, the Syrian Greek Empire.

A few centuries later, in deciding how to tell this story, the
rabbis did a funny thing. They changed it. The story of the Maccabees?
It’s found nowhere in Jewish scripture. All that war business? They it
took out. In the Talmud, the rabbis include a brief narrative’not about
war, but about a jar of oil.

The rabbis, one might argue, had learned the lessons of history. By
the time of the Talmud, the Maccabees are long gone. The Romans have
conquered Jerusalem. Some Jews’particularly young Jewish men and
boys’won’t stand for it. They carry out guerilla attacks against the
Romans. Sometimes, these young people die. And sometimes, like the
Maccabees, they attack Read More >

By Rabbi Michael Rothbaum|2006-03-23T08:01:14-05:00March 23, 2006|

Vayeshev

Fraught with Background
By Alan Levenson

Erich Auerbach (1892’1957), a great German-Jewish scholar of
literature, once wrote that to fully appreciate any particular
character or narrative in TaNaKh (Jewish Bible) one must appreciate
that they are ‘fraught with background.’ In Genesis 37 we are given
several good reasons for the brothers’ hatred of Joseph. He is a
tattletale; he is the recipient of a visible symbol of Jacob’s
favoritism (the ketonet passim’the special coat); and he obliviously
relates those self-aggrandizing dreams’twice. Although the brothers are
already past the point of speaking civilly to him (Gen. 37:4b),
Joseph’s dreams seem to be the ‘tipping point.’ When Joseph finally
finds the brothers at Dothan, they refer to him as follows: ‘hiney ba’al ha-halamot ha lazeh ba’ (Gen 37:19). I hear much more of an edge in the Hebrew than in the pat OJPS translation, ‘Behold, this dreamer cometh.’

On first glance, then, the brothers’ hatred is adequately explained
by Genesis 37’which brings me back to Auerbach. Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:48:43-05:00March 23, 2006|

Vayishlah

Jacob’s Struggle with the Angel
By Rebecca Tenenbein

This d’var Torah is written in loving memory of my grandparents

Edith Tenenbein, Alexander Tenenbein, and Abe Newborn, z”l

Jacob must go back to his homeland, Canaan, but first he must settle
accounts with his brother, Esau. Twenty years have passed since Jacob
ran away with the fear that his brother might kill him. Twenty years
have changed them both greatly. The night before the meeting between
the two brothers, ‘Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him
until the break of dawn.’ (Genesis 32:35). When morning comes, Jacob
has a new name, Israel.

Who did Jacob actually wrestle with? Who was this man? Many rabbis
and great thinkers have spent time interpreting this passage. The
commentator Rashi suggests that it was Esau’s angel. Jacob was worried
about his upcoming meeting with Esau. Rashi adds that when Jacob
realized that he was wrestling with Esau’s angel, he saw that he could
possibly persuade Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:46:56-05:00March 23, 2006|

Vayetzei

The Quality of Gossamer
By Linda Shriner-Cahn

Jacob comes to an unnamed spot, running to an ill-defined future,
from a traumatic past. Everything is unsure. He has no moorings. He is
untethered, and then he puts a rock on the ground, rests his head,
dreams, and is transformed.

‘God was in this place and I, I did not know it.’ (Gen. 28:16’as translated by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner)

Jacob has a dream, a strange dream. It disconcerts him; it makes him
shudder. What does he dream? He dreams of a stairway that goes between
heaven and earth, with angels going up and down and God standing next
to him. It is almost too much, but there is more. God speaks and
promises him the future.

‘God was in this place and I, I did not know it.’

Jacob wakes from his dream and knows that he has experienced
something truly extraordinary, but he can’t hold on to it, can’t
sustain it. So he tries to make it last Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:44:48-05:00March 23, 2006|

Toldot

In the Blindspot-light
By Rabbi Steven J. Rubenstein

Each year I cringe when the postcard arrives in the mail reminding
me that my appointment with the optometrist is due. A couple of years
ago my eye doctor welcomed me to the club of those whose eyesight would
gradually diminish with age. I know from experience that reading the
fine print of the Talmud had become increasingly difficult with each
passing month, but I tried to ignore the fact that the letters of the
Torah were becoming a bit fuzzier around the crowns when I read from
the scroll on Shabbat.

How our ancestor Isaac would have benefited from a yearly eye check-up if it had been available to him! In this week’s portion Toldot, we are told, ‘Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see.’ To see what?

Right before this comment, the Torah tells us that both Isaac and
his wife Rebecca were disappointed when their son Esau Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:43:25-05:00March 23, 2006|

Toldot

Covenantal Language
By Dr. Jerome Chanes

In commemoration of the Yahrzeit of my dad, Manuel Simcha ben R. Ya`akov
Avraham Chanes, z”l; and in honor of Ora Horn Prouser and David Greenstein

Parashat Toldot is one of the classic ‘transition’ narratives
of our Scripture in which ‘covenantal’ language’language, used in key
settings in the Chumash, that expresses the transmittal of the Covenant from generation to generation’is central.

The core of the narrative, as outlined in Chapter 27 of Sefer B’reshit,
is the story of the transmittal of the Covenantal blessing from Isaac
to Jacob. The narrative, deceptively simple, is about clear and keen
perception’Rebecca’s’and, more to the point, lack of
perception’Isaac’s. It is immediately obvious that the blindness of our
patriarch Isaac is at bottom a metaphor for his lack of perception.

As is often the case in Biblical narrative, the philology of the
text tells us all we need to know about the message. In Chapter 27 (and
I thank Rabbi David Silber for suggesting Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:42:04-05:00March 23, 2006|

Chayei Sarah

The Public and the Private

By Peggy de Prophetis

While reading this week’s parashah, Chayei Sarah, I was struck by the contrast between things that should happen in public and things that should be allowed to happen only in private.

In Bava Batra 2a and b, there is a discussion about whether partners who live in a courtyard and who agree to build a wall, do so in order to prevent visual trespass. The question raised is whether or not visual trespass is damaging. And there are other places in our tradition where the issue of personal privacy is expressed. For example, in Exodus 28:33’35 it says that the high priest’s robe should
have a golden bell so that the people will know when he enters the Temple. From this our rabbis deduced that we should warn people before we enter a room lest we come upon them doing or saying something that should be private.

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:39:42-05:00March 23, 2006|

VaYera

By Rabbi Aryeh Meir

In this parashah we are shown both the greatness of Avraham and his response to difficulties and tests that he faces: He argues with God over the destruction of S’dom and Amora; he nearly loses Sarah to the king of Gerar; he is forced to expel Hagar and Ishmael; he nearly sacrifices Isaac at Mt. Moriah.

After these highly charged episodes, the Torah takes a break by recounting the genealogy of Nahor, the brother of Avraham.

Some time later, Abraham was told, ‘Milcah too has borne children to
your brother Nahor: Uz the first-born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel
the father of Aram; and Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and
Bethuel”Bethuel being the father of Rebekah. These eight Milcah bore to Nahor, Abraham’s brother. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore children: Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah. (Genesis 22:20’24).

According to one modern Bible scholar, the genealogy comes here (following the binding Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:37:35-05:00March 23, 2006|

Lekh Lekha

Protecting Our Roots
By Peg Kershenbaum

There is, says Qohelet, A time to plant and a time to uproot what is
planted (3:2). When I was a little girl, my grandfather taught me about
gardening. First he showed me how to weed the garden. We pulled the
weeds from the earth and shook the soil from the roots, saving it for
the other plants. The weeds wouldn’t grow without soil, of course. Then
Grandpa showed me how to transplant. He tried to keep the root ball
intact when he moved the plant’dirt, roots and all’into a better
environment. More importantly, he showed me how to decide when it was
the right time to transplant.

Many of us understand the feeling of rootlessness. When, as
newlyweds, my husband and I went to California to pursue a wonderful
educational possibility, we had to abandon our New York pace; we had to
temper our Brooklyn Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:36:22-05:00March 23, 2006|

Lekh Lekha

‘And You Shall Be a Blessing’
By Enid C. Lader

In this week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, God tells Abram to ‘Go for yourself from your land, from your birthplace, and from the house of your father.’ (Gen. 12:1) Sarna, in the JPS Commentary on Genesis, writes: ‘The enormity of God’s demand and the agonizing decision to be made are effectively conveyed through the cluster of terms arranged in ascending order according to the severity of the
sacrifice involved: [leaving his] country, extended family, nuclear family.’ Ramban suggests that each level helps Abram narrow the focus of God’s call’not only leave his country, not only leave his kinfolk, but also leave his father. Abram will be continuing the journey his father began in Ur of the Chaldeans as he leaves Haran for the land that God will show him.

God’s call to Abram is accompanied by a list of seven promises:

‘I will Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2006-03-23T07:34:29-05:00March 23, 2006|

Noah

By Halina Rubinstein

The story of Noah is a second creation story, a second opportunity for both God and man to correct past mistakes. God sees the evil that men have done and regrets that he created man (Genesis 6:6) and determines to destroy all of life. This would presuppose the belief that God is not omniscient in that God could not predict this eventuality. Medieval philosophers grappled with this problem as do we moderns. What is of interest here is God’s covenant with Noah.

After emerging from the ark, God made a covenant with Noah and showed a rainbow as a sign that He would never again send a flood to destroy all living things. Traditionally and to this day, there is a blessing that may be recited when one sees a rainbow: Baruch atah adonai elohenu melech ha-olam, zocher habrit v’n-eeman b’vrito, v’kayam b’ma-amaro,

Blessed are you, God, Ruler of the universe, who Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:30:43-05:00March 23, 2006|

Noah

By Halina Rubinstein

The story of Noah is a second creation story, a second opportunity for both God and man to correct past mistakes. God sees the evil that men have done and regrets that he created man (Genesis 6:6) and determines to destroy all of life. This would presuppose the belief that God is not omniscient in that God could not predict this eventuality. Medieval philosophers grappled with this problem as do we moderns. What is of interest here is God’s covenant with Noah.

After emerging from the ark, God made a covenant with Noah and showed a rainbow as a sign that He would never again send a flood to destroy all living things. Traditionally and to this day, there is a blessing that may be recited when one sees a rainbow: Baruch atah adonai elohenu melech ha-olam, zocher habrit v’n-eeman b’vrito, v’kayam b’ma-amaro,

Blessed are you, God, Ruler of the universe, who Read More >

By ahsilver|2006-03-23T07:30:43-05:00March 23, 2006|

Bereshit

Looking Beyond Our Neighborhood
By Irwin Huberman

In the beginning . . . . the Torah reminds us not only to love our neighbor, but also to extend compassion to those in need throughout the world.

In recent months the television news has been dominated by a seemingly endless stream of images from New Orleans to Pakistan, as we witness the devastation caused by hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. It is often hard to grasp the significance of these events. For many, the non-stop images, the casualty totals and the ongoing requests for assistance have led to a feeling of numbness and powerlessness. It is often too easy to retreat and to turn a blind eye.

One of the most important arguments in Judaism, based on this week’s parashah, takes place in the Talmud as Rabbi Akiva and Ben Azzai debate what is the most important principle of Judaism. It was Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2006-03-23T07:19:06-05:00March 23, 2006|