Parashat Nasso 5783

There’s a cartoon I once saw where a guru in a loincloth sits cross-legged at the top of a mountain. Before him is a matronly-looking woman in Western clothes who has climbed almost to the summit. The caption: “Murray, darling, when are you coming home?”

Many of us have the idea that a life of holiness means a life of privation. What does Judaism have to say about this?

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Nasso, we read about the nazir. This is a man or woman who “explicitly utters a nazirite’s vow, to set themselves apart for G-d.” (Num. 6:2)

Having made this vow, the nazir takes on three restrictions:

1. No wine or strong drink,
2. No haircuts, and
3. Not being near someone who has died.

Three people in Tanakh seem to have fit the description of a nazir:

– Samson, whose mother was told by an angel: “You are going to conceive and bear a son; let no razor touch his head, for Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:59:07-04:00May 30, 2023|

A D’var Torah for Shavuot – 5783

Forty is the number of transformation in the Torah. And there are even too many examples to list! It rained for 40 days and 40 nights to transform the antediluvian world to our post-flood world. The 12 spies scouted the Land for 40 days and then the Children of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years – to transform the people once bound by a slavery mindset to a people who could operate with a freedom mindset. Moses and G-d had a 40-day and 40-night havruta on top of Mount Sinai – to transform the Jewish people from pre-Torah to having received the Torah. Indeed, from Rosh Hodesh Elul to Yom Kippur is a 40-day period, marking our annual journeys with our own process of heshbon hanefesh and teshuvah.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in his book Waters of Eden, delved into the meaning of mikvah and the significances of the number 40. The mikvah is the paradigmatic Jewish ritual of transformation. We are, Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:52:53-04:00May 24, 2023|

Parashat Bemidbar 5783

“The straight line belongs to men, the curved one to God”

~ Antoni Gaudi, architect

In case we missed it, we begin this book of the Torah with a reminder: we’re BaMidbar—in the desert.

Still.

But why? What are the Israelites still doing in the desert? After one year and one month, couldn’t they make it through the desert any faster? It really shouldn’t take more than a few weeks to get from Egypt to Israel, even you are traveling on foot with hundreds of thousands of people and a lot of livestock.

But not to worry; at the beginning of Parashat BeMidbar, we seem to be at an inflection point. The Israelites must surely be thinking that their travels are coming to an end. As they ceremoniously take stock of the able-bodied men from among their tribes who will form an army to battle any peoples who might try to stop them (Numbers 1:1-4), Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:54:35-04:00May 16, 2023|

Parashiyot Behar-Behukotai 5783

The second of this week’s parashiyot, Behukotai, lists the various blessings in store for those who observe all of God’s commandments and enumerates the multitude of curses awaiting those who ignore or disobey. While the underlying theology, that our actions are the immediate catalyst for the good and bad we see in the world, may not resonate for some of us, I would like to focus on a different dimension of the correlation between our actions and a divine response.

“And if these things fail to discipline you for Me, and you remain hostile to Me, I too will remain hostile to you…” (Lev. 26:23-24).

God’s response to human hostility (קֶרִי) is divine hostility (קֶרִי). The quoted passage suggests, in rabbinic parlance, מידה כנגד מידה, “a measure for measure” response. The sense of commensurateness between deed, on the one hand, and reward or punishment, on the other, undergirds many approaches to Read More >

By jackielebwohl|2023-06-01T10:56:55-04:00May 8, 2023|

Parashat Emor 5783

Lo tehal’lelu
You shall not
profane
pollute
desecrate.
Do not.

You and I
and each of us,
holy leaders
great and small,
let us think twice
about what we do,
let us remember
and pay attention,
that we do not
profane
pollute
desecrate…

…ourselves
or others (Lev.21:9) —
precious
are you
are they
am I,
beloved
by one or more,
sacred;

…our children, (Lev. 21:15)
mine
yours
theirs
ours,
the future they are;
we will not be here
one day
but they will,
they will only
if we remember
and if we restrain
and if we transform
our baser
instincts;

…the Name; (Lev. 21:6)
you
are not the center
of the Universe
nor am I
nor he nor she
nor they nor them —
much is beyond us
greater
more important,
critical on every level
to functionality
to wellbeing;

…the sanctuary of the Oneness (Lev. 21:12)
the Breathe
the All-Encompassing
the Mystery—
minuscule though we are,
you hold
and I hold,
the power
to wreak havoc;

…any place sacred to the One— (Lev. 21:23)
is there a place not cherished
by the Initiator
of all
holding that hallowedness?
what does it take
for us to notice the sanctity
feel it
respect it
care Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T15:42:32-04:00May 2, 2023|

Parshiyot Aharei Mot-Kedoshim 5783

“Hokheiah tokhiah et amitekha.” “You shall surely reprove your fellow.” (Leviticus 19:17) Giving critical feedback, or tokhehah (often translated as “reproof” or “rebuke”), is a positive mitzvah in the Torah.

Perhaps this shouldn’t surprise us, as constructive critique and feedback is a primary way that we learn and grow. And yet, already in the time of the Talmud, two of the greatest sages of their generation indicated that almost everyone who attempts to fulfill this mitzvah is doing it wrong.

In the Babylonian Talmud, Arakhin 16b, Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah differ about why the system of tokhehah seems to be broken. According to Rabbi Tarfon, “I would be surprised if there is anyone in this generation who can receive rebuke. If the one rebuking says ‘Remove the splinter from between your eyes,’ the other responds: ‘Remove the beam from between your eyes!’” In other words, the experience of receiving criticism, even when generously offered, tends to activate Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T22:22:28-04:00April 24, 2023|

Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah 5783

Click here for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah
By Rabbi Matthew Goldstone

Reading Parshiyot Tazria-Metzorah this year I can’t help but think about bodily autonomy and the conversations taking place across the United States about the legality of abortion and related procedures. The Torah establishes a system in which those in power, the priests, are tasked with looking at a part of a person’s body to dictate their ritual status. Based upon their determination, the person may be socially isolated and required to shave portions of their body. The voyeurism coupled with a religiously-imposed obligation to do something with, or to, one’s body, grates against modern notions of personal autonomy.

And yet, at the same time, I realize that I actually do subscribe to certain bodily limitations and restrictions imposed by governing powers. להבדיל,[1] I endorse vaccination requirements for people to enter certain spaces. Even beyond Covid-19, I expect public schools to mandate Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:07:38-04:00April 17, 2023|

Parashat Shemini 5783

The Bitter and the Sweet
A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini
By Rabbi Greg Schindler (’09)

Most of us are familiar with the concept of a hyperlink. Case in point: hyperlink. When you click on a hyperlink, you begin a journey connecting the idea on the page to a related concept. Quite the innovation, right?

Yes, indeed. The hyperlinks embedded in the Torah were quite the innovation.

Wait, what? The Torah?

In Jewish tradition, a hyperlink is called a gezerah shaveh – where the same words are used in two different cases in order to shed light upon each case. In this way, the Torah comments upon itself. For example, in Num. 28:2 we read that the daily burnt offering is to be brought “בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ ” (bimoado) – “at its appointed time”, meaning even on Shabbat. In Num. 9:2, we similarly read that the Passover offering is to be brought “בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ” (bimoado). From this, the rabbis determined that, just as the Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:07:52-04:00April 10, 2023|

Hol HaMoed Pesah 5783

Click here for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

A D’var Torah for Hol HaMoed Pesah
By Rabbi Ira J. Dounn (’17)

The Passover story, which we recount in our seders this week, highlights Moses (on behalf of G-d) telling Pharoah to “Let My people go!” (Exodus 5:1)

And yet I wonder: What are the things that we are holding onto? What do we need to let go of in our own lives?

The pre-Passover purge might indicate that we’re not too shabby at letting go of things. The spring cleaning that features the throwing away, giving away, or selling of our hametz is a reminder to us that it’s good to let things go.

But anyone who has had the unenviable job of cleaning out the home of a loved one who has passed away might find the task more daunting. In this instance, the only physical thing we have left of the person are their Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:08:28-04:00April 3, 2023|

Parashat Tzav 5783

Click here for an audio recording of this D’var Torah

Constancy and Careful Guarding: How to Link the Jewish Past with the Future
A D’var Torah for Parashat Tzav
By Rabbi Mitchell Blank (’21)

This coming Shabbat is the last one before Passover begins (Shabbat HaGadol) and the Torah reading this year falls on Parashat Tzav. Both Tzav and Exodus 12, the chapter that details Passover observance, emphasize the biblical world view that constancy of action (temidut) and careful guarding of ritual (shemira) are the glue linking past and future generations. The Rabbis endorse these paths to Jewish survival yet also understand that the ultimate guarantor of continuity in an ever-changing world is intergenerational peace. Passover, the time of our freedom and redemption, is davka the holiday our sages choose to accentuate that the most important mitzvah is to maintain Jewish continuity by children and parents being in dialogue.

Parashat Tzav begins with particulars of Olat HaTamid, the daily burnt offering. Intertwined in these details is a related command, Read More >

By Linda Ripps|2023-05-03T12:08:38-04:00March 27, 2023|

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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