Parashat Toldot

Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

The negative attitude towards Esau in rabbinic literature is familiar to many and exemplified by the midrash that states “It is a well known teaching [halakhah] that Esau hates Jacob.” (Sifre on Deuteronomy, Beha’alotkha 69) These midrashim were not talking just about Jacob and Esau, these two figures were, in the words of Gerson D. Cohen, “archetypal symbols of Jewry and Rome.” (found in Gerson D. Cohen, “Esau as Symbol in Early Medieval Thought”)

Did the Rabbis have anything positive to say about Esau? As a matter of fact, they did. The following midrashim show that the rabbis were able to find something good even in somebody who was described so negatively such as Esau. We are challenged to look beyond the negativity in order to find the positive in everyone.

“And Rebecca took the choicest garments of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house” (27:15)-In which Read More >

By ahsilver|2014-12-03T11:56:12-05:00December 3, 2014|

Parashat Hayyei Sarah

“Where is Eliezer?”
by Rabbi Isaac Mann

This week’s Torah portion elaborates on two life-cycle events involving Abraham and his family — the death/burial of his wife Sarah and the betrothal/marriage of his son Isaac. There are some interesting similarities between them, most notably that both contain dialogues or speeches that seem either redundant or unnecessarily detailed or possibly both.

The first part of the sidra (Sabbath Torah portion) details Abraham’s quest for a burial place for Sarah and his verbal exchange with Ephron, who possessed the portion of land that the patriarch wanted to purchase as a burial plot. The second and longer part of Hayyei Sarah deals with the mission that Abraham assigns to his servant to find a wife for Isaac and how that mission is carried out. The latter can be divided into two sections. The first is the narrative itself, wherein we have Abraham’s assignment to the servant, the latter’s prayer Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2014-11-12T14:32:23-05:00November 12, 2014|

Parashat Vayeirah

Vayeirah
Hazzan Marcia Lane

Let me just say, straight off, that choosing one or other episode from this week’s parashah, like all the parshiyot of the book of Genesis, is a tricky proposition. Shall I address the story of Abraham and Sarah and their angelic visitors, but ignore the Akedah, the binding of Isaac? For synagogues that follow the triennial reading of the Torah, the big event this week will be the destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah, but we will also read about the king of Gerar, Avimelech, and how he took Sarah into his household, thinking that she was Abraham’s sister. The banishment of Hagar and Ishmael? You can see the problem here; the Torah portion is simply too good. Too packed with juicy stories. But there is a thread that connects these episodes. Our Torah portion introduces two important and inter-connected mitzvot (commandments): bikkur holim (visiting the sick) and hakhnasat Read More >

By ahsilver|2014-11-05T12:49:13-05:00November 5, 2014|

Parashat Lekh-Lekha

Lekh-Lekha
Cantor Sandy Horowitz

Journeys are complicated. Fraught with the unexpected, they can bring out one’s best and worst qualities. But the beginning — the moment of outset — can be a moment of perfection and purity. Consider the newborn, or a decision to embark on a new career, or those first steps of a backpacking trip.

Such a moment opens this week’s Torah portion.

“And God said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your native land and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.'”….”Vayelekh Avram” – “and Abram went forth” (Genesis 12:1-2, 4).

If there was hesitation, we don’t read about it. If Sarai gave him a hard time about leaving, that was kept between the two of them. Without regard to what came before Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2014-11-05T12:13:37-05:00November 5, 2014|

Parashat Noah

Parashat Noah: Balancing Two Promises
Rabbi Jill Hammer

In Parashat Noah, God commands Noah to build an ark so that his descendants may survive the flood that God is bringing upon the earth. Noah’s role, according to the biblical text, is as a partner in covenant with God: “I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark…” Some midrashim emphasize a second aspect of Noah’s role: as a caretaker of animal diversity. In Genesis Rabbah 19:5, Noah runs from animal to animal to provide each one with the food it needs, to the extent that Noah does not sleep the entire time he is on the ark. The phoenix is so distressed at Noah’s hard work that it does not ask for anything to eat (and is rewarded with eternal life for its empathy).

Sandy Eisenberg Sasso, the rabbi and author, adds beautifully to this midrashic thread. In her book Noah’s Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2014-11-05T12:06:52-05:00November 5, 2014|

Parashat Bereishit

Overture: Our Place in God’s Purposive World
Rabbi Len Levin

“In the beginning God created heavens and earth” (older translation)

or

“When God began to create the heavens and the earth
— the earth being chaos-shmaos (Yochanan Muffs’ paraphrase of tohu va-vohu
with darkness over the face of the deep
and the spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters —
God said, Let there be light,
And there was light.

Any way you translate it, it is a fitting opening to the most formative book in the world. Like a classic overture, the beginning chapters of Genesis articulate the themes that will reverberate through the rest of the Torah as well as the historical and prophetic writings, the psalms, and the other components of the Bible. In broad strokes, it lays out the important elements of the biblical world view:

The world is ordered by God’s creative plan.
Everything in the world — skies, seas, land, Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2014-11-05T12:05:31-05:00November 5, 2014|

Parashat Hukkat

Hukkat
Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

This week’s parashah contains a somewhat strange description of what happened to the Children of Israel after they complained to God and Moses about their current precarious state. God’s response was to send poisonous serpents as a plague among the people. The people then come to Moses, admitted their fault, and God proceeded to tell Moses the cure, a serpent made of bronze.

“From Mount Hor they set out by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; but the people became impatient on the way. The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we detest this miserable food.” Then the LORD sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and Read More >

By ahsilver|2014-11-05T12:01:03-05:00November 5, 2014|

Parashat Korah

Korah
Rabbi Len Levin

The Question of Freedom

“For the congregation are all holy, and Adonai is among them; and why do you exalt yourselves over the congregation of Adonai?”
(argument of Korah, Numbers 16:3)

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
(American Declaration of Independence)

In 1976, Shabbat Korah came out on July 3, the eve of the United States bicentennial. I was attending a havurah retreat, and to stimulate discussion and reflection I composed a manifesto of the Kommunistishe Organisatzion fun Revolutioneren Anarchisten und Hard-hats (KORAH), which transposed Korah’s political agenda into modern revolutionary jargon and ended: “To your tents, O Israel! You have nothing to lose but your slave mentality.” It was conceived tongue-in-cheek but was intended to raise the serious questions: What, if anything, Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2014-11-05T11:59:30-05:00November 5, 2014|

Parashat Shelah

Shelah
Rabbi Isaac Mann

The opening Rashi of this week’s Parashah (Numbers 13:2) addresses himself to the question of what is the connection between the story of the twelve spies sent by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan and the end of the previous sedra (Beha’alotkha), which recounts the incident of Miriam speaking against her brother Moses. In answer to this question, Rashi quotes the Midrash that explains the connection on the basis of both stories involving speaking ill of someone or something, or what we would call lashon ha-ra. In Rashi’s words – “…for she [Miriam] was punished for speaking ill of her brother, and these wicked people [ten spies] saw it [the punishment meted out to Miriam] and didn’t take it to heart.” In other words, the ten spies who claimed that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the Land and disparaged it as well (“a land that devours its inhabitants” – Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2014-11-05T11:31:11-05:00November 5, 2014|

Shavuot

Shavuot-Meditation on the Mountain

Rabbi Jill Hammer

1. “The Eternal called to him from the mountain, saying: ‘Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob, and speak to the children of Israel: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, how I bore you on eagle’s wings and brought you to me.'”

Exodus 19:3-4

Close your eyes and pay attention to your breath. As you sit in meditation, imagine climbing on the back of a great bird and being lifted on the wings of a great bird, so that you can see the world from high above. What do you see? What does it feel like to be carried by this winged presence? What perspective do you gain from high in the air? What does this new vision of the world ask of you?

Now, imagine that, from Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2014-11-05T11:24:52-05:00November 5, 2014|

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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