Parashat Naso

by Cantor Sandy Horowitz

יְבָרֶכְךָ יְיָ וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ.

יָאֵר יְיָ פָּנָיו אֵלֶֽיךָ וִיחֻנֶּֽךָּ.

יִשָּׂא יְיָ פָּנָיו אֵלֶֽיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם.

Numbers 6:24-26

The Ohel David Synagogue in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), home to a small group of Baghdadi Jews, was once visited by Nathan Katz, as he relates in his book Who Are the Jews of India? When Katz walked into the synagogue one Shabbat morning, he didn’t realize he was about to set off a major halachic conundrum. As it so happened he was the tenth man, fulfilling the requirement for a minyan. As it also turned out he is a kohen, descendent of the biblical kohanite priests, and therefore required to participate in the ritual of duchan, offering of the priestly blessing. But Katz was wearing short sleeves, which went against the custom of this community for performing duchan – even in tropical Mumbai. Hence Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-05-28T09:21:08-04:00May 28, 2015|

Shavuot

Sinai and the Chariot: Two Guided Visualizations for Shavuot

Rabbi Jill Hammer

Both the revelation at Sinai and the revelation of Ezekiel represent profound moments in the history of connection between human being and the Divine. The two visualizations below are meditations on these two revelations. They are based on the Torah reading and haftarah for the first day of Shavuot. They are meant to explore what personal revelation might mean for us.

These meditations can be used by individuals or in community. The quotes at the beginning of each visualization are not part of the visualization but are meant to give context from our sacred texts. You may wish to read the texts beforehand on your own or share them with the group you are working with. If you use these visualizations in community, you may wish to make space for people to share their visualizations in pairs or small groups afterward.

I wish to thank Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2015-05-20T21:32:47-04:00May 20, 2015|

Parashat Emor

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

Love and rebuke are actions that many people understand to be in tension with each other. If you love someone then you don’t rebuke them, and if you rebuke someone, then it must be because you don’t love them. In reality, it is wrong to see love and rebuke as being polar opposites. Sometimes it is because of our love that we rebuke someone, and rebuke can also be understood to be a way of expressing love. The way in which we rebuke someone is what makes all the difference. Do the tone and content of our rebuke reflect concern and empathy, or do they give the impression of a patronizing and judgmental attitude?

In his book Parperaot la-Torah, Rabbi Natan Tzvi Friedman brought the following source from the commentary Kol Rinah that addressed the need to rebuke out of love.

“The LORD said Read More >

By ahsilver|2015-05-07T22:14:50-04:00May 7, 2015|

Parashat Aharei Mot-Kedoshim

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

In parashat Kedoshim we come across what some of our rabbinic sages (Hazal) tell us is the most important principle of the Torah — ve’ohavta le’reiakha ko-mokha — “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). In particular, it is Rabbi Akiva of the second century C.E. who selects this phrase in a debate with Ben Azzai over what should be considered the most fundamental teaching of the Torah. (see Gen. Rabbah 24:7)

We also find Hillel in an earlier century expressing the same idea. In a famous Talmudic story a potential convert comes to this sage seeking to learn the entire Torah while standing on one leg. Unlike Shammai, who rejected him outright, Hillel tells him “that which is hateful to you don’t do unto others; that is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary; go learn it.” (Shabbat 31a) No doubt Hillel had in mind Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2015-04-30T16:38:18-04:00April 30, 2015|

Parashat Tazria-Metzora

by Cantor Sandy Horowitz

These are the Torah portions we love to hate. This week’s text discusses, in great detail, numerous health conditions including skin disease and bodily emissions. Those in charge of preparing students to become bar/bat mitzvah often wish they could avoid it — well, like the plague.

Our modern discomfort with Tazria-Metzora is a natural reaction, surely. The kohanite priests however, were enjoined to move towards the afflicted rather than avoid them, as they were charged with the diagnosis, treatment, and recovery relating to their various skin conditions.

Jethro Gibbs, the main character of the TV show NCIS, has a series of rules that govern his approach to his work and his team. In that spirit, here are a few “rules” that may reflect the priests’ approach as described in this week’s text.

Rule # 760* / tzara’ath (leprosy): “Pay attention to detail.”

In Leviticus 13:3 we read that if someone has Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-04-23T08:07:10-04:00April 23, 2015|

Parashat Shemini

Hazzan Marcia Lane

I’m a ‘mostly vegetarian.’ I started years ago because of stories on NPR about feed lots. Cattle raised in feed lots stay in one place, standing in their own excrement. They are fed corn – which is not what cattle normally eat. I mean, think about it. How could a cow shuck an ear of corn? Corn is really food for people and crows. Feed lot cattle are raised in such terrible conditions that they develop multiple health problems, for which they are given antibiotics and growth hormones. So I gave up beef. That was not really a problem, because I had chicken, and I loved chicken. So versatile! Less expensive! And much easier to eat without a fork and knife.

Then I heard about the conditions under which chickens are raised. The thought of stuffing hundreds and hundreds of birds into a small space and Read More >

By ahsilver|2015-04-15T21:19:18-04:00April 15, 2015|

Pesah and Sefirat Haomer

The Crossing of the Sea and Serach bat Asher
by Rabbi Jill Hammer

The Israelites believed because they heard, not because they saw the signs. What made them believe? The sign of redemption. They had this sign as a tradition from Jacob… Asher, the son of Jacob, had handed down the secret to his daughter Serach, who was still alive. This is what he told her: “Any redeemer that will come and say to my children pakod yifkod (“he will surely remember you”) shall be regarded as a true deliverer. When Moses came and said these words, the people believed him at once.

Exodus Rabbah 5:13

Rav Yochanan was sitting and preaching: “How did the water of the Sea of Reeds appear like walls to Israel? It looked like thick bushes.” Serach daughter of Asher looked into the study-house and said: “I was there, and it didn’t look like that at all. It looked like bright Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2015-04-08T11:06:25-04:00April 8, 2015|

Pesah

PESAH: THE SECRET OF JEWISH MEMORY

by Rabbi Len Levin

The taste of the maror and haroset are imprinted in my sensory memory, along with the smell of the wine and the eggs. The crunchy feel of the first seder matzah between my tongue and teeth. The sound of the familiar melodies and the voices of my family. The sights–the candles, the tablecloth, the special dishes, the Seder plate, the family gathered around the table. All the senses are engaged. Every layer of my personality– subconscious, conscious, and superconscious–focused on the ritual commemoration of our formative historical experience.

This is how Jewish group memory gets transmitted from generation to generation. This is why we have survived for over three thousand years and have kept up the journey several times around the world and back to our homeland in living memory.

In every generation each person should see himself or herself as if he or she Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2015-04-03T07:46:26-04:00April 3, 2015|

Parashat Tzav-Shabbat Hagadol

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

The practice of offering korbanot, sacrifices, was central to Israelite and Jewish worship for centuries. While during the Biblical period it may have been natural to offer an animal sacrifice, since then Jewish thinkers have been trying to interpret the meaning of the sacrificial system. The important 13th century Spanish Biblical commentator, Rabbi Moses Nachmanides, the Ramban, wrote an extended discussion about the meaning of the sacrificial system in his commentary on Leviticus. (See Ramban on Leviticus 9:1)

In his commentary the Ramban brings the historical approach to the sacrificial system that was offered by Rabbi Moses Maimonides, the Rambam. According to the Rambam, in order to understand the korbanot we must historically contextualize them in their ancient setting. The Ramban disagreeed with the Rambam’s approach and offered another understanding of the sacrificial system, one that interpreted the sacrifices in all their details as a mirror Read More >

By ahsilver|2015-03-26T23:11:30-04:00March 26, 2015|

Parashat Vayikra

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

In chapter 4 of this week’s Torah reading, we have four categories of people who sinned unknowingly and who have to bring some kind of sin offering (korban hatat) as a result. The Torah describes in some detail the specific animals and manner of offering for these four, who are, in chronological order, (1) the high priest, (2) the entire congregation (interpreted by the Rabbis as referring to the high court or Sanhedrin), (3) the nasi or king, and (4) the individual.

In each case, save for the third category, the Torah introduces the possibility that one may sin by the word im or ve’im, which means “if.” For the nasi, however, the paragraph is introduced by asher, which can also mean “if.” Indeed the Targum Onkelos translates it with the same word (im) that he uses for the other categories. However the Midrash (Vayikra Rabba, Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2015-03-18T16:22:10-04:00March 18, 2015|

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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