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|

Parashat Va-Yakhel-Pekudei

All Together, One at a Time
by Hazzan Marcia Lane

The two final parshiyot, Va-yakhel (“he assembled”) and Pekudei (“accounting”), of the book of Exodus are frequently read together. This is due to the vagaries of the Jewish calendar and to the brevity of these two sections of the Torah, not to any particular theological statement. Nonetheless, the fact that they are so often paired can give us insights into the nature of the phenomenon of ‘peoplehood’ and individuality, and how they are perceived and fostered.

In these parshiyot, right after the section about the idolatry of the Golden Calf, Moses calls together the entire kahal, the whole congregation of Israel. Men, women, children, Israelites and hangers-on, all are present to hear a recapitulation of God’s instructions concerning the collecting of gifts (terumah) and the building of the tabernacle (mishkan) and the creation of the priestly vestments. If you’ve been following the past few weeks Read More >

By ahsilver|2015-03-11T21:08:34-04:00March 11, 2015|

Parashat Ki Tisa

Cantor Sandy Horowitz

“Wanted: Two senior craftsmen to lead team of builders in creating the largest portable dwelling ever made. Must be wise and able to learn from others; only those endowed with the spirit of God may apply. Technical skills a must.”

Imagine reading such a job posting? Say you’re a pretty good builder or engineer with solid management experience, you had decent SAT scores and attended a respectable college; now you’ve found what looks like the perfect job assignment, and they’re asking for things like — wisdom — what gives? Nobody graded you on wisdom in college!

Yet these are the qualifications cited in Parashat Ki Tisa, when God tells Moses to appoint Bezalel and Aholiav not only to build the tabernacle and the ark but all the vessels, vestments and accessories therein.

The task is daunting, and it’s got to be done right, after all, we’re talking about nothing less than God’s sanctuary-in-the-desert. Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-03-04T23:06:36-05:00March 4, 2015|

Parashat Tetzaveh

Parashat Tetzaveh: The Garments of the High Priest
by Rabbi Jill Hammer

Parashat Tetzaveh teaches us about the garments of the high priest who was to serve in the mishkan, the sanctuary: “These are the vestments they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a coat, a turban, and a sash.” (Exodus 28:4) There are also a headplate or tzitz, and pants, mentioned elsewhere. In this parashah, we learn of magnificent and mysterious garments, of fine materials, in rich colors. When the Jews went into exile, when the Temple was destroyed, what became of these wonderful garments?

A midrash, found in Esther Rabbah, claims that during their famous parties in Shushan, Ahasuerus and Vashti wore the garments of the high priest, garments that had been carried off during the attack on the Temple in Jerusalem. This midrash gives the royal parties of the Persian empire a sinister cast: to make a claim that the Read More >

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2015-02-26T00:10:46-05:00February 26, 2015|

Parashat Terumah

God is Elevated by the Gift of Our Talents
Rabbi Len Levin

“Speak unto the Israelites, that they take for Me an elevation-offering (terumah); from each person, as his heart moves him, shall you take My terumah.” Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev commented: Every person is obligated to serve his or her Creator through deed and thought, for the person’s intention and holy thought, s/he raises the Shekhina up from the dust, and through the deed s/he raises herself up and does good on her own behalf” (Kedushat Levi on Ex. 25:2).

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak presumably knew Hebrew well enough to know that the word terumah meant simply an offering. Why was a word from the root rum (“raise high”) used to designate this? Perhaps because when a person brought an offering to the priest, he would perform the gesture of raising the basket of produce or small animal as a token of formal presentation. Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2015-02-18T22:11:40-05:00February 18, 2015|

Parashat Mishpatim

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

In his comments on this week’s parashah, Yeshayu Leibowitz pointed out an interesting comment by the Gaon of Vilna on Exodus 21:5-6.

But if the slave declares, “I love my master, and my wife and children: I do not wish to go free,” his master shall take him before God. He shall be brought to the door or the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall then remain his slave for life.

The Gaon makes the following comment in his book Aderet Eliyahu on these verses.

“Or to the doorpost”: The simple meaning of the verse is that the doorpost (mezuzah) is also valid, but the halakhah uproots scripture (אבל ההלכה עוקרת את המקרא), and so it is in the majority of this parashah, and in a number of parshiyot in the Torah, and this is the greatness of the Oral Law that it goes Read More >

By ahsilver|2015-02-11T23:59:38-05:00February 11, 2015|

Parashat Yitro

Parashat Yitro
Rabbi Isaac Mann

This week’s Torah portion begins with the story of Yitro, father-in-law of Moses, coming to the Israelite camp along with his daughter Zipporah (Moses’ wife) and her two sons, after hearing about the Exodus from Egypt and G-d’s role in that event. The Torah goes into some detail about the initial encounter that seems rather unusual and even unnecessary — “Moses went out to his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him, and they greeted each other, and they went into the tent” (Ex. 18:7). One might expect such trivial details in a modern novel, but what purpose does it serve in the Torah with regard to Moses’ and Yitro’s coming together? Would one expect that they did not greet each other warmly? After all, there is no indication of any enmity between the two, as we find, for example, with regard to Jacob and Esau, where the Torah Read More >

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2015-02-04T21:55:31-05:00February 4, 2015|

Parashat Beshalah-Shabbat Shirah

Hazzan Marcia Lane

Although the most distinctive aspect of this week’s parashah is the magnificent crossing of the Sea of Reeds, this parashah is full of fascinating detail, and precursors of other episodes to come. At times it appears that the Torah is talking to itself. This inter-textuality is both a challenge and a joy. It keeps the investigation of Biblical language fresh and it feeds the art of interpretation. For example, this week we have the following familiar scene of complaining:

The Israelites said to them (Moshe and Aharon): If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by stewpots, when we ate our fill of bread! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death! (Exodus 16:3)

When the people grumble — as they will repeatedly throughout their journey — God tells Moshe:

I have heard the grumbling of Read More >

By ahsilver|2015-01-28T23:18:00-05:00January 28, 2015|

Parashat Bo

by Cantor Sandy Horowitz

The recitation of the ten plagues at the Passover Seder table is one of the rituals used to retell the story of the Israelites’ liberation from slavery in Egypt. This ritual is often done hastily, as we dip our finger in wine and name each plague. As we consider this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Bo, let us slow down this ritual in order to examine the significance of last three of these plagues. All three relate to darkness.

In continuation from last week’s Torah reading, a pattern has been established in which Moses asks Pharaoh to free the Israelite slaves and let them leave Egypt, Pharaoh refuses, and God casts plagues upon the Egyptians. Of this week’s final three, the first is the plague of locusts. In Exodus 10:15 we read, “They obscured the view of the earth, and the earth became darkened [vatehshakh ha-aretz].” Pharaoh asks Moses’ Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-01-21T21:05:22-05:00January 21, 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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