Parashat Emor

By Rabbi Bob Freedman

It’s surprising that there is no blessing to be said before giving tzedakah. Certainly it’s an important mitzvah, but unlike other mitzvot that require us to say a formula to engage mind and spirit before we do them, there’s no such requirement for giving. A passage in our parashah offers a clue as to why this is so.

Appended to the instructions for offering the omer and first fruits, and not eating the new grains before making an offering is a reminder about leaving the gleanings and the corners of the field for the poor (Lev. 23:22-23). But being the second time it’s mentioned (see Lev 19:9-10), here it may teach something new. The first time it’s mentioned, the instruction follows those for a thanks offering, as if to say (see Ibn Ezra there) that just as God has Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-05-04T10:24:56-04:00May 4, 2011|

Parashat Kedoshim

By Rabbi Maralee Gordon

We learn from Rabbi Akiva that the greatest principle in the Torah isÂ V’ahavta l’reyakha kamokha– Love your fellow as yourselfÂ (Leviticus 19:18).Â Â That teaching is found in this week’sparashah,Â Kedoshim, part of the Holiness Code.Â Â Sometimes we stop reading at that point in the text; after all, that’s the pinnacle-or is it?

A story:Â Â When I learned that immigrants were being detained by the federal government in the county jail two miles from my home in Woodstock, Illinois, I applied to be a member of the interfaith ministry allowed in to provide pastoral counseling to these detainees once a week.Â Â I was propelled by my innate sense of being the child of immigrants, even though both of my grandmothers were born in Chicago.Â Â We all tell the story of where our families came from, why they left, how they got started in this country.Â Â I have a poster photograph of Maxwell Street ca. 1905 in which you can Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-04-27T22:45:56-04:00April 27, 2011|

Parashat Aharei Mot

Shabbat Ha-Gadol

Herald of Redemption

“Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord.Â He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents…”Â (Malachi 3:23).

The liturgy of Passover in its original form seems focused on past history-the liberation of the Israelite slaves from Egypt in the time of Moses.Â Along the way, however, it acquired the theme of ultimate future redemption-the Messianic redemption at the end of days.Â This thematic development can be seen particularly in the haftarot that the Rabbis assigned to be read for this festival.Â Shabbat Hol Ha-Mo’ed features the haftarah from Ezekiel Chapter 37, with the vision of the dry bones taking on flesh and breath and coming back to life.Â The haftarah for the eighth day of Passover centers on Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2011-04-14T10:59:46-04:00April 14, 2011|

Parashat Metzora

GOSSIP UNDER OUR SKIN

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman

With the increased use of text messages and emails, and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, society is currently experiencing an unprecedented change in the way we communicate with each other.

Through time, the Torah and Talmud, and such great rabbis as Maimonides and the Hafetz Hayyim have warned us about careful use of words, and the pitfalls of Leshon Hara (evil tongue and language).

In most cases, these sacred texts and rabbinical commentators were referring to gossip which occurred face to face in homes, synagogues or other public places.

But today, we, and in particular our children communicate less “face to face” and more “screen to screen.” Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2011-04-07T10:36:11-04:00April 7, 2011|

Parashat Tazria

By Sandy Horowitz

Wrestling with Ritual

In his book Sacred Fragments, author Neil Gillman discusses the issue of ritual in Judaism. He addresses the distinction between laws having to do with relationships among human beings, as compared with commandments to perform ritual acts whose function was for the sake of God.Â The commandments of human relationship are ones we probably would come to ourselves, whereas the laws of ritual would only have come about by divine decree.

Today, we live in a culture that values interpersonal relationship, in which the former tends to make more sense to us, whereas the latter may be more difficult for some of us to understand or accept.

How we view this week’s Torah portion probably depends a lot on our relationship with Jewish ritual, and what we do with our modern sensibilities.Â The first eight verses, in Read More >

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2011-03-31T10:37:07-04:00March 31, 2011|

Parashat Shemini

By Michael G. Kohn

And Aaron fell silent . . .

As a congregational rabbi with an aging congregation comforting the bereaved, while fortunately not an everyday occurrence, nevertheless constitutes a significant portion of my time. In addition, as an on-call chaplain at a major medical center, I am occasionally called to come there in the middle of the night to comfort a family who has just lost a loved one. These visits are never easy, even when the loved one has lived a full measure of years and death was expected.

Reactions to a loved one’s passing vary from individual to individual and from circumstance to circumstance. There often are tears; occasionally, cries of anguish. Some want to tell me about their loved one. And others just want to be alone with their thoughts. In this week’s parashah, after the death of two Read More >

By Rabbi Len Levin|2011-03-24T16:28:16-04:00March 24, 2011|

Parashat Tzav

By Cantor Robin Joseph

So, there was this man . . . who was so unhappy with his life . . . he grumbled, complained, and was not grateful for anything. One day the Angel of Death came to him and said, “OK-time’s up; you’re coming with me.” The misanthrope suddenly perks up and pleads with the Angel of Death to spare him. “I’ll do anything!” he says. “Just please don’t take me now!”

The Angel of Death makes him a deal: “Every day that you find something to bless in your life, everyday that you find something different to thank God for, is another day that I’ll let you live. But as soon as you stop, I will come back for you.”

The man agrees and the Angel of Death departs.

Amazingly enough, this man does find something different to bless and be thankful Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-03-17T13:01:54-04:00March 17, 2011|

Parashat Vayikra

By Cantor Jacklyn Chernett

Leviticus, or Torat Kohanim, from the beginning, seems like an endless list of intricate sacrifices, the concept of which is almost anathema to us in our time. The sacrificial cult is difficult for us to comprehend. Expiation for sin is now dealt with in differing ways – (know a good therapist?) – and prayer has taken over where ritual slaughter and dashing of blood came to an end with the destruction of the Temple in 70CE. Or did it?

In 1993, we had the privilege of travelling to Nepal. We stayed at the foothills of the Himalayas and our guide asked us if we would like to attend a sacrifice. Horrified but enthralled, we asked about it. “We sacrifice twice a week” said the guide. The following Tuesday we were taken up into the hills. The vehicle was parked Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-03-10T13:30:59-05:00March 10, 2011|

Parashat Pekudei

By Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein

“On the first day of the first month you shall set up the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting” (Exodus 40:2). This is taken to mean the first of the month of Nissan.

Here in the Northeast, it has been a long, hard winter. Snow continues to fall lightly and we are dreaming of spring. I don’t know about you, but in my house the discussion has already turned to Passover cleaning. My daughter even came home from college to jumpstart the process. I usually try to stay out of the angst this process provokes and I am usually unsuccessful. Our text gives us a different model.

Not quite a year after the Exodus, God commands the Israelites to build a mishkan, a tabernacle. They have turned their attention to homebuilding and homemaking. And what attention to detail! We Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-03-10T13:29:03-05:00March 10, 2011|

Parashat Va-Yakhel

By Dr. Diane Sharon

In Parashat Va-Yakhel, Moses gathers the entire community of Israel together, and repeats to them all the plans for the holy Tabernacle that will be God’s dwelling place during the wilderness passage from Sinai to Canaan.

The community of Israel, newly chastened after the apostasy of the Molten Calf, newly rededicated to their faith in the God who brought them out of Egypt, is waiting to hear from Moses all that God has told him during his long absence on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights. They are breathlessly wondering what new commands there will be, beyond the Ten Commandments and all of Mishpatim, the laws, that God has set forth in earlier chapters of Exodus. They expect something new, perhaps something surprising. Read More >

By ahsilver|2011-02-24T12:39:34-05:00February 24, 2011|

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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