Parashat Bâ€™har-Bâ€™huqotai

By Simon Rosenbach

This week we sort of read, as we sort of read every year, the first version of the Tokhehah, a list of threats that God has Moses deliver to the children of Israel. These threats are so dire (“you will eat the flesh of your children” – Lev. 26:29) that they are read as softly and fast as possible, so that t

After telling us that if we heed the commandments, we’ll have an undefeated season, the Torah warns us that if we violate the commandments, we won’t win a game, we won’t even take the field, we won’t even be able to find the city where the stadium is located, and we’ll probably get torn to shreds by wild beasts as we wander aimlessly.

Now, does anybody actually believe today that your crops won’t grow if you write on Shabbat? That you’ll eat your children if you drive to shul? Is Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-05-13T19:35:50-04:00May 13, 2009|

Parashat Kedoshim

By Sanford Olshansky

In the summer of 1970, when I was 20 years old, I rear-ended another car on one of the freeways in Detroit, where I grew up. There were no injuries and the police officer who came to the scene said there was no need for an accident report. A few weeks later my father, who owned the car, was sued for much more than the amount of his insurance coverage by the driver of the car that I hit, who now claimed to have sustained serious injuries. I was required to give a deposition at the office of the other driver’s lawyer.

The driver of the other car was a middle-aged Jewish man and the partners of his law firm had obviously Jewish last names. I will never forget the huge marble fa’ade of the law office, with the partners’ names carved in letters filled with gold paint. I was Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-05-06T19:04:23-04:00May 6, 2009|

Parashat Emor

By Margaret Frisch Klein

“What, you didn’t call, you didn’t write.” We’ve all heard the stereotypical Jewish mother jokes. There is some truth in them. Mothers like to be called. I know. I am one. This year as we celebrate Mother’s Day, I wish that I still had a mother to call. You may not think that Mother’s Day is a Jewish holiday. However, the principles come directly from our Jewish tradition – right from this week’s Torah portion.

This week’s parashah tells us how the priests should behave, about the holiness of Shabbat and the holidays, and about just punishments. What is the connection between these topics? All of them are about creating kedushah, a life of holiness, and showing kavod, honor.

We are not like the ancient Israelites. We no longer have a priestly class or the Temple in which to sacrifice. Since the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-05-06T19:03:33-04:00May 6, 2009|

Parashat Tazri`a-Mâ€™tzora

By Rabbi David Greenstein

This
Shabbat is Rosh Hodesh, the beginning of a new month. This is a time
which the overwhelmingly male-centered tradition assigned for celebration of
the place of Jewish women in the community. In the old days women would observe
Rosh Hodesh as a quasi-festival, refraining from unnecessary work and
household chores. In modern times the feminist renewal of Judaism has enhanced
this traditional association of Rosh Hodesh and feminism in many
creative and meaningful ways.

It is in
this context that we read the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Tazri`a-M’tzora.
While the bulk of this double portion deals with the phenomenon of tzara`at,
a surface affliction, commonly but incorrectly translated as leprosy, the start
of the reading deals with childbirth and its purity and ritual effects on the
mother.

The Torah
(Lev. 12) states that if a woman Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-04-23T10:55:48-04:00April 23, 2009|

Parashat Vayikra

Towards a MacroCosmic View of Leviticus
By Molly Karp

“God called to Moshe and spoke to
him from the Tent of Meeting, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel
and say to them “When a person from among them would bring near (yakriv) an
offering (korban) to Adonoi from the cattle, from the herd and from the flocks you
shall bring near (takrivu) your offering. (korbanchem) ” Leviticus 1:1-2

These
opening verses of Vayikra contain the Hebrew root k-r-v four times, referring to both the person who approaches God,
and the offering that s/he brings near to God in order to approach the Holy Presence. What we generally translate as “sacrifice” is
literally the thing that we bring near to God in order to come near to God’s
presence.

Vayikra is the central book of the Torah. It is a catalogue of instructions Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-03-25T10:11:23-04:00March 25, 2009|

Shabbat Ha-Hodesh

By Rabbi Robert Waxman

The additional Torah reading for this Shabbat of Ha-Hodesh – “This month…” (Ex. 12:1-20), falls on Rosh Hodesh Nisan or the Shabbat preceding. The Shabbat has awesome responsibilities. It announces the new moon and the new month of Nisan which is the first of the months. Ha-Hodesh tells us to get ready for Passover, which falls in the middle of Nisan. Spring is here. Now is the time to get ready to plant the spring crops.

This can be a spiritual time for us. Spring is associated with new buds on trees, new plants, full of green, popping up and seeking the warmth of the rays of sunlight after resting during the winter months. As we walk around slowly, we have the opportunity to marvel how the organisms of the earth know that it is time for re-birth. Last month, on February 12, we marked the 200th birthday of Charles Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-03-17T16:41:45-04:00March 17, 2009|

Parashat Terumah

Doug Alpert

This week’s parashah, Terumah,is arguably one of the less enthralling parashot in the Torah. God instructs Moshe Rabeinu, Moses Our Teacher, regarding the building of the Mishkan-the Holy Tabernacle. The ensuing instructions are provided in exhaustive detail challenging the reader, as well as many of our great Biblical exegetes to derive meaning and purpose from the mere form of the text-i.e., that it is so detailed, much less as to the content of the instructions. For me form does matter, and it says much about who we are as a people. (And besides, as this is the parashah of my Bar Mitzvah I do confess to a special affinity for Terumah. Probably a good early lesson for me on why there is no parcel of Torah that is devoid of great meaning, purpose and wealth.)

One of many areas in which this level of detailed instruction plays out is in the Read More >

By Doug Alpert|2009-02-25T19:46:00-05:00February 25, 2009|

Parashat Mishpatim

Enid C. Lader

In last week’s Torah portion, we were commanded to “Honor your father and your mother…” [Ex. 20:12] As we recall the mitzvah, we usually stop with these six (in English; five in Hebrew) words. But, wait; there’s more! The verse continues: “… that you may prolong your days on the land that the Lord your God is giving to you.” This appears to be teaching us that respecting our parents is connected to long life. It is even more importantly teaching us that obligations toward our parents are directly related to our relationship with God. Rabbi Dayle A. Friedman, writing in That You May Live Long: Caring for Our Aging Parents, Caring for Ourselves, suggests that “… clearly the connection to God underscores the importance of the mitzvah. Perhaps the text draws an analogy between our obligations to parents and our obligations to God… That the promised reward is Read More >

By Rabbi Enid C. Lader|2009-02-18T13:49:14-05:00February 18, 2009|

Parashat Yitro

Moses learns a lesson in management
Irwin Huberman

There once was a CEO of a major corporation whose dedication to his work and to his employees was legendary.

He would arrive at his desk at sunrise, and would not return home until well past nightfall. For the entire day he would not only attend to his own responsibilities, but would also assist his employees to navigate the pathways of their own lives.

People would come to him with not only with their own work issues, but also with their interpersonal problems. The CEO was wise and revered, and the lineup outside his office door was constant and never ending.

One day, his father’in-law, Yitro, a person of wisdom and experience, came to visit and noticed not only the long lineup, but also the physical toll it was taking on his son-in-law.

And he uttered the words, which would be forever inscribed in the corporate tradition. Yitro Read More >

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2009-02-11T20:19:00-05:00February 11, 2009|

Parashat Bâ€™shalah

Parashat B’shalah
By Bruce Alpert

Twenty-eight years ago – like today – the US watched a new administration come to power. Perhaps Ronald Reagan’s most controversial appointee was his designated Secretary of State, Alexander Haig who, as a retired general, was feared to have the same militaristic instincts as his new boss. During his confirmation hearing, he was questioned about the dangers of war in those unsettled times. “There are worse things; there are more important things,” he said. “This Republic was spawned by armed conflict . . . we fought and died to prevent dictatorship and genocide, in the Second World War, from becoming the rule of the land. There are things worth fighting for.”

The sentiments that gave rise to General Haig’s comments are reflected in the opening verse of our Torah portion this week. There we are told that God did not lead the newly escaped Israelites by the nearer path Read More >

By Bruce Alpert|2009-02-03T10:28:37-05:00February 3, 2009|

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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