Shavuot

Standing at Sinai
By Rabbi Michael G. Kohn

For me, the festival of Shavuot is a riddle shrouded in mystery, wrapped in an enigma. Although it is fixed in our modern calendars as the sixth day of Sivan, no such date appears anywhere in the Torah. In parashat Pinhas, where the additional sacrifices for each of the special days – Shabbat, the Yamin Nora’im (Days of Awe) and the Shalosh Regalim (Three Pilgrimage Festivals) – are specified (Num. 28-29), it is the only one of the holidays and festivals which does not begin with (or even mention) the date of its observance.

In parashat Emor, where each of the special days of the calendar is described (Lev. 23), there is no similar description for Shavuot as we have come to know it. On Pesa Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-05-27T09:11:14-04:00May 27, 2009|

Parashat Bemidbar

By Kaya Stern-Kaufman

Chapter
two of B ‘midbar describes the arrangement and organization of the Israelite
camp in the wilderness. The mishkan, God’s tabernacle, is to reside in the
center of the camp. It is surrounded by the tribe of Levites to guard and
protect it. In the east, with the rising sun, the tribes of Yehudah, Yissachar
and Zevulun are to encamp. To the south, in full sun and heat, will settle the
tribes of Reuven, Shimon and Gad. To the west in the setting sun, the tribes of
Efraim, Menasheh and Binyamin reside. And to the north, in a darker place, the
tribes of Dan, Asher and Naftali shall camp. The Torah speaks to us here in the
language of geography and orientation. Like a blossoming flower or the image of
the planets revolving around the sun, the Israelite camp expresses a truth in
spatial form. It is perhaps a model of community that offers lessons to us
today. Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-05-21T20:19:41-04:00May 21, 2009|

Parashat Bâ€™midbar

By Kaya Stern-Kaufman

Chapter
two of B ‘midbar describes the arrangement and organization of the Israelite
camp in the wilderness. The mishkan, God’s tabernacle, is to reside in the
center of the camp. It is surrounded by the tribe of Levites to guard and
protect it. In the east, with the rising sun, the tribes of Yehudah, Yissachar
and Zevulun are to encamp. To the south, in full sun and heat, will settle the
tribes of Reuven, Shimon and Gad. To the west in the setting sun, the tribes of
Efraim, Menasheh and Binyamin reside. And to the north, in a darker place, the
tribes of Dan, Asher and Naftali shall camp. The Torah speaks to us here in the
language of geography and orientation. Like a blossoming flower or the image of
the planets revolving around the sun, the Israelite camp expresses a truth in
spatial form. It is perhaps a model of community that offers lessons to us
today. Read More >

By ahsilver|2009-05-21T20:19:41-04:00May 21, 2009|

Parashat Behar-Behukotai

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 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|

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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