Sukkot

The Festival of Sukkot-Joy or Discomfort?
By Rabbi David Greenstein

The festival of Sukkot is traditionally called “Z’man Simchatenu – The Season of Our Joy.” This follows from the Biblical injunction that specifically emphasizes the mitzvah of rejoicing whenever this holiday is mentioned, whether in Leviticus – “And you shall rejoice before the Eternal One, your Almighty, for seven days.” (Lev. 23:40) or in Deuteronomy – “And you shall rejoice in your holiday (of Sukkot).” (Deut. 16:13)

The primacy of this element is so strong that it endows Sukkot with a unique rule that is not present with regard to other commandments. This rule is the exemption of “mitzta`er – being in discomfort.” According to traditional Jewish law, while one must dwell in a sukkah for seven days in fulfillment of the Torah’s command, this obligation is set aside if doing so would cause a person discomfort. Now we must appreciate how Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-10-18T19:10:58-04:00October 18, 2008|

Parashat Vayelekh

Shabbat Shuvah
By Jill Minkoff

Be Strong and Brave

Half of forty years ago this season, I sent my youngest child to her first day of school. For both of us, it was fraught with excitement and fear. She had heard about this day for much of her life, a day of great possibility, yet a day of neither parent being able to accompany her. She felt pulled to her future yet reluctant to let go of the hand that had been with her for so much of her life. She was fearful and cried. Would she be safe in this new place? Would people be nice to her? (Do you remember how you felt on your first day of school or at some other major transition in your life?) We both felt anxious. At least, it was only for a few hours that she would be in school before returning home to Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-10-03T09:41:36-04:00October 3, 2008|

Rosh HaShanah

By Sanford Olshansky

“Take your son, your only one, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will point out to you.” And Abraham arose early in the morning and saddled his ass and took his two lads with him and Isaac, his son, and split the wood for the burnt offering and got up and went to the place [of which] God told him. (Gen 22:2,3)

I have an only son, whom I love. Until recently, he was a sports reporter, covering college hockey. His work took him, in the harshest winter, to isolated places such as Burlington, VT, Hanover, NH and Storrs, CT. After doing post-game interviews and filing his story, he drove, late at night, over icy highways, to his next destination. On many such nights I prayed silently Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-09-25T09:30:51-04:00September 25, 2008|

Parashat Nitzavim

By Steve Altarescu

At the beginning of parashat Nitzavim, Moses asks each one of the Jewish people to enter into the covenant with God. He tells them that Judaism is not just for the knowledgeable ones or the priestly classes but for each person including “the woodchopper to the water drawer.” (Deuteronomy 29:10) The oration offered is not only to those who were standing with Moses when he spoke but . . .” to those who are not here with us today.” (Deut. 29:14) Rashi says this refers to generations in the future, as every Jew living at that time was already mentioned in a prior verse.

This is a very fitting scenario for a few days before Rosh Hashanah when we will be gathered as congregations and each of us will be asked to turn back and follow what is right and good. Each person will have his or her own individual Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-09-25T08:07:41-04:00September 25, 2008|

Parashat Ki Tavo

By Rabbi Daniel Horwitz

There is a famous Jewish legend which has bothered me from the first time I heard it, when I was about 8 or 9 years old. According to this legend, the foundation for the song introducing Shabbat, Shalom Aleikhem, there are two malakhei ha-sharet, ministering angels, one good and one bad, who accompany a Jew when coming home on Shabbat eve. When the Jew arrives home, if Shabbat candles are set, the table prepared, and the house is beautiful for Shabbat, the good angel says: So may it be next Shabbat. And the bad angel, against his will, must say: Amen. And if the opposite is true, the bad angel says: so may it be the next Shabbat. And the good angel, against his will, now must also say: Amen.

I didn’t grow up keeping Shabbat, but that part wasn’t an issue for me. I understood Shabbat was a Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-09-17T13:20:15-04:00September 17, 2008|

Parashat Ki Teitzei

The Paradox of Memory
By Rabbi Allen Darnov

It is amusing how Jews curse enemies by reciting the enemy’s name and then adding the phrase in Hebrew (or Yiddish) “may his name be blotted out” We might say something like “…that evil Hitler, may his name be blotted out!…” Amusing, because one cannot rub a name out of existence by making a point of mentioning it.

It seems that the impetus in Jewish life to remember is very strong – even stronger than the mitzvah to forget something evil. The result is a paradox. And the paradox is explicit, as a matter of fact, in Ki Tetze, this week’s Torah portion. On the one hand, the book of Deuteronomy commands us to rub out the memory of Amalek (25:19) much in the way that ancient Pharaohs would rub out the hieroglyph denoting a predecessor’s name, thus extinguishing memory of a forebear. Yet, only Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-09-11T10:11:16-04:00September 11, 2008|

Parashat Shoftim

By Halina Rubinstein

The last section of this week’s parashah describes the strange ritual of the eglah `arufah, the ‘broken heifer.’ When a person is found dead in the middle of a field and the killer is not known, the elders of the closest city take a heifer that has yet to be trained to work, break its neck and pray for forgiveness in order to establish their innocence. This is a remarkable expression of communal responsibility. In light of call of the parashah to pursue justice, it is inconceivable that the community would let something like this happen. Yet they were not able to protect and provide for the individual who was killed. Therefore, they consider themselves responsible; they acknowledge their guilt and cleanse themselves of it through this ritual.

I cannot help but relate this to one of the most intense experiences of my life. This past June, my husband, three other Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-09-02T20:29:13-04:00September 2, 2008|

Parashat Re’eh

By Maralee Gordon
Shabbat Re’eh is the beginning of Labor Day Weekend this year. Often we view Labor Day as its oxymoron-a day off from labor. But of course, it is meant to call attention to the contributions of workers to our society. The U.S. Department of Labor states:

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Many of our ancestors were involved in the nascent labor movement at the turn of the 20th century, in which they struggled to make sure that those on the edge of poverty were able to work under decent conditions rather than slave away in inhumane circumstances for less than living wages.

Re’eh can help us to understand our responsibility Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-08-28T21:36:55-04:00August 28, 2008|

Parashat Eqev

Parashat Eqev – Assembling the Menorah
By Moshe Rudin

As careful readers of the Torah text- both the text given to us at Sinai and its commentary that God reveals to each of us through the unfolding text of our lives- we have been taught to be constantly on the lookout for the unusual turn of phrase or the unexpected word. We have learned that it is from the seemingly out of place language that there emerge tilei tilim – heaps and heaps – of insight and teachings.

One such word emerges from the first pasuq (verse) of this week’s parashah: Eqev. The pasuq reads: It shall be that following upon (eqev) that you listen to these ordinances, that you keep and do them, that HaShem your God will keep for you the Covenant (Brit) and the Lovingkindness which God swore to your ancestors.

Eqev is a term related to Read More >

By ahsilver|2008-08-19T13:34:22-04:00August 19, 2008|

Parashat D’varim

By Doug Alpert

This week we commence reading the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). In our quest to understand Torah and apply it to our own existence we are naturally prone to see it through the lens of our own experience. Having admitted to this bias in my own interpretation as I study the text, I immediately go to a specific place in my experience, i.e., my place as a parent. At the risk of overstatement, there may not be a greater pedagogical tool than the Book of Devarim. This is particularly true for parents. If you, like me, are prone to skip to the end to see what happens, one of the great lessons for parents is embodied within the idea that arguably our greatest leader, Moshe Rabeinu, is prohibited by G-d from following his children, B’nai Yisrael into the Land of Israel. So, how much more true is it for us, Read More >

By Doug Alpert|2008-08-15T11:47:56-04:00August 15, 2008|

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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