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3 12, 2015

Parashat Vayeishev-Hanukkah

By Rabbi Len Levin|2015-12-03T11:35:46-05:00December 3, 2015|

Joseph and Judah as Paradigms
by Rabbi Len Levin

Everyone loves Joseph. But my mentor Maurice Samuel did not. In Certain People of the Book (1955), he relates how Joseph’s taunting his brothers and later manipulating his awesome power to scare the living daylights out of them reminded him of experiences of being taunted and bullied. Samuel tells the story of Joseph and the brothers from the brothers’ point of view.

Samuel also made a broader, more serious analysis of the historic role that Joseph played, according to the biblical narrative. Joseph was the first in a line of Jews (including Samuel Hanagid of 11th century Spain, Benjamin Disraeli, and most recently Henry Kissinger) who rose to positions of power in the non-Jewish political world. Though occasionally using their position to benefit their people of origin, their primary allegiance was to their gentile patrons. The brothers’ not recognizing Joseph is perhaps symptomatic of an ambiguity Read More >

27 11, 2015

Parashat Vayishlah

By ahsilver|2015-11-27T13:00:22-05:00November 27, 2015|

‘Til I Send For You

Hazzan Marcia Lane

A couple of weeks ago we read in Parashat Toledot that Rebecca sent Jacob away to the country of Haran, to hang out there with her side of the family until his brother Esau cooled off. Just for “yamim ahadim“–a few days, maybe a week or two. And then she said, “v’shalahti ul’kahtikha mi-sham.” I will send for you and bring you from there. (Gen. 27:45) But months and years go by, and Rebecca does not send for him, and Jacob builds a life in Haran. He marries (twice), fathers many children, builds wealth, and his mother never sends for him to come home. In fact, Rebecca vanishes from the biblical narrative when Jacob leaves to go to Haran. Instead God speaks to Jacob and tells Jacob to “return to the land of your fathers, where you were born, and Read More >

19 11, 2015

Parashat Vayeitzeih

By ahsilver|2015-11-19T23:52:54-05:00November 19, 2015|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

In this week’s parashah we read about the first meeting between Jacob and Rachel.

“Now when Jacob saw Rachel, the daughter of his mother’s brother Laban, and the sheep of his mother’s brother Laban, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of his mother’s brother Laban.” (Genesis 29:10)

On this verse Rashi wrote

“‘Jacob went up and rolled’: As one who removes the stopper from a bottle, to let you know that he possessed great strength (Gen. Rabbah 70:12).”

It seems that according to Rashi, the “great strength” that Jacob possessed was purely physical. Because of this extraordinary strength he was able to roll the stone that was blocking the well’s mouth. Rabbi Nechemia Ra’anan has shown that the great 20th century teacher of musar, Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, had a slightly different understanding of Jacob’s strength. For Rabbi Shmuelevitz Jacob’s strength was not just of Read More >

12 11, 2015

Parashat Toldot

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2015-11-12T12:43:39-05:00November 12, 2015|

by Rabbi Isaac Mann

The story of the conflict between Jacob and Esau, which is central to this week’s Torah portion, leaves us with many unanswered questions. Among them is one that is raised by the famous 13^th century exegete Nachmanides (Ramban) that has us wondering if the entire episode involving Jacob’s subterfuge could have been avoided.

In his commentary to Gen.27:4, where we are told that Rebekah instructed her son Jacob to dress like Esau in order to fool his father Isaac and snatch from him the patriarchal blessing, Nachmanides asks why couldn’t Rebekah simply reveal to her husband the prophecy that had been given to her when she was still pregnant and in difficult straits. As the Torah mentions in the beginning of Toldot (25:23), she was told by G-d, directly or indirectly (Nachmanides assumes the latter), that the older son will be subservient to the younger. Had she told her husband the prophetic message Read More >

5 11, 2015

Parashat Hayyei Sarah

By Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD|2015-11-05T19:02:56-05:00November 5, 2015|

The Art of Grounding

by Rabbi Jill Hammer

Recently, I’ve begun the practice of making sure I put my bare feet on the ground at least once a day. I find time to go into the park and touch the grass, soil, stones, tree roots with feet that are accustomed to wear socks and shoes. I consider this a “grounding” practice — a practice of returning to my base. When I do it, I feel calm and stability, and a sense of being more in touch with myself and the world.

The spiritual practice of grounding usually means finding strength or serenity through attaching to one’s foundation in body, earth, or spiritual practice. Some dictionary definitions for the word “grounding:” soil or earth; a surrounding area or background; something that serves as a foundation or means of attachment for something else; a basis for belief. Parashat Hayyei Sarah, which begins with the Read More >

30 10, 2015

Parashat Vayeira

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2015-10-30T09:19:47-04:00October 30, 2015|

by Cantor Sandy Horowitz
Look back and die!
Such is the fate of Lot’s wife in Parashat Vayeira.

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS EARLIER: Lot has been living in Sodom, city of sin destined for destruction by God. On the eve of destruction, angels come knocking on his door, for the purpose of warning him to flee. He invites them in, feeds them, and then tries to protect them when the townsmen demand that he turn his guests over to them for their sexual sport. Lot offers up his two unmarried daughters in exchange for the guests’ safety; the angel-guests intervene just in time.

Next morning, Lot and his family heed the warning and depart Sodom, leaving behind their two married daughters. As Lot departs we read, “Vayitmamah” (“And he lingered”, Genesis 19:16). This word is chanted using shalshelet, an elaborate cantillation trope which occurs only three other times in the Torah. Shalshelet‘s duration is long and the tone Read More >

22 10, 2015

Parashat Lekh-Lekha

By Rabbi Len Levin|2015-10-22T22:05:10-04:00October 22, 2015|

Way of the Spiritual Seeker

Rabbi Len Levin

The Lord said to Abram, lekh lekha–go to/for/by yourself–from your land, from your birthplace, from your father’s household, to the place that I will show you. (Gen. 12:1) Philo of Alexandria in The Migration of Abraham (around 35 CE) offered the following interpretation: Each individual is called on to embark on a spiritual-mystical journey, leaving behind one’s bodily preoccupations and corporeal ancestral speech, and finding the spiritual center that transcends materiality, where one comes in contact with one’s higher self.

Rashi (around 1080) interpreted lekha “for your benefit.” Abraham is told that this will be the start of his flourishing and becoming the progenitor of mighty nations.

The Zohar (~1280) interpreted it as saying: Know and perfect your spiritual madrega (level of being).

Ephraim of Luntshitz (in the Keli Yekar, 1602) interpreted it as addressed to Abraham and saying: Set out to Jerusalem, the navel of the world, site of Read More >

20 10, 2015

Parashat Noah

By ahsilver|2015-10-20T14:41:47-04:00October 20, 2015|

The Age Of Destruction

Haza

In last week’s Torah reading, Genesis/Bereishit, we saw not one but two very wonderful versions of God’s creative energy. The act of creating the world is told in two very different stories, first in chapter 1:1-2:4 (“and there was evening, and there was morning, day one”) and again in chapter 2:5-2:24 (“…but for Adam, no fitting help-partner was found.”). In this week’s parashah, Noah, we see the first of several examples of God as destroyer. Disgusted with the behavior of humankind, with the violence that has corrupted creation, God decides to wipe out animal life on the planet and start over. He instructs Noah to create a closed bio-system, a way of preserving the ‘starter kit’ for the new world. In stunning language, the bible describes the effects of the flood:

And all flesh that stirred upon the earth perished; birds, cattle, beasts, every swarming thing that swarmed upon the Read More >

8 10, 2015

Parashat Bereishit

By ahsilver|2015-10-08T21:36:27-04:00October 8, 2015|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

For many people the season of repentance ended with the Neilah service on Yom Kippur. For others the gates of repentance remained open through Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day of Hol Ha-Moed Sukkot. This emphasis on Hoshanah Rabbah as the final day of the season of repentance can be found in numerous medieval sources and is illustrated in the following statement from the Zohar:

“On the seventh day of the Festival, Judgement is concluded in the world and decrees go forth from the King’s palace.” (Zohar, Tsav 3:31b, trans. D. Matt)

I would like to extend the theme of repentance to include Parashat Bereishit. Rabbi Yaakov Meidan of Yeshivat Har Etzion pointed out that in this week’s parashah we read not only about the first sin committed by humanity, but also about the first missed opportunity to perform teshuvah, repentance.

But the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, Read More >

2 01, 2015

Parashat Vayehi

By ahsilver|2015-01-02T02:06:47-05:00January 2, 2015|

Parashat Va-Yehi
Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

Many people associate this week’s parashah with endings. Much of the parashah consists of Jacob’s final testament to his children, and next week we no longer read about the trials and tribulations of Abraham’s descendants, but rather of the rise of Moses as a leader and the Israelite’s enslavement in Egypt. Despite this emphasis on the end of an era, an interpretation found in the Talmud understands a verse found at the beginning of this week’s parashah as a sign of beginning.

Until Abraham there was no such thing as [the sign of] old age. Whoever saw Abraham thought, “This is Isaac.” Whoever saw Isaac thought, “This is Abraham.” Abraham prayed for mercy so that he might have [signs of] old age, as it is said, “And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age” (Gen. 24:1). Until the time of Jacob Read More >

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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