Sefer Shemot Archives | Page 14 of 19 | Academy for Jewish Religion

10 03, 2011

Parashat Pekudei

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

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 >

24 02, 2011

Parashat Va-Yakhel

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

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 >

15 02, 2011

Parashat Tetzaveh

By ahsilver|2011-02-15T19:28:13-05:00February 15, 2011|

By Rabbi Dorit Edut

As a young girl, I was often warned when thinking about something not to wrinkle my forehead lest I end up with the multi-lined foreheads of my uncle and my grandfather, a positive physical feature for them as serious, male, patent attorneys. When I first heard that emotions and experiences could be etched into our faces as in the expression “It was written all over his forehead,” I began to periodically examine my forehead and look at others this way as well. Then this week I came upon the probable origins of all this forehead attention as I read in our Torah portion, Exodus 28:36-38:

“You shall make a frontlet of pure gold and engrave on it the seal inscription: ‘Holy to the Lord’ … It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may take away any sin arising from the holy things that Read More >

2 02, 2011

Parashat Terumah

By ahsilver|2011-02-02T20:39:03-05:00February 2, 2011|

byÂ Rabbi Peg Kershenbaum

We’ve just passed through January, so Americans now emerge from our Festivals of Football and Fast Food Feasting. Some hold season tickets and don’t miss a game. Some go occasionally, braving frigid winds to cheer their teams to victory. Some bring a dish to Superbowl parties or take a peek at clever commercials. Some catch a score and some await the headlines. Some do not relate at all to the festivities or the baffling sport.

It’s much the same in the Jewish world, if we believe studies on synagogue or organizational affiliation. Some are avid supporters year ’round and make attendance a priority. Others enjoy the spectacle of a special holiday service or pitch in to help a cause that means something to them personally. Some show up not Read More >

26 01, 2011

Parashat Mishpatim

By ahsilver|2011-01-26T13:44:08-05:00January 26, 2011|

This week I have mid-terms. Oh, no-wait. Not me. I meant my son has mid-terms this week. Not sure what I was thinking . . . except that any time my 13-year-old son has heavy testing, I seem to get enlisted into helping him sort through all the course information that has been administered to him over the past few months. He and I have different ideas of how to process information, however, and as the pressure mounts for my child, so does the sturm und drang that accompany our study session-“I don’t get it!” “I don’t have to know that!” “Just tell me what the answer is!” As the infusion of data overwhelms him like a tidal wave, I lose all confidence that I can ever help him to understand what he needs to know.

I sort of feel the same way Read More >

20 01, 2011

Parashat Yitro

By Rabbi Len Levin|2011-01-20T14:25:00-05:00January 20, 2011|

Addressed To Each of Us Individually

“In the third month, on the first day of the month, on this day (ba-yom ha-zeh) the Israelites arrived at the wilderness of Sinai.” Why “on this day”? To teach you that every day one must regard the Sinaitic revelation as a present reality, that God is addressing you and speaking to you today (Rashi on Exodus 19:1).

“Like the smoke of a kiln.” Only like the smoke of a kiln? An understatement! Rather, this is to teach you that the divine utterance modulates itself to what the ear can hear (Mekhilta on Exodus 19:18). Similarly: “The voice of the Lord is in strength (Psalm 29:4) -adapted to the strength of each individual (Pesikta de-Rav Kahana on Exodus 20:1 -Â “I am the Lord your God”). Read More >

12 01, 2011

Parashat Beshalah

By ahsilver|2011-01-12T00:07:58-05:00January 12, 2011|

By Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

With Pharaoh and his army in hot pursuit, Parashat Beshalah describes the Children of Israel crying out to God, “In great fear the Children of Israel cried out to the LORD.” (Exodus 14:10). No answer came from God, so they then turned to Moses, “They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?’” (Exodus 14:11). They claimed that it would have been better if they stayed in Egypt, “For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness” (Exodus 14:12). Moses responded and attempted to raise their spirits, “‘Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the LORD will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today Read More >

5 01, 2011

Parashat Bo

By ahsilver|2011-01-05T14:28:14-05:00January 5, 2011|

By Rabbi Katy Allen

All About the Heart

I entered a patient room for a routine visit. Medical staff hovered nearby – they were having trouble with the EKG equipment, and yes, it was fine for me, the chaplain, to visit; they needed a few minutes. The patient, George (not his real name), told me his heartbeat was irregular, and they were trying to figure out why. I asked if he would like a prayer – yes. What would he like me to pray for? “I think you should pray for me.”

The next day, George requested another visit. “You’ll never guess,” he said. The EKG had shown his heartbeat to be normal, it was still normal. The doctors were stumped. Suddenly, this visit was no longer routine. I left the room a bit overwhelmed and wondering about the Mystery of the universe. Read More >

29 12, 2010

Parashat Va-era

By ahsilver|2010-12-29T10:46:26-05:00December 29, 2010|

By Rabbi Raphael Goldstein

A few months ago, we studied the three distinct Creation stories in the Bible “ the story of the seven days of creation, the story of Adam and Eve, and the Noah story. Jewish tradition has always looked at these stories with the understanding that they are about theology, not science or history, but attempts to understand our relationship with G!d and the universe.

This week, we read the Ten Plagues which G!d used to attain the liberation of the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. But are they historically accurate; can they be scientifically proven? Is the Exodus from Egypt an allegory, just like the creation stories? Read More >

23 12, 2010

Parashat Shemot

By ahsilver|2010-12-23T14:47:38-05:00December 23, 2010|

By Hazzan Marcia Lane

In 2007 the Jewish world lost a giant by the name of Alfred J. Kolatch. He was a rabbi, but didn’t always use his title. He was also the author of more than 25 books, including The Jewish Book of Why and The Jewish Child’s First Book of Why, but for many of us he is best known and loved for having written The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names. It was first published as The Name Dictionary in 1967, revised in 1984, and is so universally respected that it has a place on virtually every rabbi’s, cantor’s, 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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