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18 05, 2011

Parashat Behukkotai

By ahsilver|2011-05-18T16:34:12-04:00May 18, 2011|

By Rabbi Halina Rubinstein

In this week’s portion, the last in the Book of Leviticus, Moses relates to the people of Israel the blessings that God will bestow if they obey God’s commandments and the curses in store for them if they don’t. Behukotai raises serious questions about divine justice. For sure, following mitzvot framed in the ethical precepts of Judaism leads to a better world, regardless of our reward; indifference and neglect cause many of the scourges described in our parashah. But are they punishments? And, are the blessings in life rewards?

I understand this parashah as an assertion that everything in nature is a consequence or effect of God’s will; that the real drama of life is not between man and nature but a moral drama between man and God. This reminds me of something I experienced in a recent visit Read More >

12 05, 2011

Parashat Behar

By Bruce Alpert|2011-05-12T21:23:06-04:00May 12, 2011|

By Rabbi Bruce Alpert

Here’s the scene: I open the door to the cupboard or refrigerator and stare intently at its contents. Perhaps I rearrange things a bit to discover what might be hiding in a remote corner. I stare some more. Then, after an additional moment or two of hesitation, I grab a handful of something I don’t really want and, disdainfully shutting the door, declare that “there’s nothing to eat in this house.”

What brought this domestic idyll to mind were a pair of verses from this week’s parashah, Behar.The Torah is discussing the command to give the land a sabbatical. While allowing land to lie fallow is a cardinal agricultural principle, it does call for a certain amount of faith. The Torah addresses the issue directly: “Should you ask, ‘what are we to eat in the seventh year, if we Read More >

4 05, 2011

Parashat Emor

By ahsilver|2011-05-04T10:24:56-04:00May 4, 2011|

By Rabbi Bob Freedman

It’s surprising that there is no blessing to be said before giving tzedakah. Certainly it’s an important mitzvah, but unlike other mitzvot that require us to say a formula to engage mind and spirit before we do them, there’s no such requirement for giving. A passage in our parashah offers a clue as to why this is so.

Appended to the instructions for offering the omer and first fruits, and not eating the new grains before making an offering is a reminder about leaving the gleanings and the corners of the field for the poor (Lev. 23:22-23). But being the second time it’s mentioned (see Lev 19:9-10), here it may teach something new. The first time it’s mentioned, the instruction follows those for a thanks offering, as if to say (see Ibn Ezra there) that just as God has Read More >

27 04, 2011

Parashat Kedoshim

By ahsilver|2011-04-27T22:45:56-04:00April 27, 2011|

By Rabbi Maralee Gordon

We learn from Rabbi Akiva that the greatest principle in the Torah isÂ V’ahavta l’reyakha kamokha– Love your fellow as yourselfÂ (Leviticus 19:18).Â Â That teaching is found in this week’sparashah,Â Kedoshim, part of the Holiness Code.Â Â Sometimes we stop reading at that point in the text; after all, that’s the pinnacle-or is it?

A story:Â Â When I learned that immigrants were being detained by the federal government in the county jail two miles from my home in Woodstock, Illinois, I applied to be a member of the interfaith ministry allowed in to provide pastoral counseling to these detainees once a week.Â Â I was propelled by my innate sense of being the child of immigrants, even though both of my grandmothers were born in Chicago.Â Â We all tell the story of where our families came from, why they left, how they got started in this country.Â Â I have a poster photograph of Maxwell Street ca. 1905 in which you can Read More >

14 04, 2011

Parashat Aharei Mot

By Rabbi Len Levin|2011-04-14T10:59:46-04:00April 14, 2011|

Shabbat Ha-Gadol

Herald of Redemption

“Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord.Â He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents…”Â (Malachi 3:23).

The liturgy of Passover in its original form seems focused on past history-the liberation of the Israelite slaves from Egypt in the time of Moses.Â Along the way, however, it acquired the theme of ultimate future redemption-the Messianic redemption at the end of days.Â This thematic development can be seen particularly in the haftarot that the Rabbis assigned to be read for this festival.Â Shabbat Hol Ha-Mo’ed features the haftarah from Ezekiel Chapter 37, with the vision of the dry bones taking on flesh and breath and coming back to life.Â The haftarah for the eighth day of Passover centers on Read More >

7 04, 2011

Parashat Metzora

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2011-04-07T10:36:11-04:00April 7, 2011|

GOSSIP UNDER OUR SKIN

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman

With the increased use of text messages and emails, and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, society is currently experiencing an unprecedented change in the way we communicate with each other.

Through time, the Torah and Talmud, and such great rabbis as Maimonides and the Hafetz Hayyim have warned us about careful use of words, and the pitfalls of Leshon Hara (evil tongue and language).

In most cases, these sacred texts and rabbinical commentators were referring to gossip which occurred face to face in homes, synagogues or other public places.

But today, we, and in particular our children communicate less “face to face” and more “screen to screen.” Read More >

31 03, 2011

Parashat Tazria

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2011-03-31T10:37:07-04:00March 31, 2011|

By Sandy Horowitz

Wrestling with Ritual

In his book Sacred Fragments, author Neil Gillman discusses the issue of ritual in Judaism. He addresses the distinction between laws having to do with relationships among human beings, as compared with commandments to perform ritual acts whose function was for the sake of God.Â The commandments of human relationship are ones we probably would come to ourselves, whereas the laws of ritual would only have come about by divine decree.

Today, we live in a culture that values interpersonal relationship, in which the former tends to make more sense to us, whereas the latter may be more difficult for some of us to understand or accept.

How we view this week’s Torah portion probably depends a lot on our relationship with Jewish ritual, and what we do with our modern sensibilities.Â The first eight verses, in Read More >

17 03, 2011

Parashat Tzav

By ahsilver|2011-03-17T13:01:54-04:00March 17, 2011|

By Cantor Robin Joseph

So, there was this man . . . who was so unhappy with his life . . . he grumbled, complained, and was not grateful for anything. One day the Angel of Death came to him and said, “OK-time’s up; you’re coming with me.” The misanthrope suddenly perks up and pleads with the Angel of Death to spare him. “I’ll do anything!” he says. “Just please don’t take me now!”

The Angel of Death makes him a deal: “Every day that you find something to bless in your life, everyday that you find something different to thank God for, is another day that I’ll let you live. But as soon as you stop, I will come back for you.”

The man agrees and the Angel of Death departs.

Amazingly enough, this man does find something different to bless and be thankful Read More >

10 03, 2011

Parashat Vayikra

By ahsilver|2011-03-10T13:30:59-05:00March 10, 2011|

By Cantor Jacklyn Chernett

Leviticus, or Torat Kohanim, from the beginning, seems like an endless list of intricate sacrifices, the concept of which is almost anathema to us in our time. The sacrificial cult is difficult for us to comprehend. Expiation for sin is now dealt with in differing ways – (know a good therapist?) – and prayer has taken over where ritual slaughter and dashing of blood came to an end with the destruction of the Temple in 70CE. Or did it?

In 1993, we had the privilege of travelling to Nepal. We stayed at the foothills of the Himalayas and our guide asked us if we would like to attend a sacrifice. Horrified but enthralled, we asked about it. “We sacrifice twice a week” said the guide. The following Tuesday we were taken up into the hills. The vehicle was parked Read More >

6 05, 2010

Parashat Behar-Behukotai

By ahsilver|2010-05-06T11:38:16-04:00May 6, 2010|

By Neal Spevack

In the beginning of this week’s double parsha, Behar-Behukotai, the Jubilee year, Shenat HaYovel, is described. The Hebrew word yovel (from which “Jubilee” derives) means “ram’s horn,” since a ram’s horn was sounded near the year’s inception (Leviticus 25:9).

Scripture states: “You shall count off seven weeks of years seven times seven years-so that the period of seven weeks of years gives you a total of forty-nine years.” (Leviticus 25:8) What economic message did the Torah want to relate?

It was a curious and unique market mechanism aimed at preventing the consolidation of land in any single group’s possession. In an agrarian society, the possession of land represented wealth and power not unlike today. The first priority was to maintain the land’s value. By counting every seven years and hence the shemitah, the Sabbatical year, the land was mandated to be left fallow and the 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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