Sefer Vayikra Archives | Page 6 of 15 | Academy for Jewish Religion

29 03, 2019

Parashat Shemini

By Rabbi Len Levin|2022-07-29T11:24:36-04:00March 29, 2019|

The Center of the Torah
A D’var Torah for Parashat Shemini
By Rabbi Len Levin

“The Masoret (textual tradition) is a safeguarding fence around the Torah.” (Avot 3:13)

What is the core of the Torah? At several places in this week’s Torah reading and in adjacent readings, the astute reader will see notes indicating that this or that verse is the center of the Torah counting by verses, by words, or by letters. What is this about?

The Talmud relates: “The earlier authorities were called soferim [scribes] because they counted [soferim] all the letters of the Torah” (Kiddushin 30a).

From this they concluded that the center of the Torah, counting by letters, is the vav in the word gahon (belly) in the verse, “You shall not eat anything that crawls on its belly” (Lev. 11:42). Counting by verses, it is the verse “[The leper] shall shave himself” (Lev. 13.33). And counting by words, it Read More >

22 03, 2019

Parashat Tzav

By Rabbi Isaac Mann|2022-07-29T11:24:36-04:00March 22, 2019|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Tzav
By Rabbi Isaac Mann

The prohibition in the Torah against the consumption of blood, which is expressed in this week’s parashah (see Lev. 7:26-27), is generally seen in the context of the laws of kashrut. Just as the Torah prohibits the eating of meat from unclean animals or from animals that were improperly slaughtered or were unfit due to organic disease, so too certain parts of a kosher animal, like the fat (heilev) or the blood (dam) are off-limits. In connection with the latter, the Shulhan Arukh describes various salting and draining methods to rid the meat of any blood that may have flowed into it in order to render it kosher. The pertinent rules and techniques are juxtaposed to the laws that deal with shehitah (ritual slaughtering) and tereifot (diseased animals).

Interestingly, the Torah does not mention the prohibitions against eating the fat or the blood of Read More >

14 03, 2019

Parashat Vayikra 5779

By Linda Ripps|2022-06-27T09:30:46-04:00March 14, 2019|

Controlling the High Price of Judaism (and Guilt)
A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra
By Rabbi David Markus

The Jewish value of tzedakah underscores that to “be Jewish” is partly to “do Jewish,” and to “do Jewish” means to support others. That’s one reason that Judaism calls for tzedakah as charitable acts of support for others that double as communal acts of identity.

Important as tzedakah is, however, tzedakah isn’t a sufficient solution when it becomes too pricy to “do Jewish” in the first place – as increasingly is happening across vast swaths of Jewish life.

The economics of traditional Jewish ways have trended toward narrowcasting Judaism toward affluence. This income effect, in turn, lifts costs higher. Especially for Millennials, high cost can become a practical barrier and/or psychological barrier to doing Jewish.

These dynamics amplify vexing questions about inclusivity and continuity in Jewish life. Cost concerns raise lamentations about Judaism’s socioeconomic privilege, inspiring some to call for cost controls. Even sharp-penciled Read More >

11 05, 2018

Parshiyot Behar-Behukotai 5778

By Bruce Alpert|2018-05-11T17:43:13-04:00May 11, 2018|

A D’var Torah for Bahar-BeHukkotai
by Rabbi Bruce Alpert ’11

We are surrounded by layers of reality. . . There are swarms of ghosts, spirits, phantoms, souls, angels and devils. . . The smallest pebble has a life of its own. . . Everything is alive. And everything is God or God’s intention. . .

These lines are from Ingmar Bergman’s film Fanny & Alexander. They are attributed to a pious Jew who seemingly magically saves two children from the clutches of their evil stepfather. One of the children, the sensitive Alexander, has perceived this layered reality all along as his father’s ghost has become his companion in grief.

I have never been much into mysticism. My hesitancy is not so much based on rational skepticism but rather on my inability to understand mysticism’s subtlety and nuance. But the juxtaposition of two verses in this week’s double Torah portion, Behar-Bekhukotai, have led me to wonder whether Read More >

26 04, 2018

Aharei Mot/Kedoshim 5778

By Rabbi Irwin Huberman|2018-04-26T09:59:12-04:00April 26, 2018|

Torah, sexuality and #MeToo
A D’var Toroh for Aharei Mot/Kedoshim
by Rabbi Irwin Huberman ’10

Within Judaism, there exists a debate regarding the reading of some explicit sexual material on the afternoon of Yom Kippur.

Orthodox Judaism encourages us to read from the Torah what are commonly referred to as the arayot – forbidden sexual relationships.

Conservative Judaism offers an alternative — suggesting a second reading dealing with interpersonal relationships, business practices, ritual behavior and criminal law.

Reform Judaism often bypasses sexuality, choosing Biblical texts that highlight reconciliation, ethical behavior and social justice.

Indeed, the discussion of forbidden sexual practices on the holy and reflective day of Yom Kippur is a challenging one.

Yet, is it possible that the same Torah reading, which so many rabbis and congregations have struggled with in recent years, demands a rereading in light of so many sexual abuses and allegations that have come to light this past year?

More specifically, is there a thematic connection between the Read More >

12 04, 2018

Shemini 5778

By Cantor Sandy Horowitz|2018-04-12T09:01:33-04:00April 12, 2018|

What is Holy?
A D’var Torah for Shemini
Cantor Sandy Horowitz ’14

In response to gun violence incidents, the press often seeks to provide information about the shooter in an attempt to determine motive. Was he a Muslim terrorist or a white disgruntled employee, a bully or bullied, a cop or a criminal, or a known sociopath who slipped through the cracks of law enforcement bureaucracy? All have been true. And no matter who they are, the outcome of their actions remains unquestionably disastrous.

Similarly, with regard to this week’s Torah reading, there are numerous possible explanations for the actions of Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu, who bring strange, unsanctioned sacrificial fire to God, and die as a result. In the context of the culture that God is establishing for the ancient Israelites, theirs is a serious transgression.

This disturbing event occurs following a lengthy, detailed description of the sacrifices offered at the newly Read More >

22 03, 2018

Parashat Tzav, 5778

By Rabbi Heidi Hoover|2018-03-22T10:24:18-04:00March 22, 2018|

A D’var Torah for Tzav
by Rabbi Heidi Hoover ’11

This week’s Torah portion, Tzav, continues detailed discussion of the sacrifices, though this week’s text is addressed to the priests and focuses on their duties, while last week’s text was addressed to the Israelite people.

We frequently talk about how alien animal sacrifice is to us now, and it can be very difficult to feel any affinity to these Torah portions. But the Israelites did get something out of the sacrificial system, and one thing I believe they got is something that we still want today. I suggest that the sacrificial system supported communal life.

Everyone knew the rules and followed them. When a person came to make a sacrifice, it was not something they did alone. A person would bring the animal and give it to the priest—so there were at least two people involved. Read More >

15 03, 2018

Parashat Vayikra 5778

By Bruce Alpert|2018-03-15T09:20:35-04:00March 15, 2018|

A D’var Torah for Parashat Vayikra
Rabbi Bruce Alpert, ’11

Egg yolks, oil, water, flour, sugar and yeast. For nearly twenty years I have been adding these ingredients to my bread machine on Friday morning. When I return home in the afternoon, I have dough with which to braid and bake challah.

The bakers among you may notice that I have left out an ingredient; by far the smallest of all. Yet that one teaspoon of salt is the difference between a challah that tastes rich and sweet and one that is poor and flat.

What got me thinking about challah and salt are the detailed descriptions of meal offerings and their preparation in this week’s Torah portion, Vayikra. I was struck particularly with this verse: “You shall season every offering of meal with salt; you shall not omit from your meal offering the salt of your covenant with God; with all your offerings you must Read More >

17 05, 2017

Parashat Behar-Behukotai

By Rabbi Len Levin|2017-05-17T13:26:55-04:00May 17, 2017|

A Society of Free Landholders
by Rabbi Len Levin

“You shall proclaim release [liberty] throughout the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: each of you shall return to his holding and each of you shall return to his family.” (Leviticus 25:9)

Three years ago I discussed how the Jubilee law served as a beacon to both the American republic and the reborn Jewish homeland, informing their visions of liberty and economic opportunity for all citizens. (See Levin, Dvar Torah Behar 2014.)

To review: “In order to have a chance to remain free, people needed to have a material sufficiency to earn an independent livelihood. Hence, at periodic intervals — every fifty years — the primary source of wealth, the land itself, was to be redistributed to the ancestral families to which it had presumably been apportioned at the original Israelite conquest.”

The Israeli philosopher Eliezer Schweid, in his book, Philosophy Read More >

12 05, 2017

Parashat Emor

By ahsilver|2017-05-12T08:29:59-04:00May 12, 2017|

by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky

This week’s parashah is a priestly delight. It’s filled with numerous teachings that were relevant to the lives of priests, kohanim, in the past, and for some kohanim, still today. Many people, not only kohanim, are challenged by some of the restrictions that were placed on the priests. Along with the numerous benefits that came along with the priesthood, there were also prohibitions, some related to whom they could marry, while others addressed certain physical characteristics that disqualified a priest from performing his priestly duties.

“The LORD spoke further to Moses: Speak to Aaron and say: No man of your offspring throughout the ages who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God. No one at all who has a defect shall be qualified: no man who is blind, or lame, or has a limb too short or too long; no man who has a 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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