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Parashat Vayigash
December 31, 2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
This week as the Joseph drama continues, the tension builds to its climax as Judah passes Joseph’s test. As he intervenes on behalf of Benjamin, the youngest brother, and the only full brother of Joseph, Judah reveals how profoundly he has changed since the day when he sold Joseph down to Egypt. The last sentence he utters, “Let me not be witness to the woe that would overtake my father!”, is so powerful for Joseph to hear that he can no longer control himself. Through his sobs, Joseph tells his brothers, “I am Joseph.”
Chapters 45 and 46 recount how Joseph’s family comes down to Egypt, marking a shift in the paradigm of brothers in the book of Genesis. And here, I must give credit to David Tilles’ for helping me see how in this generation, in contrast to the generations of Abraham/Lot, Isaac/Ishmael and Jacob/Esau, the brothers reconcile and decide to live together. The brothers do not go their separate ways. We’ll explore this shift together and ask what the Torah is trying to teach us.
While the happy reunion of this family is taking place, in Chapter 47 we are brought back to the Egyptian reality. The famine continues and is very severe to the point that the people first sell their grain, then their livestock and finally their land and themselves as serfs to the Pharaoh. There is a stark contrast between the plight of the Egyptian people and the last line of the parashah, “Thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen; they acquired holdings in it, and were fertile and increased greatly. We’ll explore the question of the meaning of this contrast.
In the midst of this story of huge revelations and moving an entire clan from Canaan to Egypt, we have a small, quiet scene that I don’t want to allow to go unnoticed. When Jacob comes down to Egypt, he has an audience with Pharaoh. In their time together we hear Jacob’s frustration as he shares , “Few and hard have been the years of my life, nor do they come up to the life spans of my fathers during their sojourns.” And then Jacob “blesses” Pharaoh (47:9-10). The Women’s Commentary includes a beautiful poem by Amy Blank that takes us deeper into this exchange, imagining these two old men understanding each other’s very different lives and very different hopes.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
Scrollers Preview for 12/24/11 - Parashat Miketz
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Parashat Miketz
December 23, 2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Happy Chanukah, and Shabbat Shalom!
This week’s parashah opens with Pharaoh’s dreams about the seven fat cows being consumed by seven gaunt cows, and seven healthy ears of corn being eaten up by seven dry ears of corn. The cupbearer remembers Joseph as an interpreter of dreams and Pharaoh brings Joseph up out of the dungeon to interpret his dreams.
The word for dungeon here in Hebrew is “bor,” the same as the word for “pit.” This is the first ascent of Joseph out of the original pit into which his brothers cast him. He is now 30 years old – 13 years have passed since his brothers plotted against him and stripped him of the colorful tunic. Now he is shaved, bathed and dressed in order to be presentable to Pharoah. This is the 3rd costume change for Joseph in the story so far.
Joseph, whether we understand him to be inspired by God or by his own ambition, finds a way not only to interpret the dreams but to offer policy advice to Pharaoh. Joseph understands the dream to be predicting seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and he suggests storing up all of the food from the 1st seven year in order to distribute it in the 2nd seven year period.
Pharaoh elevates Joseph to vizier of Egypt, in charge of collecting and then distributing grain. This is his 2nd ascent, then his 4th costume change, as he is dressed in garments of royal authority. And not only that, a name change – an Egyptian name. Oh, and there’s a 3rd ascent – he gets to ride in the chariot of Pharaoh’s 2nd in command.
Then we have the accounts of Joseph’s brothers’ travels back and forth between Canaan and Egypt, procuring rations and interacting with Joseph, whom they don’t recognize. The parashah ends with a cliff-hanger – Benjamin is caught with Joseph’s goblet in his bag, and Judah is pleading their innocence.
As I read the Parasha this year, the theme that emerged was that of trust. Pharaoh so easily hands the reins of power over to Joseph, a Hebrew who was in prison. What is it about the dreams and Joseph’s interpretations that lead Pharaosh to trust Joseph so quickly and give him so much power? On the flip side, it takes a lot for Joseph to ever trust his brothers again, and it remains an open question as to whether the brothers ever really rebuild full trust with each other. What does this lack of trust say about our ancestors –the children of Jacob? What does it say about the Jewish people today? What does it take to trust each other?
Parashat Miketz
December 23, 2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Happy Chanukah, and Shabbat Shalom!
This week’s parashah opens with Pharaoh’s dreams about the seven fat cows being consumed by seven gaunt cows, and seven healthy ears of corn being eaten up by seven dry ears of corn. The cupbearer remembers Joseph as an interpreter of dreams and Pharaoh brings Joseph up out of the dungeon to interpret his dreams.
The word for dungeon here in Hebrew is “bor,” the same as the word for “pit.” This is the first ascent of Joseph out of the original pit into which his brothers cast him. He is now 30 years old – 13 years have passed since his brothers plotted against him and stripped him of the colorful tunic. Now he is shaved, bathed and dressed in order to be presentable to Pharoah. This is the 3rd costume change for Joseph in the story so far.
Joseph, whether we understand him to be inspired by God or by his own ambition, finds a way not only to interpret the dreams but to offer policy advice to Pharaoh. Joseph understands the dream to be predicting seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine, and he suggests storing up all of the food from the 1st seven year in order to distribute it in the 2nd seven year period.
Pharaoh elevates Joseph to vizier of Egypt, in charge of collecting and then distributing grain. This is his 2nd ascent, then his 4th costume change, as he is dressed in garments of royal authority. And not only that, a name change – an Egyptian name. Oh, and there’s a 3rd ascent – he gets to ride in the chariot of Pharaoh’s 2nd in command.
Then we have the accounts of Joseph’s brothers’ travels back and forth between Canaan and Egypt, procuring rations and interacting with Joseph, whom they don’t recognize. The parashah ends with a cliff-hanger – Benjamin is caught with Joseph’s goblet in his bag, and Judah is pleading their innocence.
As I read the Parasha this year, the theme that emerged was that of trust. Pharaoh so easily hands the reins of power over to Joseph, a Hebrew who was in prison. What is it about the dreams and Joseph’s interpretations that lead Pharaosh to trust Joseph so quickly and give him so much power? On the flip side, it takes a lot for Joseph to ever trust his brothers again, and it remains an open question as to whether the brothers ever really rebuild full trust with each other. What does this lack of trust say about our ancestors –the children of Jacob? What does it say about the Jewish people today? What does it take to trust each other?
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Scrollers Preview for 11/26/11 - Parashat Toldot
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Parashat Toldot
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
“V’eleh toldot Yitzchak. . .” “This is the line of Isaac. . .”
This week, we meet the next patriarch in line for the covenantal blessing – Jacob. His name, derived from the word “heel” can also be translated as, “supplanter.” He emerges from his mother Rebecca’s womb holding onto the heel of his older brother Esau. And throughout our parashah, he and his mother use deceit as a way for him to get ahead in line, to receive his father’s blessing, and to take hold of the right of the first-born.
According to the modern commentator, Nehama Leibovitch, there are at least four recurring motif words in Jacob’s life: deceit (mirmah), right of the firstborn (b’chora,) blessing (b’racha,) and name (shem.) As we study the parasha together, we’ll trace these motifs.
Using some commentaries and midrash brought by Leibovitch in one of her studies on this portion, we’ll also ask whether we can detect any trace of reluctance on Jacob’s part to play this role of “supplanter.” And we’ll see if the Torah is judging Jacob’s deceitful behavior. Are the blessings that Jacob receives in this parasha truly realized in Jacob’s life, or does he have to earn them more honestly later?
Parashat Toldot
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
“V’eleh toldot Yitzchak. . .” “This is the line of Isaac. . .”
This week, we meet the next patriarch in line for the covenantal blessing – Jacob. His name, derived from the word “heel” can also be translated as, “supplanter.” He emerges from his mother Rebecca’s womb holding onto the heel of his older brother Esau. And throughout our parashah, he and his mother use deceit as a way for him to get ahead in line, to receive his father’s blessing, and to take hold of the right of the first-born.
According to the modern commentator, Nehama Leibovitch, there are at least four recurring motif words in Jacob’s life: deceit (mirmah), right of the firstborn (b’chora,) blessing (b’racha,) and name (shem.) As we study the parasha together, we’ll trace these motifs.
Using some commentaries and midrash brought by Leibovitch in one of her studies on this portion, we’ll also ask whether we can detect any trace of reluctance on Jacob’s part to play this role of “supplanter.” And we’ll see if the Torah is judging Jacob’s deceitful behavior. Are the blessings that Jacob receives in this parasha truly realized in Jacob’s life, or does he have to earn them more honestly later?
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Scrollers Preview for 10/29/11 - Parashat Noach
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Parashat Noach
October 29, 2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
At a Scrollers session prior to the High Holy Days, we agreed that we would turn to the Women’s Torah Commentary this year for an additional layer to our study. For this Torah portion, the Women’s Commentary includes helpful references to Babylonian epics that parallel Noah, our flood myth. We’ll look at the role the goddess Tiamat plays in those parallel stories, and see how our Torah echoes those traditions, using the word “t’hom,” a word similar to “Tiamat,” to designate the deep primordial waters that wash over the earth.
We’ll also read an essay in the Women’s Commentary by Dr. Carol Ochs, who posits that the sin God is punishing humanity for with the flood has to do with our misuse of language. Ochs notes that Noah himself is silent for the entire story until he curses his youngest son Ham. This curse comes after they leave the ark and Ham discovers Noah drunk and exposed. After God has created the world and blessed that creation with language, perhaps the flaw in human beings is our tendency to use speech in destructive ways. This theme of the power of language continues with the story of the Tower of Babel.
As I write this on a rainy Thursday, I am looking forward to retelling the story of the rain coming down for forty day-sies day-sies (but hoping that the rain stops here sooner than that!)
Shabbat Shalom!
Parashat Noach
October 29, 2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
At a Scrollers session prior to the High Holy Days, we agreed that we would turn to the Women’s Torah Commentary this year for an additional layer to our study. For this Torah portion, the Women’s Commentary includes helpful references to Babylonian epics that parallel Noah, our flood myth. We’ll look at the role the goddess Tiamat plays in those parallel stories, and see how our Torah echoes those traditions, using the word “t’hom,” a word similar to “Tiamat,” to designate the deep primordial waters that wash over the earth.
We’ll also read an essay in the Women’s Commentary by Dr. Carol Ochs, who posits that the sin God is punishing humanity for with the flood has to do with our misuse of language. Ochs notes that Noah himself is silent for the entire story until he curses his youngest son Ham. This curse comes after they leave the ark and Ham discovers Noah drunk and exposed. After God has created the world and blessed that creation with language, perhaps the flaw in human beings is our tendency to use speech in destructive ways. This theme of the power of language continues with the story of the Tower of Babel.
As I write this on a rainy Thursday, I am looking forward to retelling the story of the rain coming down for forty day-sies day-sies (but hoping that the rain stops here sooner than that!)
Shabbat Shalom!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Holy Scrollers Previe - Parashat Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot
Scrollers Preview
Parashat Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
October 15, 2011
Moadim L’Simcha! (happy intermediate days of Sukkot) and Shabbat Shalom:
I hope you’ll join us for our potluck and Sukkot service tonight (potluck at 6:30pm, service at 7:30pm). Sadly, we’ll be eating inside, as it is just too darn wet out there. But hopefully we’ll have a chance to wave the lulav in the sukkah and celebrate Shabbat morning services in the sukkah tomorrow (10:30am).
So – to the Torah portion!
On the Shabbat during the intermediate day of Sukkot (Chol HaMoed), we read Exodus 33:12-34:26. This Parasha occurs after the Israelites are caught and punished for worshiping the Golden Calf. Moses pleads with God to forgive the people and to continue going in the lead through the wilderness. He also asks God to make God’s self known to Moses.
God instructs Moses to carve a second set of stone tablets and to “meet” God at the top of Mount Sinai. There, God passes before Moses and proclaims the Thirteen Attributes “Adonai Adonai, a God compassionate and gracious, etc.” This list of attributes of God is chanted during the High Holy Day and festival services as we take out the Torah scroll.
The Parasha ends with God recommitting to the covenant and declaring some additional commandments. Most of these rules are about how the Israelites should cut down the idolatrous worship places in the Land and how God will drive out the inhabitants. There is also a listing of the Israelite festivals, perhaps to emphasize what constitutes legitimate rituals and worship for the Israelites, lest they be tempted to turn again to idolatry.
We will spend some time with this section of Torah and also turn to the Haftarah for the Shabbat of Chol HaMoed Sukkot. The haftarah, from Ezekiel, is apocalyptic, as is the haftarah for the first day of Sukkot from the book of Zechariah. They both are visions of a war at the end of days in which God wreaks havoc on God’s enemies. This raises the question of why Sukkot would be the time to read texts about apocalyptic battles, and how the Ezekiel piece is related to the Torah portion.
Looking forward to studying with you,
Rabbi G.
Parashat Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
October 15, 2011
Moadim L’Simcha! (happy intermediate days of Sukkot) and Shabbat Shalom:
I hope you’ll join us for our potluck and Sukkot service tonight (potluck at 6:30pm, service at 7:30pm). Sadly, we’ll be eating inside, as it is just too darn wet out there. But hopefully we’ll have a chance to wave the lulav in the sukkah and celebrate Shabbat morning services in the sukkah tomorrow (10:30am).
So – to the Torah portion!
On the Shabbat during the intermediate day of Sukkot (Chol HaMoed), we read Exodus 33:12-34:26. This Parasha occurs after the Israelites are caught and punished for worshiping the Golden Calf. Moses pleads with God to forgive the people and to continue going in the lead through the wilderness. He also asks God to make God’s self known to Moses.
God instructs Moses to carve a second set of stone tablets and to “meet” God at the top of Mount Sinai. There, God passes before Moses and proclaims the Thirteen Attributes “Adonai Adonai, a God compassionate and gracious, etc.” This list of attributes of God is chanted during the High Holy Day and festival services as we take out the Torah scroll.
The Parasha ends with God recommitting to the covenant and declaring some additional commandments. Most of these rules are about how the Israelites should cut down the idolatrous worship places in the Land and how God will drive out the inhabitants. There is also a listing of the Israelite festivals, perhaps to emphasize what constitutes legitimate rituals and worship for the Israelites, lest they be tempted to turn again to idolatry.
We will spend some time with this section of Torah and also turn to the Haftarah for the Shabbat of Chol HaMoed Sukkot. The haftarah, from Ezekiel, is apocalyptic, as is the haftarah for the first day of Sukkot from the book of Zechariah. They both are visions of a war at the end of days in which God wreaks havoc on God’s enemies. This raises the question of why Sukkot would be the time to read texts about apocalyptic battles, and how the Ezekiel piece is related to the Torah portion.
Looking forward to studying with you,
Rabbi G.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech 9/24/11
In this week’s double parashah, God concludes the covenant with the Israelites, and we move into the epilogue of the Book of Deuteronomy and of the entire Torah. We make the transition from the story of the Israelites to prophecies and preparation for what will occur after this stage in our story has concluded.
In Nitzavim, we learn that all of Israel, even the strangers tagging along, and even those who have not yet been born, are included in this Brit. God reminds the people of what we learned last week, that if they do not follow the covenant, terrible curses will afflict them. There is an interesting focus on what an individual Israelite might be thinking in his or her heart – what happens to the person who is secretly harboring thoughts disloyal to God and the Brit. The last verse of Chapter 28 is particularly puzzling, “concealed acts concern the Lord our God; but with overt acts, it is for us and our children ever to apply all the provisions of this Teaching.” We’ll look at some commentaries on this verse and the tension between concealed and revealed thoughts and actions.
In Vayelech especially, we see God figuring out how to deal with a major transition. When the people cross over the Jordan, they will move from having direct experience of God in the wilderness to needing to uphold the covenant in the Land without having had that direct experience. The solution comes in the form of texts and teaching: every year on Sukkot, the whole community must gather to hear the entire book of Deuteronomy read in public. In addition to this, God has Moses write down a poem that will serve as a witness against the people if they misbehave.
The JPS commentary points out that the Brit-concluding ceremony in Nitzavim requires full participation of every segment of the community: men and women, children, strangers, and all kinds of laborers. Later, in Vayelech, with the requirement to read Deuteronomy every year on Sukkot, we also see this emphasis on full participation of every segment of the community. Full participation seems to be a critical element to continuity of the Teaching and the Brit as well.
I’ll be curious to hear from you if you think that the written word, spoken in public in front of every element of the community is powerful enough to replace direct experience.
In fact, God predicts that these tools won’t be powerful enough. Before Moses dies, and as the leadership is being passed on to Joshua, God tells Moses what will happen in the future – the people will stray, and they will suffer exile. However, there is also a distinct theme of “teshuva.” Eventually the people will turn back to God and will be restored to the Land. A perfect theme for the Shabbat prior to Rosh Hashana.
Looking forward to our discussion!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Goldenberg
In Nitzavim, we learn that all of Israel, even the strangers tagging along, and even those who have not yet been born, are included in this Brit. God reminds the people of what we learned last week, that if they do not follow the covenant, terrible curses will afflict them. There is an interesting focus on what an individual Israelite might be thinking in his or her heart – what happens to the person who is secretly harboring thoughts disloyal to God and the Brit. The last verse of Chapter 28 is particularly puzzling, “concealed acts concern the Lord our God; but with overt acts, it is for us and our children ever to apply all the provisions of this Teaching.” We’ll look at some commentaries on this verse and the tension between concealed and revealed thoughts and actions.
In Vayelech especially, we see God figuring out how to deal with a major transition. When the people cross over the Jordan, they will move from having direct experience of God in the wilderness to needing to uphold the covenant in the Land without having had that direct experience. The solution comes in the form of texts and teaching: every year on Sukkot, the whole community must gather to hear the entire book of Deuteronomy read in public. In addition to this, God has Moses write down a poem that will serve as a witness against the people if they misbehave.
The JPS commentary points out that the Brit-concluding ceremony in Nitzavim requires full participation of every segment of the community: men and women, children, strangers, and all kinds of laborers. Later, in Vayelech, with the requirement to read Deuteronomy every year on Sukkot, we also see this emphasis on full participation of every segment of the community. Full participation seems to be a critical element to continuity of the Teaching and the Brit as well.
I’ll be curious to hear from you if you think that the written word, spoken in public in front of every element of the community is powerful enough to replace direct experience.
In fact, God predicts that these tools won’t be powerful enough. Before Moses dies, and as the leadership is being passed on to Joshua, God tells Moses what will happen in the future – the people will stray, and they will suffer exile. However, there is also a distinct theme of “teshuva.” Eventually the people will turn back to God and will be restored to the Land. A perfect theme for the Shabbat prior to Rosh Hashana.
Looking forward to our discussion!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Goldenberg
Friday, July 22, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Mattot
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Parashat Mattot
7/23/2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
As we near the end of the Book of Numbers, we receive some additional laws, Moses receives his last task from God, and we begin to focus on the settlement of the Promised Land. The three main sections of the Parasha are:
1.) Laws regarding vows – Specifically, we learn about who is responsible for the vows or oaths of a woman, depending on her personal status (living in her father’s house, married, divorced, widowed.) A vow or oath is a powerful use of words, made binding by the use of God’s name.
2.) God asks one last thing of Moses before his death – to go to war against the Midianites. This war is meant to redress past wrongs, specifically the Midianites’ seduction of the Israelite men in last week’s parashah. Balaam reappears here as the mastermind behind that mass-seduction. Moses is unhappy when the Israelite armies only kill the men and not the women. So he sends them back to slay all male children and all women who have known men carnally.
3.) The tribes of Reuben and Gad claim the land on the East side of the Jordan as their inheritance and want to settle it because it is good cattle country. Moses is not happy; he is concerned that they won’t help the Israelites conquer the land. A compromise is reached in which the Reubenite and Gadite men will serve as “shock-troops” and will conquer the land before returning to their lands on the East side of the river.
This year, with a nudge from some Scrollers, I thought I’d look at the Women’s Torah Commentary on this Parasha, especially on the sections about vows and the war against the Midianites. On the vows section, we’ll look at how the rabbis of the Talmud limited the kinds of vows that husbands could annul on behalf of their wives. We’ll also look at how two later Biblical stories (Jepthah’s daughter, and Saul’s son) shed light on the power of vows.
An essay in the Women’s commentary asks the following question - Given how the Torah treats the vows of women and men differently, what impact might this have on a woman speaking up about her needs or acting independently? What status do the yearnings and dreams of women have?
Some additional questions we’ll explore include:
What role do vows play in your life? Do you make vows?
What meaning does the Kol Nidre prayer hold for you? (Kol Nidrei is the prayer we chant on the eve of Yom Kippur, in which we pray that any vows we utter in the coming year which we fail to uphold will be annulled.)
Parashat Mattot
7/23/2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
As we near the end of the Book of Numbers, we receive some additional laws, Moses receives his last task from God, and we begin to focus on the settlement of the Promised Land. The three main sections of the Parasha are:
1.) Laws regarding vows – Specifically, we learn about who is responsible for the vows or oaths of a woman, depending on her personal status (living in her father’s house, married, divorced, widowed.) A vow or oath is a powerful use of words, made binding by the use of God’s name.
2.) God asks one last thing of Moses before his death – to go to war against the Midianites. This war is meant to redress past wrongs, specifically the Midianites’ seduction of the Israelite men in last week’s parashah. Balaam reappears here as the mastermind behind that mass-seduction. Moses is unhappy when the Israelite armies only kill the men and not the women. So he sends them back to slay all male children and all women who have known men carnally.
3.) The tribes of Reuben and Gad claim the land on the East side of the Jordan as their inheritance and want to settle it because it is good cattle country. Moses is not happy; he is concerned that they won’t help the Israelites conquer the land. A compromise is reached in which the Reubenite and Gadite men will serve as “shock-troops” and will conquer the land before returning to their lands on the East side of the river.
This year, with a nudge from some Scrollers, I thought I’d look at the Women’s Torah Commentary on this Parasha, especially on the sections about vows and the war against the Midianites. On the vows section, we’ll look at how the rabbis of the Talmud limited the kinds of vows that husbands could annul on behalf of their wives. We’ll also look at how two later Biblical stories (Jepthah’s daughter, and Saul’s son) shed light on the power of vows.
An essay in the Women’s commentary asks the following question - Given how the Torah treats the vows of women and men differently, what impact might this have on a woman speaking up about her needs or acting independently? What status do the yearnings and dreams of women have?
Some additional questions we’ll explore include:
What role do vows play in your life? Do you make vows?
What meaning does the Kol Nidre prayer hold for you? (Kol Nidrei is the prayer we chant on the eve of Yom Kippur, in which we pray that any vows we utter in the coming year which we fail to uphold will be annulled.)
Friday, July 15, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Pinchas 7/16/11
Scrollers Preview
Parashat Pinchas
7/6/11
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
The episode which made Pinchas famous actually takes place at the end of last week’s Torah portion. In that Parasha, Pinchas stabs an Israelite man and a Midianite woman as they are about to have sexual relations as part of idolatrous worship of the Moabite/Midianite god, Ba’al. Just prior to this incident, God had instructed Moses to impale all of the ringleaders involved with an outbreak of idolatrous whoring with Moabite/Midianite women. (The terms “Moabite” and “Midianite,” while referring to two different nations, seem to be interchangeable in this Torah portion. It may be related to the Moabites having conquered the Midianites at some point.)
Our Parasha opens with God making a pact with Pinchas that involves him and his descendants inheriting the priesthood for all time. God seems to be rewarding Pinchas for his “impassioned action for his God.” The word in Hebrew translated here as passion is “kin’ah.”
The next chapter of the Parasha involves yet another census, this one taken after the forty years of wandering are over. None of those counted except for Joshua and Caleb had been part of the original generation that left Egypt. After the census, God explains how the land is going to be apportioned to each tribe. What follows is the interesting case of the daughters of Zelopechad, who do not have any male relatives who might receive their deceased father’s portion of land. God creates a new law, saying that when there is no male relative, the land can be transferred to daughters. We learn later that the daughters must marry within their clan so that the land will stay in the clan.
At the end of this section about land apportionment, Moses asks God to identify a successor for him, and we have a simple but moving scene in which Moses lays his hands upon Joshua and commissions him to lead the people into the Land.
The last two chapters of this Parasha deal with daily sacrifices and festival sacrifices.
The two themes that stand out for me this year are that of passion and continuity. The impassioned Pinchas will take over the high priesthood from Aaron, who died in a previous Parasha. Joshua, who is described as having a unique “ruach,” or spirit, takes over for Moses.
We see both of these themes in the haftarah as well. The haftarah, about Elijah the prophet, also uses this term “kin’a” to describe Elijah’s passionate devotion to God. He too slaughters idol worshippers – in his case, prophets of Baal. Elijah flees and finds himself in the depths of despair. God appears to him and empowers him to continue as a prophet and to take on a successor – Elisha. Passion and continuity: Elijah, the impassioned prophet, rediscovers his passion upon finding a person to carry out his work.
Many questions this week…
What is the Torah telling us about the connection between passion and leadership? How does God view that connection? What is the “shadow” side of passionate leadership, and are there healthy ways to direct/redirect passion? What role does or should passion play in a community’s search or in God’s search for succession in leadership?
Parashat Pinchas
7/6/11
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
The episode which made Pinchas famous actually takes place at the end of last week’s Torah portion. In that Parasha, Pinchas stabs an Israelite man and a Midianite woman as they are about to have sexual relations as part of idolatrous worship of the Moabite/Midianite god, Ba’al. Just prior to this incident, God had instructed Moses to impale all of the ringleaders involved with an outbreak of idolatrous whoring with Moabite/Midianite women. (The terms “Moabite” and “Midianite,” while referring to two different nations, seem to be interchangeable in this Torah portion. It may be related to the Moabites having conquered the Midianites at some point.)
Our Parasha opens with God making a pact with Pinchas that involves him and his descendants inheriting the priesthood for all time. God seems to be rewarding Pinchas for his “impassioned action for his God.” The word in Hebrew translated here as passion is “kin’ah.”
The next chapter of the Parasha involves yet another census, this one taken after the forty years of wandering are over. None of those counted except for Joshua and Caleb had been part of the original generation that left Egypt. After the census, God explains how the land is going to be apportioned to each tribe. What follows is the interesting case of the daughters of Zelopechad, who do not have any male relatives who might receive their deceased father’s portion of land. God creates a new law, saying that when there is no male relative, the land can be transferred to daughters. We learn later that the daughters must marry within their clan so that the land will stay in the clan.
At the end of this section about land apportionment, Moses asks God to identify a successor for him, and we have a simple but moving scene in which Moses lays his hands upon Joshua and commissions him to lead the people into the Land.
The last two chapters of this Parasha deal with daily sacrifices and festival sacrifices.
The two themes that stand out for me this year are that of passion and continuity. The impassioned Pinchas will take over the high priesthood from Aaron, who died in a previous Parasha. Joshua, who is described as having a unique “ruach,” or spirit, takes over for Moses.
We see both of these themes in the haftarah as well. The haftarah, about Elijah the prophet, also uses this term “kin’a” to describe Elijah’s passionate devotion to God. He too slaughters idol worshippers – in his case, prophets of Baal. Elijah flees and finds himself in the depths of despair. God appears to him and empowers him to continue as a prophet and to take on a successor – Elisha. Passion and continuity: Elijah, the impassioned prophet, rediscovers his passion upon finding a person to carry out his work.
Many questions this week…
What is the Torah telling us about the connection between passion and leadership? How does God view that connection? What is the “shadow” side of passionate leadership, and are there healthy ways to direct/redirect passion? What role does or should passion play in a community’s search or in God’s search for succession in leadership?
Friday, July 1, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Chukat 7/2/11
Holy Scrollers Preview
Parashat Chukat
July 2, 2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Shabbat Shalom everyone! It’s nice to be back teaching Scrollers this week. Thanks to David and Rick for your facilitation these past few weeks, and thanks to everyone for welcoming visiting students from my summer Introduction to Judaism class.
Themes of life and death permeate this week’s Parasha. It opens with the laws regarding the red heifer (or perfect brown heifer, according to the Etz Hayim commentary,) the ashes of which are mixed with water to purify anyone who has come into contact with a corpse. We’ll see in this section the paradox of purity and impurity, as these ashes can at the same time purify the impure and render impure the pure!
Next, Miriam dies, and immediately we learn that the community is without water. This leads to the story of Moses striking the rock to get water for the eternally kvetchy Israelites. As a result of this incident, Moses and Aaron are barred from entering the Promised Land. Before this Parasha is over, Aaron dies on Mount Hor.
The end of the Parasha is framed by a series of military engagements, which the Israelites win, and we read about their travels South of the land of Israel, from one battle to the next. During this section, the people are without water again, and they rebel not only against Moses, but against God as well. God sends serpents to bite and kill many Israelites, until Moses is able to create what seems like a fetish to ward off this plague.
Eventually, the Israelites finally come across a well. This time, in order to get water, all the people have to do is sing, and it springs up. Somehow, after all of these experiences of death, of Aaron and of Miriam, of their fellow Israelites in the plague of the serpents, the living waters are again accessible.
My question is, why? Why at this point in the story are the Israelites finally able to access life-giving water so easily? When we are surrounded by death and hopelessness, what is it that sustains us? What helps us to tap into the cool water beneath the dry surface?
Parashat Chukat
July 2, 2011
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Shabbat Shalom everyone! It’s nice to be back teaching Scrollers this week. Thanks to David and Rick for your facilitation these past few weeks, and thanks to everyone for welcoming visiting students from my summer Introduction to Judaism class.
Themes of life and death permeate this week’s Parasha. It opens with the laws regarding the red heifer (or perfect brown heifer, according to the Etz Hayim commentary,) the ashes of which are mixed with water to purify anyone who has come into contact with a corpse. We’ll see in this section the paradox of purity and impurity, as these ashes can at the same time purify the impure and render impure the pure!
Next, Miriam dies, and immediately we learn that the community is without water. This leads to the story of Moses striking the rock to get water for the eternally kvetchy Israelites. As a result of this incident, Moses and Aaron are barred from entering the Promised Land. Before this Parasha is over, Aaron dies on Mount Hor.
The end of the Parasha is framed by a series of military engagements, which the Israelites win, and we read about their travels South of the land of Israel, from one battle to the next. During this section, the people are without water again, and they rebel not only against Moses, but against God as well. God sends serpents to bite and kill many Israelites, until Moses is able to create what seems like a fetish to ward off this plague.
Eventually, the Israelites finally come across a well. This time, in order to get water, all the people have to do is sing, and it springs up. Somehow, after all of these experiences of death, of Aaron and of Miriam, of their fellow Israelites in the plague of the serpents, the living waters are again accessible.
My question is, why? Why at this point in the story are the Israelites finally able to access life-giving water so easily? When we are surrounded by death and hopelessness, what is it that sustains us? What helps us to tap into the cool water beneath the dry surface?
Friday, June 3, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Naso
Holy Scrollers Preview
Parashat Naso
Numbers 4:21 – 7:89
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Shabbat Shalom everyone! Before sharing my Torah preview with you, I want to remind you that the festival of Shavuot is coming (Tuesday night June 7th through Wednesday June 8th) encourage you to come to our Erev Shavuot services and study session (also called a “Tikkun”. See information below:
Erev Shavuot service and Tikkun Leil Shavuot study session
Tuesday June 7th
Service at 7pm, Tikkun 8:30-10pm
On Erev Shavuot, the festival which celebrates the giving of the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai, we will begin with a special evening service with moments of extended contemplation on the themes of the prayers. This approach opens up the meaning of the traditional prayers and allows us to connect to them in new ways. We will hear the 10 Commandments read from the Torah, and through a Bibliodrama experience we’ll have a chance to imagine what it might have been like to be at Sinai.
At 8:30pm we will reconvene for an experiential study session led by Rabbi Goldenberg, Belinda Brennan and Peg Palmer (after noshing on delicious dairy treats). According to a Chasidic tradition, the only sound that the Israelites heard at Mount Sinai was the sound of the letter “Alef,” which is the first letter of the first word of the Ten Commandments. Through text study, meditation and chant we will try to find our own answers to the question, “What is the sound of the letter ‘Alef’?”
Please feel free to join us for all or part of the evening.
Shavuot morning service with Yizkor will take place Wednesday June 8th at 8AM.
Now for our preview:
The first half of Parashat Naso contains mostly legal material, concerning “circumstances when one’s place in the community is in question because of unusal behavior” (Etz Hayyim commentary). Categories include the person who has taken a Nazirite vow and the “sotah,” who is a woman who is suspected by her husband of having committed adultery. The “sotah” is required to undergo a ritual ordeal in order to exonerate her or punish her. The second half of the portion deals with gifts that the chiefs of each tribe brought to the Tabernacle on the occasion of its dedication.
We will focus most of our time on these categories of the “sotah,” the woman suspected of adultery by her husband, and the “nazir,” who has taken a vow to abstain from wine or other grape products. We’ll look at some articles on this parasha included in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. One article by Judith Hauptman gives us an overview of how later generations, rabbis in the time of the Mishnah and the Talmud, interpreted and dealt with the “sotah.” Hauptman also gives examples from Jewish history of actual women who took Nazirite vows.
The other is an essay written by a friend of mine, Lisa Grushcow, on how the Talmudic rabbis’ treatment of the “sotah” can give us insight into their view of change, and how their view of change differs from ours today.
I look forward to exploring our questions as they arise!
Parashat Naso
Numbers 4:21 – 7:89
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Shabbat Shalom everyone! Before sharing my Torah preview with you, I want to remind you that the festival of Shavuot is coming (Tuesday night June 7th through Wednesday June 8th) encourage you to come to our Erev Shavuot services and study session (also called a “Tikkun”. See information below:
Erev Shavuot service and Tikkun Leil Shavuot study session
Tuesday June 7th
Service at 7pm, Tikkun 8:30-10pm
On Erev Shavuot, the festival which celebrates the giving of the 10 Commandments on Mount Sinai, we will begin with a special evening service with moments of extended contemplation on the themes of the prayers. This approach opens up the meaning of the traditional prayers and allows us to connect to them in new ways. We will hear the 10 Commandments read from the Torah, and through a Bibliodrama experience we’ll have a chance to imagine what it might have been like to be at Sinai.
At 8:30pm we will reconvene for an experiential study session led by Rabbi Goldenberg, Belinda Brennan and Peg Palmer (after noshing on delicious dairy treats). According to a Chasidic tradition, the only sound that the Israelites heard at Mount Sinai was the sound of the letter “Alef,” which is the first letter of the first word of the Ten Commandments. Through text study, meditation and chant we will try to find our own answers to the question, “What is the sound of the letter ‘Alef’?”
Please feel free to join us for all or part of the evening.
Shavuot morning service with Yizkor will take place Wednesday June 8th at 8AM.
Now for our preview:
The first half of Parashat Naso contains mostly legal material, concerning “circumstances when one’s place in the community is in question because of unusal behavior” (Etz Hayyim commentary). Categories include the person who has taken a Nazirite vow and the “sotah,” who is a woman who is suspected by her husband of having committed adultery. The “sotah” is required to undergo a ritual ordeal in order to exonerate her or punish her. The second half of the portion deals with gifts that the chiefs of each tribe brought to the Tabernacle on the occasion of its dedication.
We will focus most of our time on these categories of the “sotah,” the woman suspected of adultery by her husband, and the “nazir,” who has taken a vow to abstain from wine or other grape products. We’ll look at some articles on this parasha included in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. One article by Judith Hauptman gives us an overview of how later generations, rabbis in the time of the Mishnah and the Talmud, interpreted and dealt with the “sotah.” Hauptman also gives examples from Jewish history of actual women who took Nazirite vows.
The other is an essay written by a friend of mine, Lisa Grushcow, on how the Talmudic rabbis’ treatment of the “sotah” can give us insight into their view of change, and how their view of change differs from ours today.
I look forward to exploring our questions as they arise!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Bamidbar 5/28/11
Scrollers Preview
Parashat Bamidbar
5/28/11
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
The modern commentator, Hirsch, contrasts this book of Bamidbar (Numbers) with the previous book of Vayikra (Leviticus) when he writes that Bamidbar contrasts, “the people of Israel as it actually is” to “the ideal to which it was summoned in Va-yikra.”
This week we begin a new book, and I think that Hirsch got it right. This book of Bamidbar is gritty and harsh. It takes us down from the heights of the vision of an ideal priestly society outlined in Leviticus to the muddy, messy, earthly realm of these Israelites who are forever kvetching and rebelling and misbehaving.
This Parasha opens with what we usually call a census, but which really is a military draft. It continues with the layout of the Israelite camp like an army encamped troop by troop around the Tabernacle. Then we have a section that focuses mostly on the Levites and its clans and their duties. At the end of chapter 3, we learn that the Levites stand in for all of the first-born of the Israelites to serve God. The Parasha ends with instructions to the priests and Levites on how to break down the Tabernacle and transport it when they are on the march.
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner and the playwright David Mamet collaborated on a book of short essays related to each Torah portion. Mamet’s essay caught my attention this week. He sees a motif in our Parasha of child or infant sacrifice, in the form of the draft. Here is Mamet’s response to our Parasha, Bamidbar:
Much of the tropism to war must be infant sacrifice. The English and Germans—armies of the two most advanced and philosophic countries in the worlds of 1914 – convened across a trench to slaughter each other. Sixty thousand young men were sent to Vietnam to die in an action pointless and absurd unless its point was the very death of these young men. They died to assuage anxiety on the part of the elders themselves, in the world. Or, to put it differently, they died as a sacrifice to the sun god – a propitiation. The student opposition to the war was disproportionately Jewish – that is to say, Jews were less likely to embrace blindly the tropism to infant sacrifice. Can one trace the roots of that reluctance to the Akedah, and see the autonomic attempt at its reinstitution in this story of the draft? Does a nation require a draft as much for its psychic integrity as for its military purposes? Was the draft a proclamation of having as a nation succeeded to the status of Elder; and, so, of being prepared to sacrifice the young?
I’d like to discuss this Parasha in light of Mamet’s interpretation, first of all because it is a powerful commentary on the idea of a draft. I also see in this essay a kind of response to the idea of the redemption of the first-born and the “sacrifice” of the Levites to serve God. Looking forward to a lively discussion tomorrow!
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Goldenberg
Parashat Bamidbar
5/28/11
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
The modern commentator, Hirsch, contrasts this book of Bamidbar (Numbers) with the previous book of Vayikra (Leviticus) when he writes that Bamidbar contrasts, “the people of Israel as it actually is” to “the ideal to which it was summoned in Va-yikra.”
This week we begin a new book, and I think that Hirsch got it right. This book of Bamidbar is gritty and harsh. It takes us down from the heights of the vision of an ideal priestly society outlined in Leviticus to the muddy, messy, earthly realm of these Israelites who are forever kvetching and rebelling and misbehaving.
This Parasha opens with what we usually call a census, but which really is a military draft. It continues with the layout of the Israelite camp like an army encamped troop by troop around the Tabernacle. Then we have a section that focuses mostly on the Levites and its clans and their duties. At the end of chapter 3, we learn that the Levites stand in for all of the first-born of the Israelites to serve God. The Parasha ends with instructions to the priests and Levites on how to break down the Tabernacle and transport it when they are on the march.
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner and the playwright David Mamet collaborated on a book of short essays related to each Torah portion. Mamet’s essay caught my attention this week. He sees a motif in our Parasha of child or infant sacrifice, in the form of the draft. Here is Mamet’s response to our Parasha, Bamidbar:
Much of the tropism to war must be infant sacrifice. The English and Germans—armies of the two most advanced and philosophic countries in the worlds of 1914 – convened across a trench to slaughter each other. Sixty thousand young men were sent to Vietnam to die in an action pointless and absurd unless its point was the very death of these young men. They died to assuage anxiety on the part of the elders themselves, in the world. Or, to put it differently, they died as a sacrifice to the sun god – a propitiation. The student opposition to the war was disproportionately Jewish – that is to say, Jews were less likely to embrace blindly the tropism to infant sacrifice. Can one trace the roots of that reluctance to the Akedah, and see the autonomic attempt at its reinstitution in this story of the draft? Does a nation require a draft as much for its psychic integrity as for its military purposes? Was the draft a proclamation of having as a nation succeeded to the status of Elder; and, so, of being prepared to sacrifice the young?
I’d like to discuss this Parasha in light of Mamet’s interpretation, first of all because it is a powerful commentary on the idea of a draft. I also see in this essay a kind of response to the idea of the redemption of the first-born and the “sacrifice” of the Levites to serve God. Looking forward to a lively discussion tomorrow!
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Goldenberg
Friday, May 20, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat B'chukotai
Scrollers Preview
B’chukotai
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Parashat B’chukotai seals the book of Leviticus with blessings if we follow the commandments and curses if we don’t. This section of the Torah is called the “Tokhecha” or “Reproach” and is traditionally chanted in a quiet voice.
A key word in this section is that of “keri,” which is translated as “hostility.” God warns that if we are hostile to God and to the commandments, then God will be hostile to us, shutting up the skies from bringing rain, and bringing enemies to decimate us and exile us from the land. Apparently this word “keri” doesn’t appear anywhere else in the Bible.
The Etz Hayim commentary gives several possible interpretations of “keri”. One commentator, Hoffman, understands it as ‘“at cross purposes,’ doing the opposite of what God commands, in the way that adolescents will often do thte opposite of what they are told, to proclaim their autonomy. Rashi and Ibn Ezra relate it to the word for ‘chance,’ (mikreh), following God’s ways only when convenient. . . . Salanter relates it to “kor” (cold), so that it would mean ‘calculated, without passion.’ These curses will occur not only if the people Israel violate God’s laws but even if they obey them in a spirit that drains them of religious value. . . .”
This text seems to reflect a Deuteronomic theology. We see this theology of reward and punishment throughout the Book of Deuteronomy, and this kind of language pops up in other parts of Torah as well.
As we study tomorrow, we’ll explore whether this theology works for us today, and what it means to us to walk with God, or to be hostile to God. If we imagine that this text was written during the time of Josiah, just a century or so before the destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian exile, do we see it differently?
If there is time, I hope we’ll also read the Haftarah from Jeremiah, which probably comes from the same era as our Torah text (6th or 7th century B.C.E.) Here we have a similar prediction of blessing for those who follow God and curse for those who do not, but Jeremiah is expressing these themes in the form of prayer, such as the opening line, “O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a day of trouble, to You nations shall come from the ends of the earth and say: Our fathers inherited utter deliusions, things that are futile and worthless” (Jer. 16:19) And the closing line, “Heal me, O Lord, and let me be healed; Save me, and let me be saved; For You are my glory.” (Jer. 17:14)
B’chukotai
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Parashat B’chukotai seals the book of Leviticus with blessings if we follow the commandments and curses if we don’t. This section of the Torah is called the “Tokhecha” or “Reproach” and is traditionally chanted in a quiet voice.
A key word in this section is that of “keri,” which is translated as “hostility.” God warns that if we are hostile to God and to the commandments, then God will be hostile to us, shutting up the skies from bringing rain, and bringing enemies to decimate us and exile us from the land. Apparently this word “keri” doesn’t appear anywhere else in the Bible.
The Etz Hayim commentary gives several possible interpretations of “keri”. One commentator, Hoffman, understands it as ‘“at cross purposes,’ doing the opposite of what God commands, in the way that adolescents will often do thte opposite of what they are told, to proclaim their autonomy. Rashi and Ibn Ezra relate it to the word for ‘chance,’ (mikreh), following God’s ways only when convenient. . . . Salanter relates it to “kor” (cold), so that it would mean ‘calculated, without passion.’ These curses will occur not only if the people Israel violate God’s laws but even if they obey them in a spirit that drains them of religious value. . . .”
This text seems to reflect a Deuteronomic theology. We see this theology of reward and punishment throughout the Book of Deuteronomy, and this kind of language pops up in other parts of Torah as well.
As we study tomorrow, we’ll explore whether this theology works for us today, and what it means to us to walk with God, or to be hostile to God. If we imagine that this text was written during the time of Josiah, just a century or so before the destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian exile, do we see it differently?
If there is time, I hope we’ll also read the Haftarah from Jeremiah, which probably comes from the same era as our Torah text (6th or 7th century B.C.E.) Here we have a similar prediction of blessing for those who follow God and curse for those who do not, but Jeremiah is expressing these themes in the form of prayer, such as the opening line, “O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in a day of trouble, to You nations shall come from the ends of the earth and say: Our fathers inherited utter deliusions, things that are futile and worthless” (Jer. 16:19) And the closing line, “Heal me, O Lord, and let me be healed; Save me, and let me be saved; For You are my glory.” (Jer. 17:14)
Friday, May 6, 2011
Oops - we got ahead of ourselves!
Dear Friends-
How apropos that the text we studied last Shabbat dealt with the priests and the idea of perfection and imperfection! It turns out that for the past two weeks, we've been out of sync with the calendar of weekly Torah portions. I completely forgot that on the Shabbat during Pesach that we had a special Torah portion to read, and so we got ahead of ourselves by a week.
Not to worry! There are plenty of things to study. I thought that we would spend some time on the Haftarah from last week, which is a fascinating text from Ezekiel about the restoration of the priesthood after the destruction of the First Temple.
If there is time, we will also study some selections from Pirke Avot, a tractate of the Mishnah which is traditional to study during the days of the Counting of the Omer, between Passover and Shavuot. Pirke Avot is a collection of ethical teachings and sayings of the Rabbis of the Mishnah. There will be plenty to talk about!
Looking forward to studying together.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Goldenberg
How apropos that the text we studied last Shabbat dealt with the priests and the idea of perfection and imperfection! It turns out that for the past two weeks, we've been out of sync with the calendar of weekly Torah portions. I completely forgot that on the Shabbat during Pesach that we had a special Torah portion to read, and so we got ahead of ourselves by a week.
Not to worry! There are plenty of things to study. I thought that we would spend some time on the Haftarah from last week, which is a fascinating text from Ezekiel about the restoration of the priesthood after the destruction of the First Temple.
If there is time, we will also study some selections from Pirke Avot, a tractate of the Mishnah which is traditional to study during the days of the Counting of the Omer, between Passover and Shavuot. Pirke Avot is a collection of ethical teachings and sayings of the Rabbis of the Mishnah. There will be plenty to talk about!
Looking forward to studying together.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Goldenberg
Friday, April 29, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Emor 4/30/11
Holy Scrollers Preview
Parashat Emor: Leviticus Chapters 21-24
4/30/11
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
This Parasha basically brings to a close the priestly handbook theme of Leviticus, as the last two Parashot of the book will focus more on laws such as the sabbatical and the jubilee years – law related to land.
Leviticus Chapters 21-22 – Laws concerning the priests, specifically boundaries around contact with the dead, and who they may marry, and laws preventing priests with defects to offer sacrifices. Also includes laws regarding who may eat the sacrificial meat, and an injunction against offering animals with defects.
Chapter 23 – Here we have the calendar and rituals of major holidays, including Shabbat, the 3 Pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot,) and Shabbat.
Chapter 24 – Here we have some miscellaneous laws about lighting the menorah and the bread of display. And then we have the only narrative in this Parasha, the case of a fight between half-Israelite and an Israelite. The half-Israelite blasphemes God’s name, and Moses goes to God to find out what the punishment should be. It is the death penalty. All who heard the blasphemy are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole community stones him.
This Parasha gives us a picture of how a religious or a holy community functions. It sets standards and expectations for the religious leadership, as well as standards of scrupulousness on the part of Israelites participating in the sacrificial ritual. It sets the holiday calendar for the year, and it deals with how to handle blasphemy – someone who crosses the perhaps most important religious boundary – that of pronouncing the ineffable name of God.
One theme here is that of preserving a sense of wholeness or even perfection– neither the priest nor the animal he is sacrificing may have any physical defects. After all, the sacrifices are, in the word of this Parasha, God’s “lechem” or “bread,” and the priests are the ones who are bringing that food to God. We’ll explore what this standard of perfection means to us and why public religious leaders are held to this standard.
This Parasha offers what I would call “the way” to participate in the holy community of Israel. This “way” includes offerings to God and observing sacred times of year. This “way” is guarded and facilitated by priests who have to meet certain standards. Are these the ingredients we see as part of “the way” of holiness in our own lives? Do these standards of wholeness and perfection have any meaning for us today?
Parashat Emor: Leviticus Chapters 21-24
4/30/11
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
This Parasha basically brings to a close the priestly handbook theme of Leviticus, as the last two Parashot of the book will focus more on laws such as the sabbatical and the jubilee years – law related to land.
Leviticus Chapters 21-22 – Laws concerning the priests, specifically boundaries around contact with the dead, and who they may marry, and laws preventing priests with defects to offer sacrifices. Also includes laws regarding who may eat the sacrificial meat, and an injunction against offering animals with defects.
Chapter 23 – Here we have the calendar and rituals of major holidays, including Shabbat, the 3 Pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot,) and Shabbat.
Chapter 24 – Here we have some miscellaneous laws about lighting the menorah and the bread of display. And then we have the only narrative in this Parasha, the case of a fight between half-Israelite and an Israelite. The half-Israelite blasphemes God’s name, and Moses goes to God to find out what the punishment should be. It is the death penalty. All who heard the blasphemy are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole community stones him.
This Parasha gives us a picture of how a religious or a holy community functions. It sets standards and expectations for the religious leadership, as well as standards of scrupulousness on the part of Israelites participating in the sacrificial ritual. It sets the holiday calendar for the year, and it deals with how to handle blasphemy – someone who crosses the perhaps most important religious boundary – that of pronouncing the ineffable name of God.
One theme here is that of preserving a sense of wholeness or even perfection– neither the priest nor the animal he is sacrificing may have any physical defects. After all, the sacrifices are, in the word of this Parasha, God’s “lechem” or “bread,” and the priests are the ones who are bringing that food to God. We’ll explore what this standard of perfection means to us and why public religious leaders are held to this standard.
This Parasha offers what I would call “the way” to participate in the holy community of Israel. This “way” includes offerings to God and observing sacred times of year. This “way” is guarded and facilitated by priests who have to meet certain standards. Are these the ingredients we see as part of “the way” of holiness in our own lives? Do these standards of wholeness and perfection have any meaning for us today?
Friday, April 22, 2011
Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Kedoshim 4/22/11
Holy Scrollers Preview
Parashat Kedoshim
Lev. 19-20
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Because we do not have double Torah portions this year, this week we have the pleasure of delving into Parashat Kedoshim and spending some quality time with it. (On non leap years, we would be studying it together with last week’s Parasha, Acharei Mot.)
This Parasha is really uplifting and edifying for about the first chapter or so. We have laws that express the core Torah values of protecting the most vulnerable in our society. In chapter 19, we learn that to be a holy community, we need to feed the hungry and provide for the poor, refrain from placing stumbling blocks in the way of the disabled, and treat the elderly with respect.
And then we get to chapter 20. Here we learn that to be a holy community, we need to refrain from incest and adultery and other proscribed sexual acts. Violation of these sexual prohibitions results in the death penalty in most cases. In verse 13 we have the law prohibiting sexual relations between men. This prohibition first appeared in last week’s Parasha, but this week we discover the penalty, which is death.
The Etz Hayim commentary is quite helpful here, I think. Although we are a Reform congregation – not Conservative – the explanation still resonates: “Conservative Judaism tends to give the tradition the benefit of the doubt when it baffles us but does not morally offend us. When the tradition asks us to do something that does offend us morally, Conservative Judaism claims the right to challenge and, if necessary, change the tradition, not because we see our judgment as superior to that of the Torah but because our judgment has been shaped by the values of the Torah and we are in effect calling the Torah to judge itself.” (page 697 comment below the line on verse 19)
I would like to spend some time on this question of how we handle those parts of Torah that create moral conflict for us today. Do we agree that parts of the Torah can be used to critique other parts? How do modern secular values play into these judgment calls? Should they? Can we see modern secular values as rooted in Torah, or is this wishful thinking?
I would also like to look at the larger question of holiness and distinction. The words “kadosh,” “holy,” and “l’havdil,” “to set apart” come back again and again in this Parasha. We are to be holy, and God has set us apart from other peoples. Do we see ourselves as striving for holiness as individuals? As a community? Does this set us apart from other people?
Parashat Kedoshim
Lev. 19-20
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
Because we do not have double Torah portions this year, this week we have the pleasure of delving into Parashat Kedoshim and spending some quality time with it. (On non leap years, we would be studying it together with last week’s Parasha, Acharei Mot.)
This Parasha is really uplifting and edifying for about the first chapter or so. We have laws that express the core Torah values of protecting the most vulnerable in our society. In chapter 19, we learn that to be a holy community, we need to feed the hungry and provide for the poor, refrain from placing stumbling blocks in the way of the disabled, and treat the elderly with respect.
And then we get to chapter 20. Here we learn that to be a holy community, we need to refrain from incest and adultery and other proscribed sexual acts. Violation of these sexual prohibitions results in the death penalty in most cases. In verse 13 we have the law prohibiting sexual relations between men. This prohibition first appeared in last week’s Parasha, but this week we discover the penalty, which is death.
The Etz Hayim commentary is quite helpful here, I think. Although we are a Reform congregation – not Conservative – the explanation still resonates: “Conservative Judaism tends to give the tradition the benefit of the doubt when it baffles us but does not morally offend us. When the tradition asks us to do something that does offend us morally, Conservative Judaism claims the right to challenge and, if necessary, change the tradition, not because we see our judgment as superior to that of the Torah but because our judgment has been shaped by the values of the Torah and we are in effect calling the Torah to judge itself.” (page 697 comment below the line on verse 19)
I would like to spend some time on this question of how we handle those parts of Torah that create moral conflict for us today. Do we agree that parts of the Torah can be used to critique other parts? How do modern secular values play into these judgment calls? Should they? Can we see modern secular values as rooted in Torah, or is this wishful thinking?
I would also like to look at the larger question of holiness and distinction. The words “kadosh,” “holy,” and “l’havdil,” “to set apart” come back again and again in this Parasha. We are to be holy, and God has set us apart from other peoples. Do we see ourselves as striving for holiness as individuals? As a community? Does this set us apart from other people?
Friday, April 15, 2011
Scrollers Preview for 4/15/11 Acharei Mot
Holy Scrollers Preview
Aharei Mot
Leviticus 16-18
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
This week’s Torah portion takes us back to the last piece of narrative we had in the Book of Leviticus, when, on the day of initiating the sacrificial system, Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu are consumed by God’s fire for bringing a sacrifice that hadn’t been requested. The name of the Parashah “Acharei Mot,” means “after the deaths of. . .” referring to Nadav and Avihu.
This event provides the context for what follows -- instructions for the purification and expiation of the Mishkan and of the People on Yom Kippur; laws regarding proper slaughter and consumption of meat; and laws prohibiting certain sexual relations, including incest.
I’d like to spend most of our time with the first section and explore what we think the difference might be between cleansing and purging the Mishkan of “tum’ah,” or impurity and the ridding of the Israelite people of “avon,” “pesha” and “chet,” which are all variations on the idea of sin. Ritual impurity is cleansed with the blood of sacrificial animals. There is cleansing on behalf of Aaron and his household as well as on behalf of the people. But then there is this additional ritual of the goat of Azazel, where one goat is sacrificed, and the other, after the sins of the people have been confessed over it, is let loose in the wilderness. Why do we need both of these rituals?
We’ll also study the sections of the Mishnah (Oral Law) which expound on the ritual of Yom Kippur, especially the goat of Azazel.
It’s interesting to be focusing on Yom Kippur in the middle of April as we prepare for Passover (This parasha is almost exactly 6 months before and 6 months after Yom Kippur.) Perhaps we’ll gain some insight into this juxtaposition as well.
Shabbat Shalom!
Aharei Mot
Leviticus 16-18
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg
This week’s Torah portion takes us back to the last piece of narrative we had in the Book of Leviticus, when, on the day of initiating the sacrificial system, Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu are consumed by God’s fire for bringing a sacrifice that hadn’t been requested. The name of the Parashah “Acharei Mot,” means “after the deaths of. . .” referring to Nadav and Avihu.
This event provides the context for what follows -- instructions for the purification and expiation of the Mishkan and of the People on Yom Kippur; laws regarding proper slaughter and consumption of meat; and laws prohibiting certain sexual relations, including incest.
I’d like to spend most of our time with the first section and explore what we think the difference might be between cleansing and purging the Mishkan of “tum’ah,” or impurity and the ridding of the Israelite people of “avon,” “pesha” and “chet,” which are all variations on the idea of sin. Ritual impurity is cleansed with the blood of sacrificial animals. There is cleansing on behalf of Aaron and his household as well as on behalf of the people. But then there is this additional ritual of the goat of Azazel, where one goat is sacrificed, and the other, after the sins of the people have been confessed over it, is let loose in the wilderness. Why do we need both of these rituals?
We’ll also study the sections of the Mishnah (Oral Law) which expound on the ritual of Yom Kippur, especially the goat of Azazel.
It’s interesting to be focusing on Yom Kippur in the middle of April as we prepare for Passover (This parasha is almost exactly 6 months before and 6 months after Yom Kippur.) Perhaps we’ll gain some insight into this juxtaposition as well.
Shabbat Shalom!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Scrollers Preview for 4/9/11 Parashat Metzora - Herb Ross
This week's portion deals with procedures for the re-entry of a "metzorah" (impure person) into the community.
Rabbinic commentary concentrates on the idea of moral stigma: the result of gossip, slander, jealousy, malice etc. and its consequences, in order to draw lessons from the text about transgression and redemption.
Are such interpretations flirting with the idea of "blaming the victim?" I don't think the text really takes us there. Yet at one point, we read that such afflictions would be Divinely imposed.
To the "original" listeners or readers, could the presence of scaling skin eruptions, penile or vaginal discharges, the appearance of something on clothing or the walls of houses have meant to be just what was described, threatening to the individual or to the community?
Did they see God as the exclusive source of all good and evil in their lives?
The portion deals with the community's responsibility, expressed through the function of the priest to identify, deal with, and see to the re-incorporation of the afflicted into the fold. They trusted his performance of the rituals as described to "redeem" the individual and to insure safe re-incorporation.
Was there not a "public health" aspect to his duty?
The afflicted individual's role is passive here, except to provide the material for the ceremony. Think of how much has changed with regard to his/her role since then.
Who performs analogous functions now? Society has assumed the priestly role with respect to protecting society while seeking to provide for the afflicted.
I am hoping for vigorous debate as well as dissent on Saturday. See you then. Herb
Rabbinic commentary concentrates on the idea of moral stigma: the result of gossip, slander, jealousy, malice etc. and its consequences, in order to draw lessons from the text about transgression and redemption.
Are such interpretations flirting with the idea of "blaming the victim?" I don't think the text really takes us there. Yet at one point, we read that such afflictions would be Divinely imposed.
To the "original" listeners or readers, could the presence of scaling skin eruptions, penile or vaginal discharges, the appearance of something on clothing or the walls of houses have meant to be just what was described, threatening to the individual or to the community?
Did they see God as the exclusive source of all good and evil in their lives?
The portion deals with the community's responsibility, expressed through the function of the priest to identify, deal with, and see to the re-incorporation of the afflicted into the fold. They trusted his performance of the rituals as described to "redeem" the individual and to insure safe re-incorporation.
Was there not a "public health" aspect to his duty?
The afflicted individual's role is passive here, except to provide the material for the ceremony. Think of how much has changed with regard to his/her role since then.
Who performs analogous functions now? Society has assumed the priestly role with respect to protecting society while seeking to provide for the afflicted.
I am hoping for vigorous debate as well as dissent on Saturday. See you then. Herb
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Parashat Shemini: Leviticus 9-11
This week’s Parasha can be neatly divided into two sections. The first tells of the initiation of sacrifice in the Mishkan by Aaron and his sons. The second lists the types of animals that are permitted and forbidden for Israelites to eat. We will focus on the first section this week.
In the first section, Aaron offers his very first sacrifices, and everything works beautifully. At the end of Chapter 9, The Presence of God appears to the people, and fire comes forth from before God and consumes the sacrifices on the altar.
But then, in Chapter 10, everything goes wrong. Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Abihu, offer “alien” or “strange” fire to God. Fire again comes forth from before God, but this time it consumes these two men and kills them. Many explanations have been offered by our commentators as to why these two men are killed. Were they drunk? Were they too ambitious? Were they too pious? Did they simply get too close? We will explore these ideas and yours during our discussion. Furthermore, we’ll ask, what is this episode meant to teach us about God and the act of coming close?
There’s more to this story though. Towards the end of Chapter 10 Moses and Aaron have an argument about the fact that Aaron and his sons had refrained from eating their portions for the purification offering. They are required to eat these portions, however they refrain from doing so because they are in mourning. This raises questions about what role takes precedence, the role as a public figure and priest and the role as a grieving father.
Looking forward to discussing all of the above and more, I’m sure, on Saturday morning!
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