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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!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
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.
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