Scrollers Preview - Parashat Bamidbar

Scrollers Preview Bamidbar May 26, 2012 Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg In the Women’s Torah Commentary, Rachel Havrelock writes about Bamidbar: Although the scrupulous detail of this parasha and other parts of the book may not immediately grip the reader, the underlying idea is that the ordering of the community – and by extension, one’s life – creates the space for encounters with the Divine. The power of this book emerges from the image of the encampment’s concentric rectangles radiating inward to a core of supreme holiness. In this geometry of moving from the periphery to the center, the tribes encamp around the Levites, who encircle the high priestly family, who surround the Tabernacle’s curtained walls that enclose the court that buffers the Holy of Holies. This symmetry –constructed on the ground as well as in prose – is a collective act of ordering chaos that emulates the creation of the world in Genesis 1:1-2:4. In her introductory essay, Havrelok notes tension throughout the book of Numbers “between order and chaos, culture and nature, obedience and rebellion.” In this opening parasha of Numbers, the military census and the instructions for how the tribes will encamp around the Tabernacle set up an expectation of order, containment and symmetry. But the book is full of Israelites getting out of hand and overstepping boundaries. This tension leads me to ask – is it true that boundaries and order create the space for meeting the Divine, as Havrelock posits? Can we meet God in the chaos? What role does the Divine have in the rebellions themselves? What is the message of all of this order when the rest of the book is all about people overthrowing that order? We will also read the Hosea passage chosen for the Haftarah this week. This passage represents the paradigmatic use of the metaphor of God and Israel as husband and wife. And of course, the wife oversteps the bounds of the marriage and whores with other men (gods.) Here too, there is order and chaos. Looking forward to wrestling with the text with you tomorrow morning! Shabbat Shalom, Rachel

Parashat B'har-B'chukotai

Holy Scrollers Preview Parashat B’har- B’chukotai Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg We conclude the book of Leviticus this week with a double parasha. The first parasha, B’har, lays out the laws concerning the sabbatical and the jubilee year – periods where we are commanded to let the land lie fallow. It also includes laws about how to treat a kinsman who is “in straits,” providing a kind of social safety net for those who fall on hard times. One theme that permeates this parasha is that of “security.” We are assured that if we follow these laws, we will dwell securely in the land. What does it really mean to have a sense of security, and what does leaving the land fallow have to do with it? Where does security actually come from – defensive walls? Strong armies? Owning land? The parasha seems to provide a counterintuitive answer to this question: “ . . . for the land is Mine; you are but strangers resident with Me” (25:23). The second parasha, B’chukotai, lays out a vision of destruction and horror – the curses that would befall the Israelites if they did not adhere to the covenant and follow the laws. These curses seem to be specifically linked to the laws of the sabbatical and jubilee. If we disobey those laws, then God throws us off the land so that the land can recover the lost years of sabbatical that we did not provide for it. The principles that are meant to keep us secure (letting the land lie fallow, creating a safety net for the community) are thrown upside down in these curses – the land will not give its fruit, we will be exiled from the land, and our community will be dispersed. Again – what is the Torah telling us about where true security lies?