Holy Scrollers

Scrollers Preview - Parashat Ki Tissa

2012-03-09T13:09:00.001-05:00

Scrollers Preview
Parashat Ki Tissa
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

Only a few weeks ago, at the foot of Mount Sinai, the Israelites entered into a covenant with God, a marriage of sorts. God delivered the ketubah (wedding contract) to Moses in the form of two stone tablets, inscribed on both sides with the terms of the covenant. This is how we will affirm and re-affirm our love, our devotion to God – by keeping the terms of this covenant. A couple of lines down on the first side of the first tablet, we find the prohibition against worshipping any concrete image.

This week’s Torah portion opens with God completing the inscription on the tablets. Moses is about to descend the mountain, in his hands, the two “stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God.” The Hebrew verb used for God’s “finishing” of this inscription is “kalloto.” The Midrash connects this word to the Hebrew word for “his bride,” or “kallato,” suggesting that the tablets represent the solemnizing of the marriage between God and the Israelites, represented by Moses.

In that moment of completion, God tells Moses to hurry down, because the people have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: “This is your god, O Israel. . .” It didn’t take long for the people to go from wedding to betrayal.

As we know, Moses sees the pagan celebration at the foot of the mountain, and he smashes the tablets. He also sends the Levites among the people to slay thousands of people. Then he makes his way back up the mountain, hoping to “win forgiveness” for the Israelites’ sin. God does not forgive everyone. God sends a plague to kill those who are guilty of the idol worship, but God does not wipe everyone out. God then declares that God will no longer walk in the midst of the people.

As I read the parasha this year, what amazed me most is that Moses manages to persuade God to change God’s mind and to continue to walk with the people. My question for all of us this week is, why?

Scrollers preview for 3/3/12 - Parashat Tetzaveh

2012-03-02T11:23:00.001-05:00

Scrollers Preview
Parashat Tetzaveh
March 3, 2012
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

This week in Parashat Tetzaveh, we continue with the instructions for creating a sacred space among the Israelites for God’s Presence to dwell. Last week we received the instructions for the Mishkan, or Tabernacle. This week, the institution of the priesthood is created, and we receive the instructions for their garments.

The scholar Nahum Sarna writes in the JPS commentary, “Just as sacred space must be differentiated from profance space, so the occupants of the sacred office must be distinguishable from the laity. Hence, special attire, the insignia of office, is ordained for Aaron, the archetypal High Priest, and for his sons, the priests of lower rank.” As we read this section about the priestly vestments, we will not only dive into many details of colors of wool and linen, hems and fringes. We will also come across words such as “l’chavod u’l’tif’aret,” “for dignity and beauty.” We will learn that the High Priest carries the names of the tribes, inscribed on stones, on his shoulders and over his heart, “l’zikaron,” “for remembrance.” The Torah spends so much time on these outfits for a reason – the vestments transform the regular people of Aaron and his sons into walking symbols.

There is a wonderful book read by many rabbinical students these days called The Rabbi as Symbolic Exemplar: By the Power Vested in Me, by Rabbi Jack Bloom (from Connecticut, by the way!) In this book, Bloom examines how the symbolic role that serves as the source of the rabbi’s authority and power can lead to disillusionment and disenchantment. It details how symbolic exemplarhood is created, what its downside is, what power it offers, how it can be used effectively, how rabbis and other clergy can deal with their inner lives, and what can be done to help them stay “human” while maintaining their leadership.

I recently spoke with Lizz Goldstein, a rabbinical student who grew up at CBSRZ. She interviewed me about this notion of the rabbi as “symbolic examplar.” It was fascinating for me to reflect on how the symbolic power of my role can be used effectively and how it can sometimes get in the way of folks relating to me as “human.” Is this what God intended for the priests? What are the upsides and downsides for the priests of being these walking symbols, and what are the upsides and downsides for the people? Do we need to have symbolic exemplars, whether priests of rabbis? Is it possible to create a sacred community without leaders with “power vested in them”?

On this Shabbat that anticipates Purim, I look forward to investigating the power of the costumed professional!

Scrollers Preview - Parashat Mishpatim

2012-02-17T10:10:00.001-05:00

Holy Scrollers Preview
Parashat Mishpatim
February 18, 2012
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

This week’s Parashah, Mishpatim, contains the laws of what has come to be known as the “Book of the Covenant.” Last week the people stood at the foot of Mount Sinai and directly experienced God’s powerful presence. They heard God pronounce a set of broad commandments of ethics and ritual. But the covenant doesn’t stop with broad statements and values as given in the Ten Commandments. The covenant isn’t concluded until this week, when God gives specific laws that govern people’s daily domestic, mundane lives. Not only do we receive a “Constitution” that sets out the core values of the society God expects us to create, but we also receive case law, and in the coming weeks and months, we’ll receive laws pertaining to the priests.

In Parashat Mishpatim we receive laws governing our daily lives, such as:“When a fire is started and spreads to thorns, so that stacked, standing or growing grain is consumed, the one who started the fire must make restitution.” (Exodus 22:5) And: “If you see the ass of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless help raise it.” (Exodus 23:5)

The Etz Hayyim commentary quotes Moshe Greenberg who wrote, “Outside of Israel, you would have to go to three different addresses to get the material. . . in Mishpatim. The Torah combines law (as in the Code of Hammurabi), cultic instructions (as from a priestly manual,) and moral exhortation (as found in wisdom literature). This is the only Near Eastern literature in which an amalgam of these three interests is found: law, cult and wisdom.”

The Torah is unique in that all of these kinds of instructions are found in one place, and all of these instructions are part of a covenant with the Divine.

• What might this teach us about our unique brand of Israelite (or Jewish) spirituality? What does it mean to us that laws pertaining to the details of everyday human existence have a Divine source?

The Torah also stands out in contrast to the Code of Hammurabi and other Mespotamian documents in that the rules are set before the entire community. According to the Women’s Torah Commentary, “the Laws of Hammurabi stipulate that only the aggrieved party could have the laws read to him; in Mesopotamian society, public knowledge of the law was not assumed.”

Our Torah portion concludes with a very public ceremony in which the whole Book of the Covenant is read to the people. Then Moses conducts a sacrificial covenant ritual involving dashing blood on an altar and then dashing blood on the people. The covenant is transparent – its terms are known to all, and it includes everyone.

• How might this be experienced by a people who have just been freed from slavery, where rules were probably arbitrary and arbitrarily enforced? How does this system set up a different kind of power structure between the people and God versus the kind of power dynamic you might have in other Mesopotamian cultures?

Scrollers preview for 2/11/12 - Parashat Yitro

2012-02-10T14:17:00.000-05:00

Scrollers Preview
Parashat Yitro
February 11, 2012
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

This week the Israelites accept God’s offer to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” in exchange for following God’s laws.

According to the Etz Hayyim commentary, Parashat Yitro can be seen as, “ ‘the hinge of the Torah,’ containing the pivotal event in the history of the Israelite people and indeed of all humanity. Through the revelation at Sinai, Israel is transformed from a band of freed slaves to a nation covenanted to God. A Rabbinic tradition (from the Midrash Sifrei Deuteronomy) has it that God created the world so that Israel would emerge as a model nation and all humanity would learn from their example. . . . Had Israel not accepted the Torah, the universe would have ceased to exist.”

According to this commentary, all of Torah – all of history, even - was leading us to this moment, the revelation at Sinai, and the rest of Torah and history flows from this moment. If so, how do we see our lives in light of the revelation at Sinai and the covenantal promise between God and our People? Do we feel connected to that moment? Do we believe that we were there? Do we get glimpses of revelation in our own lives today?

Scrollers Preview - Parashat B'shalach

2012-02-03T12:20:00.000-05:00

Holy Scrollers Preview
Parashat B’shalach/Shabbat Shirah (the Shabbat of song)
Exodus 13:17-17:16
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

This week’s Torah portion contains three sections. First, we have the climactic event of the splitting of the Sea of Reeds and the Israelites’ redemption. Following the narrative account of this dramatic moment, we have Shirat Ha-Yam (Song of the Sea), a poem that recounts the same events but from a different perspective and using a very different form and language. The parasha then turns to a very important topic for our people – perhaps even an obsession – food! In this section the Israelites complain and worry about the lack of food and water, and God provides manna, quail and sweet water.

This year what stood out to me in that first section were two things – first, that God takes the Israelites on a round-about path – the long way, rather than the short way. And, that the sea doesn’t really split in the dramatic amazing “whoosh!” that I have always had in my imagination. Rather, it takes all night long for the wind to blow the sea into two parts. Even during this last stage of redemption, the Israelites have to wander and wait.

In the poetic section of Shirat Ha-yam, I appreciated the Etz Hayyim commentary which, paraphrasing a Midrash, points out “From the day that God created the world until this moment, no one had sung praises to God – not Adam after having been created, not Abraham after being delivered from the fiery furnace, not Isaac when he was spared the knife, or Jacob when he escaped from wrestling with an angel and from Esau. But when Israel came to the sea and it parted for them, “Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord.” And God said, “for this I have been waiting.”

And for the last section about food, I enjoyed an essay by Rachel Havrelock in the Women’s Commentary. She asks, “Why are the people so hungry?” Her answer is that “Hunger is indicative of exile; and Israel is not sated until it finds a home.”

All of these observations and commentaries seem to point to a theme of delayed gratification. What are we to learn from our story in which freedom, satisfaction, and expressions of gratitude and joy are continually delayed? What might this theme have to teach us about faith?

Scrollers Preview - Parashat Bo

2012-01-27T14:03:00.001-05:00

Scrollers Preview
Parashat Bo
January 28, 2012
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

This week, the drama of the Exodus continues, as God strikes Egypt with the last three plagues – locusts, darkness and the killing of the first-born. As I read the parasha I had a few observations that may be connected.

First - The Women’s Torah Commentary points out that the word “plague” in Hebrew, which is “nega,” is only used to describe the plagues of hail and the killing of the first born. This may be because those events each took human life. It is interesting to note that what we call the other “plagues” are referred to in Torah as “signs” and “marvels.”

Second – when Moses and Aaron leave Pharaoh’s presence before the last plague, Pharaoh tells them, “Take care not to see me gain, for the moment you look upon my face you shall die.” I thought this was an interesting parallel to Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush, when he is afraid to look at God, lest he die.

Lastly– the Hebrew root “SHaMaR” appears 7 times in Chapter 12. This root carries the meaning of watching over or protecting. The Hebrews are told to watch over the paschal lamb for 2 weeks before sacrificing it; they are instructed to watch over the matzah; and the night when God passes over the Israelites homes and strikes Egypt with the final plague is called a “vigil” or “miSHMeRet.”

I think these observations are connected to our conversation last week about God’s power, Pharaoh’s delusions about his own power, and the Israelites’ difficulty in acknowledging God’s power to save them. The plagues are more than just plagues – one set of them are signs and marvels meant to persuade both the Israelites and Pharaoh of God’s power over the land of Egypt and over Pharaoh. Pharaoh continues to address Moses and Aaron as if he believes that he is a god – they cannot look at his face again and live. And yet, they will look at his face again, after the final plague, when Pharaoh finally lets the people go. Finally, the Israelites’ experience of being watched over and protected gives them the faith to finally listen and go.

I look forward to hearing your reflections on these and your own observations.

On another note, we will also explore the theological problem of God’s slaying of innocent Egyptian children. We’ll discuss a very good essay from the Women’s commentary which addresses this problem.

Shabbat Shalom!

Scrollers Preview - Parashat Va-eira

2012-01-20T10:47:00.001-05:00

Scrollers Preview
Parashat Va-eira
January 21, 2012
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

This week the plagues begin. As we read of the first seven plagues that come in this parasha, we’ll see they come in groups of three, in a symmetrical pattern. The first two in each group are always preceded by a warning, and the third comes without warning. Each time Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, and he does not let the Israelite people go. After the fourth plague of “Arov” (swarms of insects of wild beasts – we are not sure) Pharaoh almost relents, allowing the Israelites to make a sacrifice to God within the land of Egypt; and then to leave the land, but not to go very far. But once the plague ceases, Pharaoh becomes stubborn again. After the seventh plague of hail Pharaoh even admits, “I stand guilty this time. The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. . . I will let you go; you need stay no longer.” But once the hail ceases, Pharaoh’s heart stiffens again, and he doesn’t let them go.

Here we have yet another opportunity to explore the interplay between human action and Divine will.
Commenting on the phenomenon of Pharaoh’s “hardening of heart,” Moshe Greenberg writes:

“Although ‘hardening of the heart’ seems deterministic, events flow naturally from the ambitions and conflicts of a human being, Pharaoh, who is seized with the delusion of self-sufficiency. While events unfold under the providence of God, their unfolding is always according to the motives of the human beings through which God’s will is done without their realizing it . . . Pharaoh conducted himself in conformity with his own motives and his own Godless view of his status. God made it so, but Pharaoh had only to be himself to do God’s will.”

For Greenberg, God’s will flows through human action, in harmony with the interests and motives of the human beings through which God works.

In contrast to Greenberg, A.J. Heschel writes that “Those in whom viciousness becomes second nature, those in whom brutality is linked with haughtiness, forfeit their ability and therefore their right” to the gift of free will. Heschel seems to be saying that once a person has become accustomed to acting inhumanely, that person no longer has a will of his or her own. If I understand him correctly, a person whose ego is linked with viciousness and inhumanity is truly God-less. That person has become his or her own god, and therefore has lost the true Divine gift of free will.

In reading the parasha and trying to understand the relationship between Pharaoh and God, these thinkers each bring a different take on God and evil. I look forward to wrestling with this question with you on Shabbat!

Scrollers preview for 1/14/12 - Parashat Shemot

2012-01-13T10:59:00.001-05:00

Scrollers Preview
Parashat Shemot
1/14/2012
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

In his introduction to the book of Exodus, in the Etz Hayyim commentary, Nahum Sarna echoes the question we have been asking in Scrollers these last couple of weeks about why the Torah doesn’t describe what happened during the 400 year period in Egypt. Sarna writes: “Details relating to the period of oppression are sparse; there is not mention of the inner life and communal existence of the people. This limitation suggests a high degree of selectivity, and the intent of the selective focus is didactic. In Exodus, God is the sole actor, the initiator of events. The various episodes project Israelite concepts of God and His relations to the world.”
I wonder if the use of this number, “400” is an exaggeration of the number “40” that we see throughout the Torah. It means we were there for a very very very very long time.
But this isn’t the point, according to Sarna. For him, the book of Exodus has a “selective focus” on the role of God in history and the life of our people. For him, God is the “sole actor, the initiator of events.”
Do we agree with Sarna? As we watch God related to humans in this book, can we see any continuity with Genesis’ depiction of the divine-human relationship? In Genesis we have lots of human action and initiative – Sarah kicks Ishmael out of the camp to insure Isaac’s inheritance of the covenant. Rebekah sends Jacob in to fool his father into giving him the blessing of the first born. Human beings play a part in moving God’s plan forward.
How about in the book of Exodus? Do we agree with Sarna that God is the “sole actor, the initiator of events?” When Moses slays the taskmaster who is beating a Hebrew slave, the commentary points out that Moses takes action before God does. And throughout our parasha, women – from the Hebrew midwives to Moses’ mother, to his sister Miriam, to Pharaoh’s daughter – take plenty of initiative. They take enormous risks. Where is God in their actions? Do human being move God to act?

Scrollers preview for 1/7/12 - Parashat Vayechi

2012-01-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

Scrollers Preview

Parashat Vayechi

January 7, 2012

Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg

“Vayechi” means “he lived.” Interesting title for a parasha mostly about death and burial! But this is also a parasha about blessing the next generation.

As we wrap up the book of Genesis, Jacob is on his deathbed, and we have two scenes of blessing, one as he blesses his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh, and the other as he blesses of each of his sons. Jacob recalls where the ancestors are buried, in the Cave of Machpelah, and he instructs his sons to bury him there. Earlier, he also recounts to Joseph how he buried his wife Rachel on the road to Bethlehem. At the end of the parasha, Joseph dies, and the last words of the book of Genesis are that “he was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt.”

As we finish reading this book, it is as if we are attending a funeral, or multiple funerals. Every single dead ancestor is mentioned, up to and including Joseph. What is the Torah trying to tell us here? What is the impact on the reader of recounting all of these deaths and burials and burial plots at the end of Genesis? What and who is really dying here?

Next week as we begin the book of Exodus, we will no longer tell the story of individual ancestors and their families; we will begin the story of a nation. What needs to be buried in order to begin this new phase? What will be the continuous thread? How will the blessings manifest themselves in the future?

Scrollers Preview - Parashat Vayigash

2011-12-30T13:37:00.002-05:00

Scrollers Preview
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.

Scrollers Preview for 12/24/11 - Parashat Miketz

2011-12-23T16:21:00.001-05:00

Holy Scrollers Preview
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?

Scrollers Preview for 11/26/11 - Parashat Toldot

2011-11-23T17:17:00.001-05:00

Scrollers Preview
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?

Scrollers Preview for 10/29/11 - Parashat Noach

2011-10-27T11:15:00.001-04:00

Scrollers Preview
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!

Holy Scrollers Previe - Parashat Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot

2011-10-14T14:57:00.001-04:00

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.

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech 9/24/11

2011-09-22T10:58:00.000-04:00

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

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Mattot

2011-07-22T11:44:00.001-04:00

Scrollers Preview
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.)

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Pinchas 7/16/11

2011-07-15T15:09:00.000-04:00

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?

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Chukat 7/2/11

2011-07-01T13:37:00.001-04:00

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?

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Naso

2011-06-03T13:07:00.001-04:00

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!

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Bamidbar 5/28/11

2011-05-27T10:06:00.001-04:00

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

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat B'chukotai

2011-05-20T14:16:00.001-04:00

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)

Oops - we got ahead of ourselves!

2011-05-06T14:27:00.000-04:00

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

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Emor 4/30/11

2011-04-29T12:08:00.001-04:00

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?

Holy Scrollers Preview - Parashat Kedoshim 4/22/11

2011-04-22T10:15:00.000-04:00

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?

Scrollers Preview for 4/15/11 Acharei Mot

2011-04-15T11:39:00.000-04:00

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!

Scrollers Preview for 4/9/11 Parashat Metzora - Herb Ross

2011-04-07T14:58:00.001-04:00

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

Parashat Shemini: Leviticus 9-11

2011-03-29T14:16:00.000-04:00

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!