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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!
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Scrollers Preview - Parashat Va-eira
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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!
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!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Scrollers preview for 1/14/12 - Parashat Shemot
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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?
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?
Friday, January 6, 2012
Scrollers preview for 1/7/12 - Parashat Vayechi
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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?
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?
Friday, December 30, 2011
Scrollers Preview - Parashat Vayigash
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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.
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 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?
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