Mindful Torah...and more

I'd like to apologize for posting my commentary on this week's parashah for last Shabbat.  I guess I was celebrating Purim a little early by turning everything around! Since I already did write on Parshat Tetzaveh , I thought I would share a few mindfulness musings on the fact that this Shabbat is also Shabbat Zakhor , the special Shabbat just before the holiday of Purim, which starts on Saturday at sundown.  On this Shabbat we read a special maftir (final portion read from the Torah) which commands us " Zakhor /Remember what Amalek did to us...."  Read on for more explanantion. Shabbat Shalom, Steven Deuteronomy 25: 17 – 19 “ Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, as you came out from Egypt.  How, he fell upon you on the way and cut off all the weak ones at your rear, when you were exhausted and tired, and he didn’t fear God.  So it shall be, when YHWH, your God, will give you rest from all your enemies all around in the land that YHWH, yo...

This week’s parashah is Tetzaveh ( Shemot /Exodus 27:20-30:10). The parashah begins with God commanding Moses “And as for you, you shall instruct the Israelites to bring you pure olive oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling the Eternal Lamp (v. 20).” At first glance it does not appear that there is anything unusual or extraordinary about this verse. God is simply giving Moses another instruction concerning the Mishkan (Tabernacle), just as God instructed him in the last parashah on how he was to build it. However, it is precisely because God’s instructions to Moses had been at the center of the preceding narrative that commentators have questioned why the verse begins "and as for you, you shall command" rather than simply "command" or "you shall command." After all, “and as for you” would seem to imply that the previous verses had been addressed or referred to someone else. In her exploration of this strange wording Aviva Zornberg points ou...

This week's parashah (portion) is Yitro ( Shemot /Exodus 18:1-20:23). It begins with the return of Yitro /Jethro, described in the text as "Moses' father-in-law" and not as Zipporah's father). He comes to Moses with his wife Zipporah and their sons. Upon arriving, the two men embrace. But we read of no reunion between Moses and Zipporah. Later, after Yitro advises Moses on how to better govern the people by choosing able and honest men to help him, the people arrive at Mount Sinai and prepare to receive the word of God. Then, in one of the Torah's most dramatic of moments, God speaks the Ten Commandments (literally, the 'ten utterances') from the mountain. But before God speaks to the people, God instructs Moses on how the people must prepare themselves for revelation: And God said to Moses, “Go to the people and warn them to stay pure today and tomorrow. Let them wash their clothes. Let them be ready for the thir...