Mindful Torah...and more

This week's parasha /portion is Balak ( Be ' midbar /Numbers 22:2-25:9).  In this narrative, Balak king of Midian, hires the magician Bilaam to curse the Israelites. However, no matter how hard he might try, he may only utter words of praise provided him by God. On his way to Balak, Bilaam encounters a fiery angel on the path. However, Bilaam does not see the angel. Only his donkey, who stops in his tracks and refuses to move, sees it. Finally, after Bilaam begins to beat the donkey in order to get him to move, the donkey miraculously begins to speak. To paraphrase, he says "you've known me all these years! Doesn't the fact that I stopped dead in my tracks tell you that something is wrong? Open your eyes!" In reading this section, the old adage "never assume" came to mind. And so, this midrashic poem on the parashah.  I did publish this poem last year on the blog.  However, I have edited and refined it further and so I wanted to sh

This  week's parashah, Hukkat  (Bemidbar/Numbers 19:122:1),  begins with the description of the ritual slaughter of the red heifer by Eleazar the priest. The ashes of the heifer are then to be mixed together with water, hyssop, crimson thread and other ingredients in order to make a solution that will be used to purify those who have becometamei/ritually impure (for lack of a better translation) through contact with a corpse. Following the description of the ritual slaughter of the red heifer, we read of the death of Miriam the prophet, sister of Moses and Aaron. Immediately following her death the people cry out to Moses that they have no water to drink This passage is most likely the origin of the ancient rabbinic legend of Miriam’s Well, that sustained the people through their years in the desert and dried up following Miriam’s death. As the people cry out to the bereaved Moses and Aaron for water, God instructs them to speak to a rock in order to bring forth

Dear online kehillah (community), I have not been sending out my psalm commentaries this week at first because of time issues and then computer issues. I will try to send at least one out this week in addition to my Torah commentary. The truth is that much of June and July are going to be quite hectic. I will do my best to keep up with the weekly parashah (Torah portion) and eventually finish up the daily psalm commentaries, but not on as regular basis as usual. On another note, I am scheduling Shabbat and weekend teaching opportunities for 5771 (aka 2010-2011).   If you would like to bring me to your community as a scholar in-residence please be in touch - or pass along my information to the people who make those decisions in your community. I hope you are all enjoying your summer so far. B'shalom, Steven

הסירותי מסבל שכמו כפיו מדוד תעברנה I removed the burden from his shoulder; his hands were freed from the jug. Why do the earlier verses in the psalm tell us to rejoice ?  We are not really told.  This verse provides one possible answer.  We are commanded to rejoice because God has freed him from slavery.  But who is the "him" to which the verse refers?  Most translations use the plural "they" instead.  But I want to stick with the original Hebrew In looking at the preceding verse, perhaps this verse refers to Joseph.   God has released Joseph from being burdened and God has freed his hands from the jug.  But what does this mean?  Joseph had not been enslaved for years! Perhaps, the burden that was removed from Joseph was the burden of his ego.  We know from the narrative in Genesis that Joseph was indeed an egotistical young man, thanks in part to his father's preferential treatment. After everything that Joseph went following being sold into slavery by his

ויאמרו לא יראה־יה ולא־יבין אלהי יעקב They said, " Yah (God) shall not see and the God of Jacob ( elohai Yaakov )shall not understand." In my commentary on verse 5,  I wrote of how the forces of  the ego (the "they" of which the psalmist writes, in my interpretation) tries to destroy the pieces within us that are seen as "weak" or "vulnerable." These are the compassionate, merciful caring parts of us. In verse 6, the psalmist begins by writing that Yah יה (God) will not understand. Yah is an ancient name for God which some believe is simply the sound of breath. It is also the first two letters of the tetragrammaton , the four letter name of God י–ה–ו–ה pronounced by some as Yahweh or simply adonai (my Lord) . According to a midrash (rabbinic legend or commentary) in Shemot Rabbah (a collection of rabbinic tales  on the biblical book of Exodus) this four letter name represents God's qualities of compassion and mercy. Therefo

This week's portion/ parashah is Shelah-Lekha ( Be'midbar /Numbers 13:1-15:41). In this parashah , Moses, at God's command, chooses one leader from each of the twelve tribes to serve as spies.  Their mission is to enter the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, and bring back a report to the people.  "See what kind of country it is.....investigate its cities, people, soil, and forests and] bring back some of the fruit of the land,” they are told.  They do bring back grapes and other fruits, but ten of the twelve spies also bring back a report that, though the land is flowing "with milk and honey," it is filled with large fortified cities, "giants," and other dangerous inhabitants.  Only two of the spies, Yehoashua /Joshua and Calev /Caleb, bring back a positive report and remind the people that God is with them, and so they can overcome any obstacle or enemy.  Unfortunately, the people are carried away by the negative report of the majority

אלמנה וגר יהרגו ויתומים ירצחו׃ They shall kill the widow and the stranger; they shall murder the orphans.   The ego can not only crush and oppress the soul, as I wrote in last week's commentary (May 26), but left unchecked the ego has the power to truly destroy.  When we let our ego take over and believe that the self is the center of existence, that I am all that I need, then our spirit can easily be annihilated.  But we can also destroy others.   Those with egos that are out of control can prey on those who are most vulnerable, represented in this verse by the widow, the stranger and the orphans.  However, the ego can also destroy the vulnerable pieces within us as well. Throughout the Hebrew Bible we are commanded to care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger.  In Biblical language, the stranger is not simply someone unknown to us.  Rather, the stranger is most often someone from a different nation who has come to dwell within the Israelite camp.  Even though they are tec