Mindful Torah: Toldot: On Being a Jewish Man

-
I hope those of you in the USA are enjoying their Thanksgiving holiday.  As this is a holiday weekend, I am publishing a previously published post from two years ago.  However, it is also in keeping with much of what I have been thinkin about recently, especially having led a men's Shabbaton (Shabbat retreat) in Boston two weeks ago.  I hope you find it meaningful.

Shabbat Shalom.

Mindful Torah: Toldot: On Being a Jewish Man: This week’s parashah /portion is Toledot (Bereshit/Genesis 25:19 – 28:9). It begins with the phrase “these are the generations of Isaac, so...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Commentary on Parshat Tzav

-
This week's torah portion is Tzav ( Vayikra /Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36). In it the detailed descriptions of the various sacrifices to be offered continues. I would like to focus on one particular sacrifice and what we might learn from it today. The final sacrifice mentioned in the parashah is the zevakh shelamim . This is usually translated as the "peace offering" or "good-will offering.” The word shelamim comes from the same root as shalom /peace and shalem /whole. One contemporary understanding of this sacrifice is as an offering of greeting. According to Baruch Levine and other scholars, it was a meal shared between the priests, the people who brought the offering and God. In other words, through sharing a sacred meal there was a connection being made between the people, the priests and the Divine. Not only was this a meal of greeting, but the sharing of the sacrificial animal could also bring a sense of peace and wholeness that was a direct result ...
Read more

Torah Commentary for Ha'azinu and Shabbat Shuva

-
It seems that every year Ha'azinu ( Devarim /Deuteronomy 32:1-52)is a parashah that I have skipped over in my Torah commentaries. I find this fascinating, as it is such a rich portion. However, this year, as with most years, it falls on Shabbat Shuvah (the Sabbath of Return), which falls between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So here I sit, in the midst of  teshuvah /repentance, as well as leading a number of services,  trying to think about what this parashah means. I am trying my best to be mindful and in the moment, yet I find myself drawn into the future ...a week from now ... when Yom Kippur begins.  Such is life in this moment. So I will make a brief commentary, which actually makes for a nice change of pace! The parashah consists of Moses's final speech to the people before he is to die. It is written as a poem, and begins: 1 Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; Let the earth hear the words I utter! 2 May my discourse come down as the rain...
Read more

Psalm for Friday: Psalm 93, Verse 5

-
Your witnessing is truly affirmed; holiness befits your house, God, for all times. The conclusion of this brief, but joyous, psalm reminds us of the nature of holiness and godliness in our world. It is God that witnesses the beauty, glory and complexity of existence.  We can affirm this completely because it is through us that God witnesses the nature of existence.  We are the eyes of God.  We, One with the Divine, have the eyes to see the world in all its splendor because we are living and acting in eat day after day. If we pay attention, we can  see the splendor around us, even beneath the mire that sometimes appears to be the reality. What we witness when we look at the world with our souls, the godliness within us, is the holiness that exists within everything.  This holiness fills the world, which is God's house. When we see the world in this way we also connect with the holiness within ourselves. The great 18th century hassidic rebbe, Nachman of Bra...
Read more

Psalm for Thursday: Psalm 81, vs. 3

-
Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. After the violent and difficult verse from yesterday's psalm, today's is a pleasant sight! This is clearly a psalm of joy.  It has always amazed me how many words there are for joy or celebrate in Hebrew, as well as in English and other languages.  Many of these words are found in the psalms and other biblical texts.  But today's verse is not simply about the need to celebrate, but intructions are given.  And these tell us that the Levites had quit an orchestra  all those years ago.  For they were the ones who would sing the psalms as part of the rituals that included animal sacrifices as well as other sacrifices and offerings to God.  And so, just as animals were being slaughtered and burned and blood was being sprinkled on the altar, so too the Levites were singing and playing their instruments.  Both song and sacrifice were part of the effort to praise and thank God in this ...
Read more