Mindful Torah...and more

This week's Torah parasha /portion is Terumah ( Shemot /Exodus 25:1 - 27:19).   In it , God begins instructing Moshe on how to construct the Mikdash (Tabernacle) , or portable des ert sanctuary .   A key concept can be found in the beginning of the parashah when God says to Moshe, "And let them make Me a sanctuary/holy place that I may dwell among them" (25:8).   The Hebrew word for "I may dwell" is the single word v'shakhanti .   The root of this word is the same as for the word Mishkan , the other name used in the Torah for the Tabernacle.  It appears from this verse that the Mikdash / Mishkan is to be built so that God can dwell in the presence of the people.   Yet isn't God to be found everywhere?   Nahum Sarna, in the JPS Torah commentary, points out that the verb sh-kh-n connotes a temporary, nomadic dwelling, not a permanent home.   In other words, as we find later in the Torah, God dwells periodically in the Mikdash / Mishkan .   ...

 Note:  I apologize for not being consistent with my psalm commentaries, I will try to improve on this.  In the meantime, we are still looking at the traditional Psalm for Wednesday.  I hope you find this meaningful.  spn   לְהַשְׁקִ֣יט   לֹ֖ו   מִ֣ימֵי   רָ֑ע   עַ֤ד   יִכָּרֶ֖ה   לָרָשָׁ֣ע   שָֽׁחַת [verse 12 - Happy is the one who is chastened by God, and those whom You teach from Your Torah,...] ... may you grant them quiet from the days of adversity [or bad days] until a pit is dug for the wicked. I have included verse 12 in this translation because in English it really forms the first half of the verse.  In my blog commentary on verse 12 (Dec.21, 2011) I write about the connecting the concept of  chastisement with learning a life lesson. I also related it to how mindfulness practice can teach us as well. However,  I can't help but notice that, read as one long verse, it expresses the ...

This week we read the double portion/ parashah of Aharei Mot-Kedoshim ( Vayikra /Leviticus 16:1-20). These two portions contain numerous mitzvot / commandments, some of which make sense to us today, some which don't, and some which are totally antithetical to what we view as righteousness and justice. This includes the "holiness code" in chapter 19 which includes the commandment "you shall be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy" as well as "you shall love your fellow human being as yourself."  This section is viewed by our tradition as the center of the Torah.  Indeed, it is actually located almost at the center of the scroll itself.                                               Though some of the prohibitions in the parashah...

This week we read the double parashah/portion of Tazria-Metzora (Vayikra/Leviticus 12:1-15:33). The parashah introduces the various categories of tumah (ritual or spiritual “impurity”, for lack of a better word) emanating from human beings. The parashah describes in great detail the varying and numerous manifestations of the disease called tzara'at.  Although it has been commonly mistranslated as leprosy, this disease has little resemblance to any bodily ailment transmitted through normal exposure. Rather, tzara'at appears to be some kind of growth that can occur on a house or on clothing (like mold or fungus) or on a person's body. Tradition views the disease as being the physical manifestation of a spiritual malaise, a punishment from God primarily for the sin of speaking lashon hara (evil speech). Known as a metzora, someone afflicted by a tzaraat-like patch on their skin is subject to a series of examinations by a Kohen (high priest), who declares the patient...

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 of ...

This week's parashah /portion is tetzaveh ( Shemot / Exodus 27:20 – 30:10). In addition, this Shabbat , which falls just before the festival of Purim, is also called Shabbat Zakhor – the Sabbath of Remembrance. It takes its name from the special additional portion traditionally read from the Torah this week. This portion commands us " Zakhor /Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out from Egypt." Amalek has long been viewed as the archetypal eternal enemy of Israel. According to the narrative in Shemot / Exodus, the nation of Amalek attacked the Israelites while on their journey through the desert. Eventually, they were defeated, with the help of God, as well as Moses having his hands hands held up in the air. As long as they were being held up, the Israelites were victorious. If he were allowed to let them down, the tide would turn. This is read just prior to Purim because Haman,the villain of the Purim story found in the Biblical Book of Esther who tried...

This week's Torah parasha /portion is Terumah ( Shemot /Exodus 25:1 - 27:19).  In this parashah , God begins instructing Moshe on how the mikdash, or portable sanctuary, is to be constructed.  A key concept can be found in the beginning of the parashah when God says to Moshe, "And let them make Me a sanctuary/holy place that I may dwell among them" (25:8).  The Hebrew word for "I may dwell" is v'shakhanti .  The root of this word is shin-khaf-nun the same as for the word mishkan , another name used in the Torah for the wilderness Tabernacle or sanctuary.  It appears from this verse that the mikdash / mishkan is to be built so that God can dwell in the presence of the people.  Yet isn't God to be found everywhere?  Nahum Sarna, in the JPS Torah commentary, points out that the verb sh-kh-n connotes a temporary, nomadic dwelling, not a permanent home.  As we read elsewhere in the Torah, God dwells periodically in the mikdash / mishkan .  ...

In this week's parashah /portion, Miketz (Genesis/ Bereshit 41:1 - 44:17), the saga of Joseph and his brothers continues. We read in the narrative of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dreams, being made vizier of Egypt and then of his brothers coming to seek food during the famine. We also read of Joseph hiding his true identity from his brothers and "torturing" them – and indirectly his father Jacob – by sending them back to Canaan to bring back his youngest brother Benjamin while keeping Simeon captive. Then, when the brothers return with Benjamin, much against Jacob's wishes, Joseph has his silver goblet hidden in Benjamin's sack and accuses him of stealing, sentencing him to remain as Joseph's slave. One can view the entire Joseph saga as an allegory for  the journey of the ego. When Joseph is filled with pride and hubris, he is the personification of the ego. It is the job of the ego to obfuscate one's view of reality and replace the sense of union...