Mindful Torah...and more

This week we begin reading the third book of the Torah, Vayikra /Leviticus. Also known as Torat Kohanim , the Torah of the High Priests, much of Vayikra is dedicated to the laws of sacrifice and ritual purity that were the domain of the ancient Israelite priests. There is a long-standing custom within traditional Judaism that children begin their religious studies with Vayikra . It has always seemed strange that children were to  begin with the book of Vayikra and its detailed descriptions of animal sacrifices and its intricate laws and regulations. It always seemed more logical to start with the creation story or the intricate family dynamics of our ancestors found in Bereshit /Genesis or the drama of slavery and redemption found in Shemot /Exodus? Our sages asked a similar question in Yalkut Shimoni , a collection of midrash /rabbinic stories and commentaries, believed to have been written in the 12 th or 13 th centuries. Here we read, “Why do yo...

This week's parashah /portion is Ki Tissa ( Shemot /Exodus 30:11 – 34:35) and includes the narrative of the Golden Calf.  As I mentioned two weeks ago, according to Rabbinic tradition the incident of the Golden Calf precedes the giving of the instructions for the building of the Mishkan / Tabernacle.  Sinai and the Golden Calf are inextricably linked to one another.  Sinai represents the creation of a relationship between the people of Israel and God.  The Golden Calf represents, among other things, their refusal to completely let go of their past, as well as their inability to maintain their commitment to God when their patience is tested.  In short, Sinai implies trust and the Golden Calf implies its rejection. Aviva Zornberg discusses the fact that the two sides of the coin that is the Golden Calf may seem to be contradictory, yet are in reality complimentary, or perhaps even symbiotic.  A main reason for the building of the Golden Calf is t...

The following is not a comment ary on the Torah or other Biblical text .  Rather, i t consists of my musings about the nature of time and its role in our lives. -----------------------------------------------------------  This past weekend we celebrated the festival of Purim.  Purim celebrates the victory of the Jews over their Persian enemy Haman, viceroy to King Ach a shverosh.  The story is told in the biblical Book of Esther, because the Jewish Queen Esther is the heroine of the story. Purim usually occurs in March.  But these year, for the first time I can remember (though my memory is not what it once was) it fell on the evening of the 23rd of February.  This is indeed quite early!  As a matter of fact, all of the holidays for the remainder of 5773 on the Jewish calendar (the end of August) through Hanukkah of 5774 will be “very early” this year. As a matter of fact, for the first time in history (and the last time until about 400 year...

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 .   ...

The week's parashah is Yitro ( Shemot /Exodus 18:1-20:23). It begins,  "And Yitro (Jethro), father-in-law of Moses, heard all that God had done to Moses and to Israel his people, that God had taken Israel out of Egypt." The parashah then continues with Yitro's advice to Moses that he not take on the duty of judging the people's grievances alone, but appoint judges to help him. Finally, it  reaches a climax with the central event of our religious mythology, the giving of the law/Torah at Sinai. It is at Sinai that the ragtag bunch of former slaves finally covenant themselves to God as a people. At Sinai the nation/people of Israel is born. Whether or not one believes in Sinai as an historical event, does not concern me. For what matters is not the historical veracity of the narrative, but rather, the "Truth" within; the spiritual message that it is meant to teach. I believe that the ancient rabbis too cared more about the ...

This week’s parashah /portion is Bo ( Shemot /Exodus 10:1-13:16). It begins “Then God said to Moses, ‘Come to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his courtiers, in order that I may display these My signs among them, and that you may recount in the hearing of your children and your children’s children how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I displayed My signs among them – in order that you may know that I am God.’” (10:1-2). This is then followed by the onset of the eighth plague, that of locusts. Following the eighth plague, God again hardens Pharaoh's heart and the plague of darkness descends upon Egypt. Finally, the Egyptians experience the last plague, the death of Egypt's firstborn. It is this plague that will set the Israelites free. The parashah then concludes with the commandments to dedicate the first-born of the Israelites to God and to observe Pesakh /Passover. At the end of last week’s parashah, Va’era , it seemed that the ...

I first wrote this commentary/d'var torah three years ago.   However, given the current political situation in our country (and elsewhere) where so many seem enslaved to their own ego or ideology, I felt it was still quite appropriate.  Hopefully, the day will come when it will not. Shabbat Shalom, Steve Nathan ________________________________________________________________________________ Parshat Shemot: The Journey Into Slavery Begins This week's parashah is Shemot (Exodus/ Shemot 1:1 – 6:1). The saga of slavery and redemption that we remember each year at the time of Passover, as well as now during the Torah reading cycle, begins with this parashah. The narrative opens by reminding us of the names ( shemot ) of the sons of Jacob/Israel. Then we read that the Israelites multiplied greatly in Egypt. In fact, the Torah tells us that they "swarmed and multiplied and increased very greatly, so that the land was filled with them (1:7)....