Mindful Torah...and more

This is not exactly about mindfulness, but it is about everything that is on all of our minds this week. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This past week has been a frightening and tragic one for our country. In response to the senseless killing of George Floyd, another African American man who died at the hands of police, protests and riots have erupted throughout our country. This is on top of the devastating effects of Covid-19, which has disproportionately impacted communities of color. Racism is ingrained in the fabric of our country. Peaceful protests have been routinely ignored. And so, as in the past, people have taken to the streets. It is perhaps the only way to be heard by those in power. As the Director of Jewish Student Life at Lehigh, I feel it incumbent upon me to respond to this current crisis in our nation. The Jewish people have been oppressed throughout our history and we are still hated by many. Just see the statistics of the...

I just posted an original poem which drew on the traditional rabbinic midrash/commentary that the Israelites accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai sight unseen, at least in part, because God had lifted the mountain over their heads. The people were told that they had the freedom to accept or reject the Torah. However, if they were to reject the Torah then this place would be their grave.  This midrash makes it clear that, in the ancient rabbinic mind, God knew that the people needed some persuasion, perhaps because they were reluctant to give up any of their freedoms after having been slaves for so long. But with liberty comes rules and responsibility. And responsibility for the greater good of the nation and the world often means relinquishing some of your personal freedoms. Or at least our privileges. I wrote about this in last week’s Torah commentary in response to those who were protesting about giving up some of their privileges, such as being able to go wherever they want and not...

The Israelites did not accept the Torah until the Blessed Holy One held the mountain over them like a vessel, as it is said: And they stood beneath the mountain (Exod. 19:17). R.  Dimi the son of Hama stated that the Blessed Holy One told Israel: “If you accept the Torah, well and good; but if not, your grave will be there….As soon as God [finally] asked them, “Will you accept the Torah?” they all responded, “We will do and hear,” - Midrash Tanhuma In this midrash the rabbis implied that the people’s response to God “we will do and we will hear” (Exodus 24:7) was not so simple, as the mountain was being held over their head at the time. Still they could have decided that death was better than becoming slaves to a new master, even though this master would be God and not Pharaoh.  This midrash reminds us that, even when the right choice may seem clear, sometimes the situation in which we find ourselves can cloud our ability to see clearly. That is the essence of this midrashic ...

Bamidbar 5780 This week we begin reading Bamidbar /Numbers, the next book of the Torah, with Parshat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20). In this parashah /portion, God instructs Moses to conduct a census of all the Israelite men over the age of 20. Moses takes up a second census to count all of the Levite men. God then gives specific instructions to the Levites about their roles in the constructing and caring for the Tent of Meeting The name Bamidbar means “in the wilderness,” which is where all of the events the exodus through the end of Deuteronomy take place in the wilderness. Through the centuries, various rabbis and scholars have pondered why God didn’t give the Torah in the land of Canaan. Why didn’t the people spend 40 years on their journey? Of course, we know that the 40 years is ultimately a punishment for the people believing in the negative reports of the 10 spies who scouted out the land and ignoring the positive reports of the other two (see Parshah Shelach). However, putting ...

This week we finish reading from the book of  Vayikra /Leviticus with the double parashah /portion  Behar-Behukotai  (Leviticus 25:1- 27:34).  Parshat Behar  begins with the laws regulating the sabbatical year and the jubilee year.  The Israelites are instructed that, once in the Promised land, they are to grow crops and tend their fields for six years. The seventh year is to be a Sabbath for the land during which they may eat whatever the uncultivated land happens to produce during that year. However, they may not  plant, sow or harvest any crops. In addition to the Sabbatical/ Shemitah   year, they are to count seven cycles of seven years and then in the fiftieth year they are to proclaim a  yovel /jubilee year. This is to be a year of release in which all Israelites were to take possession of the original lands which will be given to their ancestors at the time of entering the land.  In  Parshat Behukotai , God promises that the ...

Dear Hevre/community: As you know, I usually try to avoid direct political or partisan commentaries. However, when the political and the spiritual/religious values that I believe are at the heart of Jewish teaching collide (or intersect) I feel it is my duty to discuss the issues. And that is the case in so many ways this week. As someone once said (it's been attributed to many) our job is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." I believe with this commentary (at least for some) I may be doing the latter, but it's in service of achieving the former. Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Steve This week's parashah /portion is Emor ( Vayikra /Leviticus 21:1-24:23). In this parashah we find the commandments to observe the three pilgrimage festivals: Pesach /Passover, Sukkot (the Feast of Booths) and Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks), which later became associated with the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai,  Immediately following the instructions we find a reiteration of...