Torah: Ve’Ethanan: Best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell explains his new podcast, “You think with your eyes; your feel with your ears. Complex ideas are conveyed in writing; tears may flow from what you hear.” In this week’s Torah, we read: “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The core concept of Judaism is that there is only…
An egalitarian Conservative congregation serving the diverse Orange County Jewish Community
An egalitarian Conservative congregation serving the diverse Orange County Jewish Community
Posts by cbi18 (Page 13)
Torah: Devarim- Moses begged off at the Burning Bush as lacking a facility for speech. In this the fifth book of the Five Books of Moses, Moses speaks and speaks. His orations are composed of three major addresses, a closing song, and farewell blessings. The rabbis, who are teachers, give Moses their highest accolade by calling him, Moshe Rabbenu, Moses our teacher.…
Torah: Matot-Masei- “Like a sword in my bones are the taunts of my adversaries, by saying to me all the day, ‘Where is your God?’” (Psalm 42:11). My friend, Len Saxe, recently pointed out that this verse from Psalms is the rebuttal to the children’s rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” In the Jewish tradition…
Torah: Women challenge the status quo in this week’s Torah reading of Pinchas. At Mount Sinai, Moses learns the laws of inheritance: sons will receive the tribal land of a deceased father. A problem arises. Zelophachad has died with no sons. His five daughters plead to Moses, “Why should our father’s name be disadvantaged in his family merely because he did not…
Torah: Moab’s King Balak commissions a prophet for profit, Bilaam, to curse the Israelites. Bilaam agrees, but emphasizes that his words come from God” (Numbers 22:18). Four times, when Bilaam’s words flow from his vantage point of the hills overlooking the encamped Israelites, blessings emerge. Among the most famous of those words are the mah tovu, “How goodly are your tents O’ Jacob, your…
Torah: Hukkat These past two weeks have seen too much violence. I write under the shadow of painful images. What light can our Torah reading this Shabbat, Hukkat, shed? At the center of our Torah reading is the punishment of Moses and Aaron for the failure to “honor God in the midst of the people” (Deuteronomy 20:12). What was their sin in…
Elie Wiesel was my teacher. He passed on Shabbat. I mourn, for I loved him and felt beloved by him. During my three years of Rabbinical School in NYC, I worked at the 92nd Street Y, where Professor Wiesel gave four talks a year. He presented portraits of Biblical, Talmudic, and Hasidic figures by reading…
Naso: In this week’s Torah reading are the three-fold priestly blessings: “May the Ever Present One bless you and protect you; May Ever Present One deal kindly and graciously with you; May Ever Present One be present for you and grant you wholeness” (Numbers 6:24-26) As you may note, I have chosen to translate YHVH as “Ever Present One” rather than the…
Shavuot begins on Saturday night. It is customary to spend that night in study in anticipation of the reenactment in the morning of the revelation at Mount Sinai. Although the Bible account is of God addressing the people with the Ten Commandments, the rabbis expanded the holiday to encompass the giving of the entire Torah. A…
Shavuot begins on Saturday night. It is customary to spend that night in study in anticipation of the reenactment in the morning of the revelation at Mount Sinai. Although the Bible account is of God addressing the people with the Ten Commandments, the rabbis expanded the holiday to encompass the giving of the entire Torah. A preschooler this morning asked me, “Why do…