Keeping Up the Fire This week’s parsha opens with fire. The fire burns on the altar all day and all night, at God’s command. The command here is key — it is the name of the parsha, the first word we hear: “Tzav.” In other places, God ‘says’ or ‘speaks,’ but God commands this fire. Rashi tells us that this word Tzav/command is used when an action is intended to be done immediately in the narrative and also in the future. The idea comes... Read more
By Rabbi Adina Allen Parshat Vayeishev (Genesis 37:1-40:23) In his seminal work The Theory of Colors, 18th-century German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe taught that color is not a thing but an event—a phenomenon that occurs only where light presses against darkness. In other words, color isn’t contained in an object itself, but arises from the relationship between illumination and shadow. According to Goethe, we don’t see color because an object “has” it; we see color because two opposing forces meet... Read more
By Rabbi Avi Killip Parashat Toldot Genesis 25:19-28:9 “On that very day that Abraham our forefather passed away, Jacob our forefather prepared a lentil stew to comfort Isaac, his father” (Bava Batra 16b). The Talmud tells us this important detail, which will set the scene for the famous exchange between Jocob and his brother Esau in Parshat Toldot. It’s not just any stew that Jacob is cooking when his hungry and weary brother Esau comes in from the field. Jacob... Read more
By Alyssa Coffey Parashat Noach Genesis 6:9-11:32 While I was blessed with a meaningful High Holy Day season this year, I must confess that, as Sukkot stretched on, I was feeling slightly less than joyful. The news out of Israel and Palestine – the return of all living hostages to Israel, the cessation of fighting in Gaza – left my heart overflowing with hope and breaking in multiple directions at once. Between Chag, Erev Chag, and Shabbat, I scarcely ever... Read more
Parashat Ha’azinu (Deuteronomy 32:1-52) By Gila Axelrod In Parashat Ha’azinu, Moses delivers a poetic final address to the Israelites, centering on the story of their relationship with God. At first glance, this poem is alarming to read. It begins innocuously, with flowery descriptions — hopes for Moses’ words to trickle like dew and drop like rain (Deuteronomy, 32:2). The poem proclaims God’s perfection and wholeness. But in an instant, this wholeness becomes a foil to Israel’s inadequacy. While God is... Read more
Parashat Vayelech Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20 Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman and Rabbi Yochanan ben Elazar, two 3rd century rabbinic scholars, were standing in the marketplace one day. Rabbi Shmuel turns to his teacher and says, ‘Teach me some mishna.’ Rabbi Yochanan responds, ‘Go to the house of learning, and I will teach you there.’ A good student of Torah, Rabbi Shmuel replies, ‘But haven’t you taught me the verse from Proverbs (1:20): חָכְמוֹת בַּחוּץ תָּרֹנָּה בָּרְחֹבוֹת תִּתֵּן קוֹלָהּ “Wisdom [by which he... Read more
By Alyssa Coffey, Hebrew College Rabbinical School student Ki Tavo Deut. 26:1-29:8 A passage in the middle of parashat Ki Tavo describes a curious ritual: upon entering the promised land, the Israelites are to set up large stones, coated in plaster. On the stones, they are instructed to write “all the words of this instruction.” In only a few verses, we read two references to the all-encompassing nature of these words: “On the day that you cross the Jordan River... Read more
By Alyssa Coffey, Hebrew College Rabbinical School student Ki Teitzei Deut. 21:10-25:19 Parashat Ki Teitzei begins by addressing the ancient Israelites’ warriors, instructing them in very specific matters of battlefield-conduct: how to treat women whom their forces have taken captive in the context of war. The details, needless to say, are disturbing and upsetting: When you go out to battle against your enemies and YHWH your God gives him into your hand, and you take-captive his captives, and you see... Read more
By Rabbi Frankie Sandmel, Hebrew College Rabbinical School ’22 Parashat Shoftim Deuteronomy 16.8-21.9 Parshat Shoftim is aptly placed at the beginning of Elul. It opens with the following instruction: שֹׁפְטִ֣ים וְשֹֽׁטְרִ֗ים תִּֽתֶּן־לְךָ֙ בְּכָל־שְׁעָרֶ֔יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ לִשְׁבָטֶ֑יךָ וְשָׁפְט֥וּ אֶת־הָעָ֖ם מִשְׁפַּט־צֶֽדֶק׃ לֹא־תַטֶּ֣ה מִשְׁפָּ֔ט לֹ֥א תַכִּ֖יר פָּנִ֑ים וְלֹא־תִקַּ֣ח שֹׁ֔חַד כִּ֣י הַשֹּׁ֗חַד יְעַוֵּר֙ עֵינֵ֣י חֲכָמִ֔ים וִֽיסַלֵּ֖ף דִּבְרֵ֥י צַדִּיקִֽם׃ צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף לְמַ֤עַן תִּֽחְיֶה֙ וְיָרַשְׁתָּ֣ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃ (18) You shall appoint judges and officials for your tribes, in all... Read more
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The Holy Art of World Building
By Hannah Limov Parshiot Achrei Mot-Kedoshim (Leviticus 16:1-18:30, 19:1-20:27) Dreaming is serious business. I spent my childhood running around our California ranch land with friends building imaginary homes, fences, and societies amongst the bushes and the trees. While we knew that these worlds of magic were all imaginary, we also argued — fiercely — about who was on which team, where the “property lines” would get drawn, and what creatures we each would be. Passionately separating This from That, feelings... Read more