By Minna Bromberg, PhD, RAB `10 Parashat Shelach Lecha (Numbers 13:1 – 15:41) So close! In this week’s Torah portion (Shelach Lecha), the people are so close to entering the Land of Canaan. Freed from slavery, recipients of the Ten Commandments and of literal manna from heaven, they seem like a people on a roll. Sure, they’ve also built a Golden Calf and had some other rough patches along the way, but now they are right there, ready “to case... Read more
by Rabbi Avi Killip Parashat Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89) I have always been fascinated by the Nazirite vow, described in this week’s parsha. It is so deeply personal. You choose to become a Nazir, you choose the terms of how long it will last, and then you perform a ritual to release yourself from the binds of the vow. The vow offers you a concrete structure to restrict yourself in relation to the physical world—no wine, no haircuts—in order to be... Read more
By Rabbi Max Edwards Parashat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20) In every season, Jews around the world count days. In the summer, it’s the three weeks leading up to Tisha b’Av. The fall brings the aseret y’mei teshuvah, the ten days of repentance from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. The winter brings cold nights warmed by the light of the hanukkiah, the eight-pronged lamp used to count the eight days of Hanukkah. The spring brings its own count: the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. Counting days brings... Read more
By Rabbi Shira Shazeer Parashat Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34) We live in times of global pandemic; new unexplained and terrifying diseases; legal and political challenges to human dignity and bodily autonomy; supply chain issues creating, among other shortages, a nationwide baby formula crisis; the humanitarian disaster caused by the Russia invasion of Ukraine; rising antisemitism, white supremacy, transphobia and other varieties of hate; and gun violence both related and unrelated to them. Our society, our world, is plagued by so much trouble,... Read more
Rev. Tom Reid Parshat Behar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2) As I write this, I am sitting on a plane. It should not be surprising, yet it is undeniably powerful how much a shift in our physical location can impact our perspective. The world looks very different from 30,000 feet. As I have read and reread this parsha, my eyes have wandered to the view of the world down below as seen from the small airplane window to my right—my portal looking out on... Read more
By Rabbi Jim Morgan Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23) When I’m teaching, I often receive feedback from people that they are outraged by this or that passage in the Torah. “Why do we keep this?” people ask. Or: “We should cancel this verse.” I can, and sometimes do, respond that in our tradition – as in Islam and Christianity – we do not simply “change” the Bible. We can adjust a translation or shift an emphasis or pursue an apologia, but excising... Read more
By Rav Hazzan Ken Richmond Parshat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27) Last week my consortium of synagogues commemorated Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, gathering in person for the first time in three years to lift up our voices together, light candles, recite prayers, and to have the rare privilege of hearing testimony from a survivor and his family. As with many events these days, we were hybrid, with an option to participate and view the event via live stream. Many people tuned into... Read more
By Frankie Sandmel Parshat Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16:1–18:30) Parshat Acharei Mot, in all honesty, evokes a reaction along the lines of, “Ugh, are we still reading this? Aren’t we healed from this already? Can we skip it this year?” It opens with the fallout from the dramatic, public deaths of Aaron’s sons and closes with a list of all of the forbidden sexual practices, including the particularly dicey Leviticus 18:22, “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman;... Read more
By Naomi Gurt Lind Achron shel Pesach (Exodus 13:17-15:26) After our seders We come back to B’shallach Yet we’re also changed Bechol dor vador Generations see ourselves Leaving our narrows All Jews forever Each and every one of us Lives this story out Moses leads us forth Stands up to his own demons Also to Pharaoh When we make our way God sends us the long way round Scared we might turn back A pillar of cloud Keeps us company... Read more
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Chutzpah and Healing
By Heather Renetzky Parashat Beha’alotcha (Numbers 8:1-12:16) One of the side effects of being in rabbinical school for four years is that Yeshivish language makes its way into your everyday slang. I no longer ask if we’ve figured out the logistics of a trip, but if we can go over the tachlis details. I end sentences with phrases like “kah mashma lan” (Aramaic for, “It teaches us [something]”). The word “davka” is sprinkled a little too frequently into my sentences. And... Read more