Parashat Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1-5:26) By Rabbi Suzanne Offit “God called to Moses…” For millennia, commentators have discussed the meaning of this brief statement with which the third book of the Torah opens. For me, it is all about relationships. It is about inviting or being invited into an intimate relationship – the details of which God will spell out throughout the remaining books of the Pentateuch. While I struggle with questions of theology, I am certain of the power of... Read more
Parashat Pekudei (Exodus 38:21-40:38) By Rabbi Jordan Braunig I’ve always had a much easier time beginning things than finishing them. With a poem, a household project, a painting, a college course, or, even, a dvar Torah, starting is no problem—ending, that’s another story. Beginnings are openings, expanses, vast plains of possibility; a strong start fills you with excitement and yearning. Completions, on the other hand, are boundary lines, points of distinction, painful goodbyes. The appeal of the starting point feels... Read more
Parashat Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1-38:20) By Rabbi Michael Shire And all the wise-hearted women spun with their own hands and brought what they had spun in blue, purple, and crimson yarns and in fine linen. And all the women whose hearts uplifted them in wisdom spun the goat’s hair”. (Exodus 35:25-26) Exactly one hundred years ago, in March 1919, the famous art school the Bauhaus was established in Weimar Germany. Known as a formative influence on the development of modern art,... Read more
Parashat Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35) By Rabbi Gray Myrseth In Parshat Ki Tisa, a tremendous rupture occurs. Moses is still up on Mount Sinai, obscured by the God-cloud of Revelation, and the people wait long enough that they start to get scared. They want something to worship, so they build a golden calf and call it their God. When Moses returns with the tablets of Divine testimony, he cries out and throws the tablets to the ground, shattering them into... Read more
Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) By Rabbi Brian Besser This week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, contains an interesting anomaly; it is the only portion in the Torah (after the Book of Genesis) that fails to mention Moses by name. According to the Tur, a medieval commentator, the omission is no accident, but results directly from an earlier episode. When God, in divine wrath, was about to destroy the Israelites for worshipping the Golden Calf, Moses pleaded before God: “Alas! This people is... Read more
Parashat Terumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19) By Rachel Adelman, Ph.D. After the pyrotechnics at Sinai—lightning, thunder, the blast of the shofar, and the Mountain, wrapped in smoke and flame (Exod. 19:18-19, 20:18)—God adjures Moses: “have them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them [ve-shakhanti be-tokham]” (25:8). What follows are the detailed instructions for making the Mishkan, the “Tabernacle” or “Tent of Meeting” where God would come to reside [sh.kh.n.] among the people. But how can the Divine Presence [Shekhinah]... Read more
Parashat Mispatim (Exodus 21:1-24:18) By Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer There’s a curious scene at the end of parashat Mishpatim.After a litany of law codes, a quiet coda to last week’s thunderous revelation. Blink and you might miss it. In Exodus 24, Moshe climbs partway up the mountain, accompanied by Aaron, Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu, and 70 ‘elders’. They stop. They see the God of Israel, and they eat and drink. No fire and shofarot, no clouds of smoke and... Read more
Parashat Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23) By Rabbi Micha’el Rosenberg I write these words on a Saturday night, after my kids have gone to sleep. I’m a rabbi, a teacher in a rabbinical school; I learn and teach Torah, write about it, for a living. In other words, this is my job. This is me, working on a Saturday night. Pretty depressing. And on the other hand: I’m a Jew who loves Torah. I love my work, and I think it provides... Read more
Parashat Beshallah (Exodus 13:17-17:16) By Rabbi Minna Bromberg Oh, deliberation. It might look like that word contains “liberation” within it. But no, a quick etymology search reveals that “deliberation” and “liberation” come from two different Latin roots. The latter has to do with freedom and the former has to do with weighing things (just like Libra whose symbol is the Scales). Deliberation, weighing our options, is certainly important – whether in picking a brand of shampoo or in deciding whether... Read more
Parashat Bo (Exodus 10:1-13:16) By Cantor Dara Rosenblatt On a sunny day in early December I sat in a room full of faith leaders at a local Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. Together, we watched a short video about the state of poverty and education in our city. This display of detailed, hard-to-hear information about our city pulled at my heartstrings. There is so much work to be done, and it felt like we were lagging behind. The other leaders... Read more
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