Our parashat hashavua this week brings us back to our regularly scheduled Torah text after two weeks devoted to special Pesakh Torah. We are back to the Book VaYikra, or Leviticus, and expect nothing more or less than the initiation of the mishkan (the sacred space the Israelites created in the wilderness) with the firstContinue reading “Shabbat Shemini: Not Why. How.”
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Shabbat and Pesakh and more, oh my!
Hag sameakh! Today and tomorrow are hagim, holy days that end our Pesakh Festival. Jewish offices are closed today and tomorrow, and Passover ends tomorrow evening at sundown with the end of Shabbat. On this Shabbat, the Shemini or 8th day of the holiday, we depart from our usual Torah parashat hashavua (reading of the week) and readContinue reading “Shabbat and Pesakh and more, oh my!”
Shabbat Pesakh I: What is this Matzah?
Tonight at sundown over 70% of all self-identifying Jews will observe the beginning of Pesakh (Hebrew for “Passover”). At the very least, they will all have matzah, the symbolic bread of affliction, on their tables – gluten free, locally made, even homemade, matzah is the ultimate symbol of the holy day period. Hag haMatzot, “The FestivalContinue reading “Shabbat Pesakh I: What is this Matzah?”
Shabbat HaGadol: It’s the Details
This Shabbat is Shabbat haGadol, the “Great Shabbat” which is the last before Pesakh. It is traditional on this Shabbat to spend time reminding ourselves and each other of two things, that neither may take precedence over the other: the meaning, and the details. it’s quite typical in this time of ours to downgrade theContinue reading “Shabbat HaGadol: It’s the Details”
Shabbat VaYikra/Shabbat HaHodesh: The Small Alef
This Shabbat we begin the book VaYikra, Leviticus. The first word of the narrative is the book’s name, a word which is Hebrew for “[and] he called.” The lack of pronouns indicate that this is a continuation of an earlier story, and indeed the content fits that assumption. We have just ended the detailed descriptionContinue reading “Shabbat VaYikra/Shabbat HaHodesh: The Small Alef”
Shabbat VaYakhel-Pekudey/Shabbat Parah: Holy Tents and Sacred Cows
This week I am privileged to share an erev Shabbat thought with you from Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel. Soon a group of Shir Tikvah congregational family and friends will arrive and I look forward to greeting them soon at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. I’ve come a few days early to seeContinue reading “Shabbat VaYakhel-Pekudey/Shabbat Parah: Holy Tents and Sacred Cows”
Shabbat Ki Tisa, and Shushan Purim: Sowing Hate is a Form of Murder
Well, we’ve heard the Megillat Ester, and Shabbat Ki Tisa is upon us, and we haven’t learned much yet, apparently. I find myself much dismayed. Incidents come to my attention. Haman is still among us, and inside of us. You, who believe you need not check your hypocrisy, because that there’s no way that theContinue reading “Shabbat Ki Tisa, and Shushan Purim: Sowing Hate is a Form of Murder”
Shabbat Zakhor: When a Lie is Right
The word Zakhor, which is the special name attached to this Shabbat before Purim, means “remember.” We are commanded to remember to blot out the name of Amalek, a historical enemy of our people who is seen recurring in those who have tried to eradicate the Jewish people from the earth: from Haman in theContinue reading “Shabbat Zakhor: When a Lie is Right”
Shabbat Terumah: The Gift of Your Life
What are you supposed to be doing with your one, wild, precious life? After all, it will all end, and too soon. The parashat hashavua this week is Terumah, “gift”, a word that speaks of a free-will offering that comes from the heart, chosen by the giver out of the joy of the chance toContinue reading “Shabbat Terumah: The Gift of Your Life”
Shabbat Mishpatim/Shabbat Shekalim: True Judgement
A Jewish congregation is formally known as a kehillah kedoshah, a “holy community.” Such a community lives up to its name when all of us within it find ourselves off balance. That seems a strange statement at first glance. Yet it is true: as the Israelites begin to define their lives at the foot of MtContinue reading “Shabbat Mishpatim/Shabbat Shekalim: True Judgement”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 