HaAzinu means “listen!” – “pay attention!” Now, in these few days between Yom Kippur and the start of our Sukkot holy day, now, when we are rushed to prepare not only for that Festival but for all that our New Year brings. “Listen!” The words of our parashah, Moshe’s final song, ring out over the agesContinue reading “Shabbat HaAzinu: Listen!”
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Shabbat Shuvah: How Will You Go On the Last Day?
At the beginning of our parashat hashavua it is written: Vayelekh Moshe; vay’dabeyr et kol had’varim ha’eyleh el kol Yisrael, “Moshe went; he spoke all these things to all Israel” (Devarim 31.1) Although this form of speech may seem familiar to some of us (i.e. “he went and spoke”, or “he’s gone and done itContinue reading “Shabbat Shuvah: How Will You Go On the Last Day?”
Shabbat Nitzavim: What We Owe
Our parashat hashavua (Torah reading of the week) begins with quite a compelling scene: the entire Israelite community, gathered together on just the other side of the Jordan River from the Land of forty years’ struggle and search. The parashah begins with “you are standing this day, all of you, before G*d….to enter into theContinue reading “Shabbat Nitzavim: What We Owe”
Shabbat Shoftim: You Too Are a Judge, and Must Be
The beginning of parashat Shoftim calls for us to ensure justice in the communities in which we live. שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים, תִּתֶּן-לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ, לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ; וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת-הָעָם, מִשְׁפַּט-צֶדֶק. Set up judges and officers in all your gates, everywhere that you are privileged to live by G*d’s grace. The judges must judge theContinue reading “Shabbat Shoftim: You Too Are a Judge, and Must Be”
Shabbat Re’eh: What Happens When You Look
Parashat Re’eh is named for our ability to see and understand: רְאֵה, אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם–הַיּוֹם: בְּרָכָה, וּקְלָלָה – “see, I place before you today blessing and curse.” (Deut. 11.26). Blessing, we are told, follows the choice to comply (literally, “listen”); curse, if we do not. It seems so very simple and direct an expectation: look, and understand; hear,Continue reading “Shabbat Re’eh: What Happens When You Look”
Shabbat Ekev: What Happens When You Listen
This week our parashat hashavua (parsha, “section”, of the week) is named Ekev. The word literally means “heel”, as in Jacob/Yaakov’s name, given to him because he emerged from the womb holding on to his brother Esav’s heel. This same word ekev paired with another conjugation of shema leads the Jewishly attuned ear to an entirelyContinue reading “Shabbat Ekev: What Happens When You Listen”
Shabbat Va’Etkhanan: Your Life is a Prayer
Our parashah is called Va’Etkhanan, literally translated “I beseech.” Moshe is recounting to us how he begged G*d for the one thing he could not have: the ability to cross over the Jordan River with the People of Israel into the Promised Land. Moshe our leader was denied the satisfaction of crossing the finish lineContinue reading “Shabbat Va’Etkhanan: Your Life is a Prayer”
Shabbat Hazon and erev Tisha B’Av: a Shabbat of Vision
This is a Shabbat of vision, and of the center falling apart. Although it would be easier, more poetic, to see a vision rising from destruction, life these days is not so lyrical. Rather, on this Shabbat, the last before Tisha B’Av, the vision we contemplate is of destruction, misery and death: עַל מֶה תֻכּוּContinue reading “Shabbat Hazon and erev Tisha B’Av: a Shabbat of Vision”
Shabbat Matot-Masei: the Long, Confusing, Chaotic Road to Freedom
In this week’s double parashah we wind up the Book of BaMidbar. The word bamidbar, actually three in English, is usually translated “in the wilderness”. But the root word, dalet bet reysh, can as easily be understood as “speaking”. Our ancestors wandered across a land that was unsettled, and that they saw as chaotic and uncontrollable. We,Continue reading “Shabbat Matot-Masei: the Long, Confusing, Chaotic Road to Freedom”
Shabbat Pinkhas: Our People’s Feminine Side
There is quite a surprise in our parashat hashavua, called Pinkhas. Our ancient Israelite religious narrative presents us with what we presume to be a Patriarchal framework for understanding our lives. Certainly, the caricatures of traditional Judaism (and, sadly, often the reality) diminishes and even calumniates the strengths and characteristics of the feminine. This has ledContinue reading “Shabbat Pinkhas: Our People’s Feminine Side”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 