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”
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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”
Shabbat Balak: Not Just a Funny Story
This week the Torah abruptly turns away from stories of Israelite society in terrifying disarray to what seems at first glance to be an absurd parable: a frightened king, a greedy hired mercenary, and a talking ass – and none of them are Jewish. Perhaps this week might offer some comic relief? Let the cameraContinue reading “Shabbat Balak: Not Just a Funny Story”
Shabbat Hukkat: Don’t Be Angry
The center is having a hard time holding. Moshe Rabbenu, “our Rabbi [read: teacher] Moshe” has already withstood the upheaval of the Golden Calf incident, the Korakh rebellion, and the catastrophe of the scout’s report only last week, the aftermath of which saw the generation of the wilderness doomed to die before reaching the PromisedContinue reading “Shabbat Hukkat: Don’t Be Angry”
Shabbat Korakh: We Need Light Now
Things are going from bad to worse, worse that we thought they could get, in our parashat hashavua, called Korakh. Hundreds of Israelites, led by Korakh, rise up against the leadership. Hundreds of people die as a result, and – most horrifying – the situation at the end of the day is not fundamentally changed. We areContinue reading “Shabbat Korakh: We Need Light Now”
Shabbat Sh’lakh-L’kha: When the Safe Choice is a Dead End
This week in our parashah it all goes wrong, suddenly. Moses sends twelve scouts, each of them a leader of a tribe, to survey the land just ahead, the Land to which G*d promised to lead them. We are literally there already – until the Promised Land abruptly becomes a place to far to reachContinue reading “Shabbat Sh’lakh-L’kha: When the Safe Choice is a Dead End”
Shabbat Naso: Lift Every Face
I have been away, even away from media, on a month sabbatical to mark my twenty-fifth year as a Rabbi. This is my first opportunity to seek with you some sense of response to the tragedy that occurred in my hometown on Sunday. That day was Shavuot, the spring Festival of the Harvest. We should haveContinue reading “Shabbat Naso: Lift Every Face”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 