We have left Egypt, and at the foot of Mt. Sinai we have witnessed a great and ineffable moment of connection with That Which Cannot Be Named, and which nevertheless worked to link all of us together with certainty in that mystery. We were going forward together, as a people. But not yet. In thisContinue reading “Shabbat Terumah: Making a Place for God”
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Shabbat Yitro: What Do You Hear When You Hear the Voice of G-d?
What do you hear when you are in the presence of that which matters most? This week we read of G-d’s gift of the Aseret haDibrot, the “Ten Utterances”, to the People of Israel. The Torah text describes thunder and lightning, fire and smoke, on top of Mt. Sinai. But the midrash, teachings of the ancientContinue reading “Shabbat Yitro: What Do You Hear When You Hear the Voice of G-d?”
Shabbat BeShalakh: What Does It Take To Let Go?
In this weeks’s parashah, called BeShalakh, we read of our people’s experience leaving Egypt. It includes hard labor, a frightening and uncertain exit through water, and great relief upon emergence into a new world. It is the birth-myth of the People Israel. (I use “myth” in the sense of a grand and ancient story thatContinue reading “Shabbat BeShalakh: What Does It Take To Let Go?”
Shabbat Bo: You Are Here In Ferguson
In this week’s parashah, we read of how we went out of Egypt. That’s the command: “in every generation, to see ourselves as those who go out of Egypt.” (Talmud, Pesakhim 116b) Not to imagine as if, but to experience the going out ourselves, in an immediate way. How is that possible? I can’t feel myselfContinue reading “Shabbat Bo: You Are Here In Ferguson”
Shabbat Va’Era: How Does G-d Appear To You?
The parashat hashavua, the Torah reading of the week, begins in an entirely perplexing way: ב וַיְדַבֵּר אֱלֹהִים, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה; וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו, אֲנִי יְהוָה. G-d spoke to Moses, saying to him: ‘I am YHVH; ג וָאֵרָא, אֶל-אַבְרָהָם אֶל-יִצְחָק וְאֶל-יַעֲקֹב–בְּאֵל שַׁדָּי; וּשְׁמִי יְהוָה, לֹא נוֹדַעְתִּי לָהֶם. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shaddai butContinue reading “Shabbat Va’Era: How Does G-d Appear To You?”
Shabbat Shemot: A World Full of Suffering
We begin reading the Book of Exodus (Shemot, “Names”, in Hebrew) in the Torah this week; in the opening scenes, our ancestors find ourselves in a developing nightmare – and, unlike the dreams of Genesis, we can’t just wake up from it. At first, all seemed well in our new homes in Egypt. But within theContinue reading “Shabbat Shemot: A World Full of Suffering”
What Day Is It? Depends Upon Your Memory Place
Today is New Year’s Day – secular new year’s, of course. What do you do to mark the day? It seems somehow appropriate to note the passing of the year, the turning of the calendar page, the beginning of a new count of days. It’s arbitrary, of course, but it does help to give shapeContinue reading “What Day Is It? Depends Upon Your Memory Place”
Shabbat VaYigash: Who Are You Before You Were Hurt?
On this Shabbat the terrible game ends: brothers stop terrifying brothers, a parent is relieved of a horrifying lie, and we see the cessation of a generational dysfunction, all because of one – or, actually, two – heroic individuals. The parashat hashavua (the Torah reading of the week) is named for the key act that bringsContinue reading “Shabbat VaYigash: Who Are You Before You Were Hurt?”
Shabbat Miketz: Enough Already, Let’s Wake Up
This parashat hashavua (parashah of the week) is called Miketz, “at the end”. The word refers to a period of time, as the Torah specifies: “It was at the end of two years….” It describes the Egyptian Pharaoh in the grip of dreams that start out innocuously enough, but then turn into terrifying nightmares: happy, fat cows grazing on the lushContinue reading “Shabbat Miketz: Enough Already, Let’s Wake Up”
Shabbat VaYeshev: Choices and Exile
In this week’s parashah we follow Joseph down to Egypt. This is a time of terror for him: his brothers sell him as a slave and he is taken far away from home. He is bought by a minister to Pharaoh and seems to be doing well; he gains his master’s trust and is putContinue reading “Shabbat VaYeshev: Choices and Exile”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 