Necessary Chaos In the wilderness your possessions cannot surround you. Your preconceptions cannot protect you. Your logic cannot promise you the future. Your guilt can no longer place you safely in the past. You are left alone each day with an immediacy that astonishes, chastens, and exults. You see the world as if for theContinue reading “Shabbat BaMidbar: Into the Wilderness”
Tag Archives: faith
Shabbat Emor: “Say” what?
today is Lag ba’Omer, the 33rd day of the counting of the ‘Omer: הוד שבהוד hod sheh-b’hod, gratitude in gratitude Today is the minor Jewish holy day known simply as lag ba’omer, a name which is nothing but the way to vocalize today’s Jewish date: the 33rd day of the counting of the ‘Omer; לContinue reading “Shabbat Emor: “Say” what?”
Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: “after death, holiness.”
Regardless of what I might want to write about on this Shabbat, like any Torah commentator I am guided, bidden and challenged by the parashat hashavua, the assigned parashah of the week. This week it is a double parashah: Akharei Mot and Kedoshim, “after death” and “holiness.” This is a not-unusual pairing, but it seemsContinue reading “Shabbat Akharei Mot-Kedoshim: “after death, holiness.””
Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: Seems To Me
Don’t Believe Everything You Think Our ancestors dealt with forces beyond their control just as we do; in this week’s parashah, which joins together the parshiyot called Tazria and Metzora, what we read according to the third year of the Triennial Cycle for Torah begins with some kind of moldy growth detected upon the wallsContinue reading “Shabbat Tazria-Metzora: Seems To Me”
Shabbat Shemini: They Must Deserve It
There but for the grace of HaShem וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן הוּא֩ אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֨ר ה’ ׀ לֵאמֹר֙ בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כׇל־הָעָ֖ם אֶכָּבֵ֑ד וַיִּדֹּ֖ם אַהֲרֹֽן׃ Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what ‘ה meant by saying: through those near to Me I show Myself holy, and will be respected before all the people.” Aaron was silent. (Lev. 10.3) OnContinue reading “Shabbat Shemini: They Must Deserve It”
Shabbat Pesakh 5785: Uncertainty
What if this Pesakh We recall precarity Versus redemption? – Jen Van Meter This year Shabbat occurs on the seventh day of Pesakh. The Torah story assigned to this day recalls the most uncertain time of all in the course of our ancestors’ redemption. First, HaShem leads us on a deliberately circuitous route to avoidContinue reading “Shabbat Pesakh 5785: Uncertainty”
Shabbat VaYak’hel/Parah: Every Little Bit
לֹא עָלֶיךָ הַמְּלָאכָה לִגְמֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חוֹרִין לִבָּטֵל מִמֶּנָּה. It is not up to you to finish the work – yet neither are you free to give up. (Pirke Avot 2.26) Our parashat hashavua might seem to be a boring, overly detailed account of every little detail that went into the actual construction ofContinue reading “Shabbat VaYak’hel/Parah: Every Little Bit”
Shabbat Zakhor: What are we supposed to remember? to forget?
What are we supposed to remember to forget? Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt— how, undeterred by fear of G!d, they surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. Therefore…you shall blot out the memory ofContinue reading “Shabbat Zakhor: What are we supposed to remember? to forget?”
Shabbat Mishpatim: Narrow Bridge
וְדַע, שֶׁהָאָדָם צָרִיךְ לַעֲבֹר עַל גֶּשֶׁר צַר מְאֹד מְאֹד, וְהַכְּלָל וְהָעִקָּר – שֶׁלֹּא יִתְפַּחֵד כְּלָל Know that a person needs to cross a very very narrow bridge, and the rule, the essence, is to not give in to fear at all. Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav, Likkutei Mohoran II.48 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהוֹשֻׁ֜עַ אֶל־הָעָ֗ם לֹ֤א תֽוּכְלוּ֙ לַעֲבֹ֣ד אֶת־יְהֹוָ֔הContinue reading “Shabbat Mishpatim: Narrow Bridge”
Shabbat BeShalakh: “do something” is not enough
A lot happens in this parashat hashavua, from great fear to exulting celebration; running from Pharaoh and certain death turns to dancing with joy, and then, from the sublime to the ridiculous, becomes complaining about the food. So, too, with our own lives. Epic moments mix with the mundane. Water the plants. Endure the news. Celebrate aContinue reading “Shabbat BeShalakh: “do something” is not enough”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 