Sodom and Gomorrah was a community too… תָּנֵי רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי, מָשָׁל לִבְנֵי אָדָם שֶׁהָיוּ יוֹשְׁבִין בִּסְפִינָה נָטַל אֶחָד מֵהֶן מַקְדֵּחַ וְהִתְחִיל קוֹדֵחַ תַּחְתָּיו, אָמְרוּ לוֹ חֲבֵרָיו מַה אַתָּה יוֹשֵׁב וְעוֹשֶׂה, אָמַר לָהֶם מָה אִכְפַּת לָכֶם לֹא תַחְתִּי אֲנִי קוֹדֵחַ, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai taught a parable: People were on a ship. One took aContinue reading “Shabbat VaYera: Community”
Tag Archives: VaYera
Shabbat VaYera: Seeing Behind the Veil
Parashat VaYera begins and ends with ways of seeing the UnSeeable, that is, G*d. The Torah shows us that there are many ways to see. The first opens the parashah and names it: וירא אליו ה באלוני ממרא VaYera elav HaShem b’eylonei Mamre HaShem appeared to (literally, “was seen by”) Abraham at the oakContinue reading “Shabbat VaYera: Seeing Behind the Veil”
Shabbat VaYera: Sodom and Gomorrah
Our parashah this week is VaYera, “he saw”, referring to Abraham, and his ability to see the Image of G*d in a stranger. Our reading, from the second year of the Triennial Cycle, brings us to one of the most infamous passages in the entire Torah, perhaps the entire Bible: the story of Sodom andContinue reading “Shabbat VaYera: Sodom and Gomorrah”
Shabbat VaYera: How Are Jews To Be in the World?
How are Jews meant to be in the world? The answer suggested by Jewish ethics is that with every step and with every word, we are to seek the presence of G-d. That does not mean that we are to treat the world as a game of hide-and-seek, but rather that we are to considerContinue reading “Shabbat VaYera: How Are Jews To Be in the World?”
Torah for the 21st Century by Rabbi Ariel Stone 