Thinking Torah Blog

You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly. - Exodus 27:20
Exodus 27:20−30:10
SUMMARY
•    The children of Israel are commanded to bring pure olive oil for the ner tamid "a constantly burning light," above the sanctuary. (27:20-21)
•    Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, are chosen to serve...Read more...

There is so much I love about being a Reform Jew. The philosophical underpinning of informed choice speaks to the agency each of us possesses as Jews and as human beings. We don’t engage in rituals simply because that’s what Jews do. We think about meaning. We approach with curiosity. We ask, “What will this add to my life?”

Reform Judaism leaned into the individualism of Western liberal thought, and much of that is good and...Read more...

In many ways, this week’s Torah portion, Beshalach, is the climactic moment of the Israelite story. The plagues that dominate the last two parashiot of Exodus are behind us, but the experience of liberation, the splitting of the sea and the Israelites’ crossing to freedom, takes place here. It is a story we traditionally retell every day in Jewish life, and especially on Passover. It is the animating story of our people, and one that has...Read more...

I am currently in the midst of reading In God’s Image by Tomer Persico. The book traces the significance and history-altering impact of the concept of tzelem Elohim, the idea that all human beings are created in God’s image. Before the Hebrew Bible was codified, this notion was radically foreign to most peoples. In the ancient world, it was widely assumed that only kings were created in the image of the gods. The Israelite insistence...Read more...

Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for 17 years; Jacob's days--the years of his life--were 147. - Genesis 47:28

Genesis 47:28–50:26

SUMMARY

In this week’s Torah portion, Miketz, we encounter Joseph at the turning point of his life. After years in prison for a crime he did not commit, he is brought before Pharaoh to interpret a troubling dream: seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. Joseph teaches Pharaoh, and all of us, that moments of plenty are not accidental. They are opportunities to prepare and ensure no one is left behind as circumstances...Read more...

Jacob now sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, in the countryside of Edom. - Genesis 32:4 

Genesis 32:4−36:43 

SUMMARY

Isaac encounters God in a dream in Toldot, this week’s Torah portion. In that dream, God says, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you and increase your offspring for the sake of My servant Abraham.”

Many of us are familiar with the Amidah, the central prayer of our...Read more...

Given that we read the same Torah each year, it’s inevitable that rabbis sometimes repeat themselves. Occasionally, it’s out of forgetfulness, but more often it’s because certain teachings continue to speak powerfully to our present moment. I’m sure I’ve spoken or written before about why the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed in this week’s Torah portion, Vayera, and it’s not for the reason most people...Read more...

This is Noah's chronicle. Noah was a righteous man; in his generation, he was above reproach: Noah walked with God. - Genesis 6:9 

Genesis 6:9−11:32 

 SUMMARY 

-God decides to cause a flood that will destroy the world, sparing only Noah's family and the animals that Noah gathers together on the ark. (6:9-8:22) 

-Life starts over...Read more...

Moses said to the Eternal, "See, You say to me, 'Lead this people forward,' but You have not made known to me whom You will send with me. Further, You have said, 'I have singled you out by name, and you have, indeed, gained My favor.'"- Exodus 33:12 

Holidays Exodus 33:12–34:26 

SUMMARY 

On the Shabbat during Sukkot, we are reminded of the age-old desire to know God. Moses implores God to let him see...Read more...

This Shabbat, we read Parashat Nitzavim. As I've mentioned in years past, we also read this section of Torah on Yom Kippur. We should note that reading Nitzavim is specifically a Reform practice. The traditional reading recounts the rituals of preparation that the High Priest would undergo for his responsibilities on Yom Kippur. I am glad we made this change in Reform tradition. Nitzavim speaks more directly to the lives of Jews today who...Read more...

When you [an Israelite warrior] take the field against your enemies, and the Eternal your God delivers them into your power and you take some of them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her and would take her to wife.... - Deuteronomy 21:10-11 

Deuteronomy...Read more...

See, this day I set before you blessing and curse. 

Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17 

SUMMARY 

-God places both blessing and curse before the Israelites. They are taught that blessing will come through the observance of God’s laws. (11:26–32) 

-Moses’ third discourse includes laws about worship in a central place (12:1–28); injunctions against idolatry (12:29–13:19) and...Read more...

I pleaded with the Eternal at that time, saying, "O Eternal God, You who let Your servant see the first works of Your greatness and Your mighty hand, You whose powerful deeds no god in heaven or on earth can equal! Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and the Lebanon." - Deuteronomy 3:23-25 
 
Deuteronomy...Read more...