05/25/2023 05:00:29 PM
Chag Shavuot Sameach! Tonight, we celebrate the festival of Shavuot. As you may know, Shavuot is the second of three harvest festivals we celebrate. We began with Pesach (Passover), we’ll have Shavuot tonight and tomorrow, and finally, we’ll reach the third festival this fall when we celebrate Sukkot. Shavuot is probably our least observed festival as it lacks a seder, a sukkah, and fun lulav shaking, but it is undoubtedly just as...Read more...
05/18/2023 05:00:00 PM
When I stand with students as we pass the Torah from one generation to the next at our B'nei Mitzvah services, I always bring up the idea that we receive so much from our elders. Many of the values, likes, dislikes, and even favorite phrases each of us have come from our parents and grandparents. These things are part of our family's cultural DNA. Our families set our course in so many ways. There are many beautiful ways this plays out...Read more...
05/11/2023 05:00:09 PM
We come to the end of Leviticus this week as we read the double portion, B’har-Behukotai. As in other places in the Torah, we find in Behukotai a section that tells us what we will gain if we keep God’s commandment (a place in the land and bountiful crops) and also what we lose if we fail to keep God’s commandments. The Torah says failure to keep the commandments will result in our people being scattered among the nations, and God...Read more...
04/20/2023 05:00:09 PM
When we talk about Leviticus being a difficult book of the Torah, it is for mainly two reasons; the litany of sacrifices and the focus on disease. This week’s double portion, tazria-metzora, focuses on the disease section. The condition is often translated as leprosy, but as I have said in years past, this is not the Hansen’s disease we know today as leprosy. The portions discuss an ailment closer to psoriasis than Hansen’s...Read more...
04/05/2023 05:00:37 PM
Life has a tendency to feel obvious, as though our present circumstances were always meant to be. Yet, we often overlook the countless opportunities that could have shaped
our lives differently. What if our ancestors had made different choices or if our parents had made different decisions about our upbringing? Truly, nothing about our existence is guaranteed. The fact that each of us is here, living the life we have, with our...Read more...
03/30/2023 05:00:00 PM
While not the primary objective of making sacrifices, accountability was undoubtedly an outcome of the sacrificial system for our ancestors. In many cases, bringing an offering to the Tabernacle or the Temple meant that our ancestors needed to take responsibility for their mistakes. Sacrifices allowed them to take responsibility but not dwell on those mistakes. Once they made their offering, the cosmic equation was balanced, and all would be...Read more...
03/23/2023 05:00:00 PM
While on sabbatical, Sarah and I would occasionally look at each other and say, “Is this really happening?” I am tremendously appreciative of the sabbatical I was granted over the last few months. In particular, after several years of coping with the pandemic, I didn't realize how much I needed a respite to recharge. Many of the experiences my family and I had while away are indescribable and will remain with us for the rest of our...Read more...
03/16/2023 05:00:00 PM
This week’s Torah portion is a double portion, Vayak’heil - P’kudei, and it begins with Moses gathering the whole community and telling them that God commanded us to observe Shabbat, a day of rest. Immediately following that reminder of God’s first gift to the people is a recapping of the gifts needed from the Israelites to build the Mishkan - these are strictly to be free-will gifts only from those whose hearts...Read more...
03/09/2023 05:00:00 PM
Even our best traits can have their drawbacks. Aaron was known as an incredibly empathetic man. He was deeply connected to the people, and he understood their experiences in a way that Moses simply could not, given his unique upbringing. Aaron knew what it was like to live under the burden of slavery, to suffer under Pharaoh’s decrees, to wonder if he and his people had perhaps been forgotten by God. This ability to relate to the...Read more...
02/23/2023 05:00:00 PM
This week’s Torah portion, Teruma, begins with God asking the Israelites to bring gifts freely and generously for the building of the mishkan.
The portion quickly moves into which gifts are needed and what ritual items they will be used to make. Amongst the items to be crafted are two cherubim with large wings. They are to be placed on each end of the top of the ark, facing one another with their gaze downward, at the space between...Read more...
02/16/2023 05:00:00 PM
As one might guess from its name, parshat Mishpatim contains a lengthy list of laws, rules, and judgments. We find laws covering so many topics: worship, slavery, property, moral behavior, criminal and civil matters, Divine promises, and more. From its frenetic bouncing from one subject to another, we glean the chaos spreading through the new Israelite community as they work through the complications of living in...Read more...
02/09/2023 05:00:00 PM
This week, as we read Parshat Yitro, we are standing at Sinai as the mountain is trembling with thunder and engulfed in smoke. It is an awesome, fearful sight.
There are many midrash about this important moment in our history yet I found myself drawn to a drash by Akeidat Yitchak, a 15th Century commentary on Torah by the Spanish rabbi Isaac ben Moses Arama. In his commentary, when God created earth, God resided there at first but...Read more...
02/02/2023 05:00:00 PM
In this week’s Torah portion, Beshalach, we find a pinnacle moment in the story of our ancestor’s escape From Egypt. This week we read Shirat HaYam, the Song of the Sea, or the splitting of the sea. The Israelites walk through the sea unscathed, but the Egyptians are swallowed up as the water comes crashing down. Living in Israel for the last month feels very similar to splitting of the sea in Torah. After 18 months out of office,...Read more...
01/26/2023 05:00:00 PM
Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh and his advisors many times throughout the Exodus narrative, demanding that Pharaoh release the Israelites from their captivity. At the start of parshat Bo, after yet another plague, Pharaoh offers what may be generously called a compromise. Pharaoh offers to allow “the notables of Israel” to leave. Moses refuses, demanding: “We will all go, our young and our old, our sons and our daughters, our...Read more...
01/19/2023 05:00:00 PM
Amongst our many skills and talents as human beings, we collectively have great ability to perceive patterns. Our neocortex, the outermost layer of the brain responsible for recognizing patterns, is so developed that it outperforms even the most complex computer algorithms. We are so good that we can even find patterns when none exist!
Many readers of parshat Va’era find a pattern in the description of the plagues...Read more...
01/12/2023 05:00:00 PM
This week’s Torah portion, Shemot, is a very rich portion indeed! We begin the book of Exodus this week and learn of the Israelites’ slavery in Egypt, the birth of Moses and his story all the way through his being summoned by God at the burning bush to lead the people out of Egypt.
As I read the portion this year, one of the most compelling sections was when Moses says (Exodus 4:10): “Please, O my lord, I have never been a man...Read more...
12/29/2022 05:00:00 PM
So much can be said about this week’s Torah portion, Vayigash. It’s easy to summarize: Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, who then return to Jacob and bring the entire family down to Egypt, where they are given lands by Pharaoh. However, when we read Torah in this manner – focusing merely on the major narrative beats – we miss so much. We miss Joseph’s brothers’ reactions – dumbfounded out of shock, shame, or fear, so...Read more...
12/22/2022 05:00:00 PM
During Chanukah, we have a special Haftarah portion from Zechariah which contains the famous line immortalized in song by Debbie Friedman: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, said YHWH of hosts.
Chanukah celebrates the military victory of the Maccabees followed by the miracle of the oil upon the rededication of the Temple. Chanukah, however, offers us much more than this narrow view of Jewish...Read more...
12/08/2022 05:00:00 PM
Sometimes our closest relationships are the hardest. Jacob and Esau never seemed to have much affection for each other. Even before they were born, the Torah tells us they quarreled in Rebecca’s womb. In this week’s Torah portion, Vayishlach, Jacob sends messengers to meet Esau and announce that Jacob is returning to the land. After meeting with Esau, the messengers tell Jacob that his brother plans to meet him with 400 men at his side....Read more...
11/25/2022 05:00:00 PM
While there aren’t any turkeys in this week’s Torah portion, Toldot, there are plenty of famous family meals. The first meal being the stew that Jacob uses to acquire Esau’s birthright after Esau returns from the field empty handed, and the second meal being the one in which Jacob tricks Isaac into believing he is Esau and has Isaac bless him instead of his brother. As we all know, family meals can sometimes be dramatic. Food may be...Read more...
11/17/2022 05:00:00 PM
As this week’s parashah arrives every year, I am reminded of a deeply important family moment for our ancestors. Abraham dies in this week’s Torah portion and our text tells us, “His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah…”(Gen. 25:9) We might remember that Ishmael and his mother Hagar were sent away in last week’s Torah portion. According to our sages, Sarah was concerned that Ishmael was not treating Isaac...Read more...
11/10/2022 05:00:00 PM
Do you want to hear about my Sabbatical plans? Keep reading!
Even with a surface reading of the Torah, it is easy to see that the Torah isn’t always interested in the same issues we are interested in today. Information we find pertinent and informative is often missing in the Torah text. One of the classic examples of this is concerning traveling. The journey is often skipped entirely in the Torah narrative, a person sets out on a...Read more...
10/20/2022 05:00:00 PM
This week we begin Torah again as we start reading from Bereshit, the first parashah in Genesis. At this time last year, along with our Shabbat morning Torah study group, we began reading the Torah verse by verse each week. It took us nearly the entire year to get through these first six chapters of the Torah. It has been a wonderful experience! Needless to say, I've become quite familiar with this first parasha as I've prepped each week for...Read more...
10/13/2022 05:00:00 PM
Sukkot may not be our only festival connected to the cycles of our planet; all 3 of the harvest festivals rely on these cycles. Still, Sukkot certainly feels like the most planetary-related of our festivals. Between dwelling in the sukkah for seven days, shaking the lulav, and generally being outside to celebrate the holiday, Sukkot places our planet and its climate centrally in its celebration. As we end the festival, we even begin praying...Read more...
09/29/2022 05:00:00 PM
Fasting on Yom Kippur is a privilege. Making a choice not to eat for a day is not something all of us can do. Some can’t make that choice for health reasons, and Judaism entirely supports this. One must eat if fasting puts one’s health at risk. Others may not choose to fast because it is not a choice at all. Some of us just don’t have enough food. If you are someone who has the privilege to fast, or even someone who cannot fast for...Read more...
09/22/2022 05:00:00 PM
This past Sunday I stopped by Apples and Honey at the JCC and ran into a few of our members. I also ran into Rabbi Alter Goldstein of Chabad. After a few pleasantries, Rabbi Goldstein brought up the end of the sabbatical year with this Rosh Hashanah, the seven-year cycle of leaving fields fallow in the Land of Israel. We talked about the tradition, called Hakhel, of Jews gathering together at Sukkot to celebrate the completed sabbatical...Read more...
09/15/2022 05:00:00 PM
High Holy Days are just around the corner. Have you prepared? Are you ready for the introspection of the holy days? Have you found time to ask forgiveness for words spoken too sharply? Have you done a Heshbon Hanefesh, an accounting of your soul over this past year? The time is now. The more we can show up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur having done the preparatory work, the more meaningful the days can be for each of us. Find the time...Read more...
09/08/2022 05:00:00 PM
In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, among the many commandments, we find commandments such as, “If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it; you must take it back to your peer.” (Deut. 22:1) And commandments like, “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you do not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it.” (22:8) There are many others,...Read more...
08/18/2022 05:00:00 PM
In coordination with JFS, members of TBE gathered together with the rest of the Jewish community to create Jewish Congregations Organized for Resettlement (JCOR). Our community did this in anticipation of new refugee families coming into the Washtenaw County area and needing support. JCOR’s first family arrived just yesterday, and help is needed! We Jews have known the pain of being a refugee, the pain of needing to flee our country of...Read more...
08/11/2022 05:00:00 PM
You may not know this, but Judaism has its own version of Valentine’s Day. On the Hebrew calendar, tomorrow is the fifteenth of Av or Tu B’Av, and for over 2,000 years, this day has been celebrated as a day of love. There are a few reasons this day remains a part of our calendar, albeit a minor holiday. According to the Talmud, young people would go out into the vineyards on this day to dance and celebrate. We are coming up on the grape...Read more...
