A Touch of Torah



Touch of Torah by Rabbi Judy Schindler, Parashat Balak
Thanks to my GPS, I no longer get lost on the various extensions of Queens Road that lead me towards or away from Uptown. Distraction, confusion and getting lost is not only an issue for the modern driver, it was an issue for the ancient donkey driver named Bilaam. He was hired by a Moabite king named Balak to curse the Israelites. As a result of Bilaam's misguided mission, his donkey sees more clearly than he. The donkey sees an angel on the path and tries to delay or prevent Bilaam's journey. Bilaam ultimately arrives at his destination yet in place of condemning the Israelites, he offers them words of blessing: "Mah tovu ohaleicha Yaakov, mishkenotecha Yisrael -- how beautiful are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel."  In our parashah, Bilaam was now able to clearly see the beauty of the Israelite camps and community. Sometimes getting lost is the first step to really finding our way and to seeing more clearly the path we need to take and the blessings that are before us.



Touch of Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education
Korach
This week’s portion is named for the rebellion led by Korach against Moses and his leadership.  The conspirators accuse Moses and Aaron of raising themselves above the community of Israelites, all of whom are holy.  Moses responds by chiding Korach for trying to elevate his own status above those reserved for the Levites.  During the course of the rebellion, Moses attempts to reconcile with the rebels three different times to avert their eventual demise.  Rashi points out these instances: 1. Moses sends for Korach’s co-conspirators to speak to them but they refuse to come, 2. Moses delays Gods judgment in the hope that the people would have a chance to reconsider and repent by morning, 3. Moses goes to the conspirators who refused to meet him, for he believed that they would respect him if he appealed to them.   None of these attempts dissuade Korach and the rebels and they all perish at God’s hand. 


Touch of Torah by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich
This week’s parashah, B’ha-alot’cha, offers us a microcosm of the entirety of the Book of Numbers, which we call B’midbar, or “in the wilderness” in Hebrew. A patchwork of stories and rules, everything from the building of the menorah to the illness of Miriam caused by her gossip.
 
Amid all of this, we find a very brief and unusual story (Numbers 11:26-29):
26 Now two men remained in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, the name of the second, Meidad, and the spirit rested upon them – they were among those-recorded, but they had not gone out to the Tent – and they acted-like-prophets in the camp.
27 A (certain) lad ran and told Moses, he said: Eldad and Meidad are acting-like-prophets in the camp!
28 Then Joshua son of Nun, Moses' attendant from his youth, spoke up, he said: My lord Moses, contain them!
29 But Moses said to him: Are you jealous for me? O who would give that all the people of God were prophets, that God would put the rush-of-his spirit upon them!
 
From the very beginning of Jewish civilization, we seem to long for less hierarchy and more equal distribution of power. Moses longs to share his access to universal meaning.
 
As Jews we acknowledge the merit of every individual. We see each and every member of the community as a potential source of wisdom.


Touch of Torah by Rabbi Judy Schindler
Tomorrow night we will welcome the holiday of Shavuot. We will hear the Ten Commandments chanted on Shavuot evening by our Confirmation students and on Shavuot morning by Cantor Bernard. Each year on this holiday, we are meant to imagine ourselves standing at Sinai and entering into the Covenant (a marriage of sorts) with God and with the Jewish people. Thousands of years ago we committed to being a people and today we remain bound by that promise. This holiday of Shavuot is called Zman Matan Torateinu, the time of the giving of our Torah, and not Zman Kabbalat Torateinu, the time of the receiving of our Torah, because while God symbolically gave the Torah on Shavuot, we are meant to receive the Torah each and every day through our study and through our living of the text. If you cannot make it to Temple Beth El to celebrate with us, may you celebrate Shavuot by stopping to study a text of Torah and/or by eating some ice cream as dairy is traditionally eaten on this day.  Just as milk sustains a child, Torah sustains our people.




Touch of Torah by Andy Harkavy, Director of Youth Engagement
This week’s Torah portion, B’midbar, “In the Wilderness,” is the first portion of the fourth book of Torah, Numbers.  God tells Moses to conduct a census of every Israelite male over the age of twenty.  Moses takes a second census to count all of the Levite males since they are not to bear arms.  God gives specific instructions to the Levites about their roles in the Tent of the Meeting. 



Touch of Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education
This week we read a double portion, Behar-Bechukotai.  In Behar, the laws of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are described.  Every seven years the land must not be sown or planted, debts must be forgiven, slaves must be released and so on.  Seven Sabbatical cycles are followed by a fiftieth year—the Jubilee year, on which work on the land ceases, all indentured servants are set free, and all land that has been sold reverts to their original owners. Additional laws governing the sale of lands, and the prohibitions against fraud and usury, are also given. Bechukotai presents a series of blessings that God will bestow upon the people Israel if they obey God’s commandments and comply with the covenant. In contrast, there is a long list of curses and harsh consequences that will be invoked as punishments if the Israelites neglect God's law. Both of these portions serve as reminders that our actions have consequences.  If we preserve our environment “the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit”.  If we are just and pure, God will dwell in our midst.  
Parashat Behar's most famous verse – "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof" (Leviticus. 25:1), the inscription on the Liberty Bell, refers to the jubilee year.

 
Touch of Torah by Cantor Andrew Bernard
This week’s portion, Emor, opens with special restrictions imposed upon the priests to recognize their elevated position above the other people, and to maintain ritual purity. The reasoning is that they had the sacred task of making the offerings to God. It goes on to say that any person with a physical defect is prohibited from the priesthood. Just as the animals that were offered had to be unblemished, so too the person making the offering had to be unblemished as well. What a difference between the priests of the Temple and the spiritual leaders of our modern synagogues! While there are certain expectations that modern day clergy will be models for the community, the “blemishes” actually have the potential to make the clergyperson better and his/her job. Unlike our priestly ancestors whose primary responsibility was ritual, our clergy serve largely in a pastoral role. The fact that clergy have flaws just like anyone else makes them more accessible to the rest of the community and engenders greater empathy for the human struggles we all share.


Touch of Torah by Cantor Mary Thomas
This week, we read a double Torah portion, Acharei-Mot/K'doshim. Torah portions, like books of the Torah, get their names from the first important words in each parashah. Acharei Mot means "after death", in this case the death of Aaron's sons, and K'doshim means simply "holy", in context: "you shall be holy". Now, these Torah portions always follow each other, but are only doubled as they are this year every so often. The juxtaposition of the ideas inherent in the titles is startling: After Death/Holy.

I do not think that the connection of these two titles suggests that we attain a special kind of holiness after death, after all, Judaism is a very this-worldly religion: we concern ourselves with the business of living just and righteous lives. Yet, what if we read it After Death/Holy as: "You are holy, despite of - or because of - your mortality". Perhaps we are holy because we face our finitude. Despite the fleeting nature of human life, we carry on changing the world, making lives better, growing, and giving.




Touch of Torah - Tazria–Metzorah by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich
From these two difficult Torah readings about strange skin disorders, infections of houses and clothing, and a variety of impurity issues, we find two interesting teachings that form central ideas in contemporary Judaism – trust in the community's experts and conserve resources.
 
While we no longer have an institutional priesthood, we still read about the central role that our priests played every year. The priests consulted on issues of communal concern, and we still turn to professionals when we need insights. Doctors, lawyers, accountants (especially at this time of year), and even clergy, gain our trust by participating in communally supported institutions of learning and standards for practice. Just as in the ancient Israelite world, we still need to support the structures that grant our society wise advisors and professionals.
 
The priest helped determine whether or not a garment or structure was too infected to continue to be useful. One of our Bat Mitzvah students noted how important it seemed to be to try and preserve something already made.
 
Amazing that in our age of disposable items and fleeting information the Torah can still offer us teachings supporting the values of cultivating expertise and discernment, and using them to conserve our world's limited resources.
 


Touch of Torah by Rabbi Judith Schindler
This week's Torah portion opens with a seemingly inexplicable tragedy. We are in the midst of dedicating our very first sanctuary when Aaron's sons race forward to offer foreign fire.  God was displeased and in fury, sends forth fire to consume the boys.  The text tells us, "Vayidom Aharon – And Aaron was silent." Nadav and Avihu's father, in his grief and sorrow, has no words.  He sits in silence with his two lifeless sons before him.
This week we confront tragedy not only in our Torah but in our calendar of Jewish sacred days. For this Sunday, our community and Jewish world will mark Yom Hashoah – Holocaust Remembrance Day. Silence is the first stage of tragedy but actions and words must follow. Elie Weisel, an esteemed author and scholar of the Holocaust writes, "I have learned two lessons in my life: first, there are no sufficient literary, psychological, or historical answers to human tragedy, only moral ones.  Second, just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings."  Our religious task is to move forward from the silence and despair of tragedy in order to rebuild a better world.
Join us this Sunday (April 7th) to find the hope that emerges from the Holocaust as we come together for a Shalom Park Charlotte Community Day of Arts and Dialogue to Remember the Holocaust from 4:00-5:30 pm.  There will be a variety of workshops addressing prejudice, discrimination, reflections on recent trips to concentration camps, music, and film. From painting a butterfly as you learn about and contribute to our Children's Holocaust Memorial Sculpture to exploring Dr. Seuss' (Theodor Geisel's) political cartoons advocating U.S. engagement in World War II to learning about the recipes shared in the Concentration Camp barracks and eating some of those foods, this year's Holocaust Remembrance Day will be engaging and moving. For more information go to: http://www.beth-el.com/holidays_festivals.html.



Touch of Torah by Andy Harkavy, Director of Youth Engagement
This week we take a break from the weekly Torah portion and discuss the story of Passover.  During the seven days of Pesach, we return to the book of Exodus to retell the key events of redemption.  The Passover seder (order) is one of the most celebrated and beloved of Jewish home rituals. I refer to it as the Jewish Thanksgiving because it was one of two times every year that my family was guaranteed to come together regardless of where we were living at the time.  Most Jews have cherished memories of past seders with family and friends. The obligation to tell the story of the Exodus to our children is interpreted as a positive commandment.  Freedom is one of the primary themes of Pesach.  Participating in a seder allows Jews to worship God through prayer, study, learning, and ultimately "relive" the story of Exodus, one of the most important stories in Jewish history.  Chag Passover Sameach!



Touch of Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education
This week’s Torah portion, Tzav repeats the description and procedures of offering sacrifices.  It gives all the details of keeping the altar flame burning perpetually and the cleaning and dressing rituals.  The priestly duties are outlined in great detail.  The various types of sacrifices are enumerated and explained.  There is an offering of well-being, a sin offering, a guilt offering, an offering for the anointment of the Priests.  The word Tzav means command and comes from the same root as the word mitzvah. Although many people think of a mitzvah as a good deed, the word means commandment. 


Touch of Torah by Cantor Andrew Bernard
This week we begin the Book of Leviticus. The narrative of our people through the Books of Genesis and Exodus now largely pauses while we receive numerous and detailed rules that would guide the daily lives of our people. While some of these continue to inform us to this day, many — especially those surrounding sacrifice — seem anachronistic. The physical actions around sacrificing at the Temple became internal sacrifices of the heart: prayer. Yet the basic principle of those sacrifices remains the same. The book opens with the laws of the korban, the burnt offering. The root of the word — kuf-reish-bet — denotes "nearness." The word "karov" means "near to;" "k'rovim" are your relatives, those people closest to you. The sacrifice of the "korban" brought the people closest to God. Our prayers — our sacrifices of the heart — also bring us close to God. But so do our sacred actions: tending to the ill and the bereaved, the giving of tzedakah, celebrating with friends and family the joyous moments of birth and marriage, reaching out to those in need, learning more about our faith. We are a strong society when we live our lives in conscious relationship — consciously drawing near — to the Divine.

 

A Touch of Torah by Cantor Mary Thomas 
Parashat Vayakhel-P'kudei, continues the narrative of the construction of the Ohel Moeid, the Tent of Meeting, as well as concluding the Book of Exodus. One of the most amazing features of this portion is that Moses must ask the Israelites to stop bringing gifts for the construction of the Tabernacle! In the preceding chapters, the community's outpouring of gifts of material and skilled labor had been so great, that all of the needs of the community had been fully met. Moses was able to proclaim throughout the community, "Let no man or woman make further effort towards gifts for the sanctuary!"

This text is often used to describe the dream state of Jewish non-profits. Oh, that we could all give enough that we could say whole-heartedly that coffers are truly full!

What if, instead, we interpreted this phenomena of having too much of a good thing in our personal lives? Where are the places that we can learn to say that we surely have enough and need no more? For each of us, the answer would be different. For those who struggle with excessive consumption, whether it be food, wealth, professional accolades, or even social connections, finding the courage to say, "I have enough and need no more," can be one of the most freeing and empowering statements ever to make.



A Touch of Torah by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich
Jews have always been reluctant to number people – we teach that humanity contains a divine spark, a shard of the infinite, and potential that therefore cannot be contained as a number. We also have a history of interpreting the numbering of people as a prelude to forcing populations into labor without pay, or unfair taxes.

This week in Ki Tissa, God commanded Moses in Exodus, Chapter 30, Verse 12:
When you take up the head-count of the Israelites, in counting them, they are to give, each-man, a ransom for his life…
This accounting served as a ransom, a redemption, and everyone gave the same amount, a half shekel, rich or poor, to support the Mishkan, that portable Temple in the desert.

Every single person is responsible for an equal part of the community's support. Citizenship requires all of us to participate at a bare minimum level, and our community's fate relies on each of us playing our part.

Similarly, by doing our parts, we gain the support of the community in return – the redemption we receive today comes from the caring, concern, and celebration a healthy community provides all its members.



A Touch of Torah by Rabbi Judy Schindler
As the coming Shabbat will depart, we will welcome the Jewish holiday of Purim – a festival of fun and frivolity.  This is a time of levity when we make light of all that we take so seriously during the rest of year and bring laughter into our lives and our liturgy.  Reb Nachman of Breslov, a great Chasidic teacher, was once asked: What is the difference between sadness and joy? And he taught:  Sadness empties you out while joy really fills you, whatever you have is full.  Judaism has its holidays of solemnity. Yom Kippur is first and foremost among them.  Purim stands at the opposite end of the holiday experience as it is a holiday of utter joy.  Embrace this opportunity for celebration and join us for at least one of the six Purim adventures that Beth El has to offer this coming Saturday night and Sunday. Chag Purim Sameach – have a joyous holiday of Purim. Join us for one or all of the Purim Adventures at Temple Beth El. View the Adventures HERE.


A Touch of Torah by Andy Harkavy, Director of Youth Engagement
T'raumah, this week's Torah portion, means gifts.  In this Torah portion, God instructs Moses to create a dwelling place for God where the Israelites can bring God gifts.  Moses is given detailed instructions on what the Mishkan (Tabernacle) should look like and how it should be built.  This Tabernacle includes an ark, two cherubim, curtains, and a menorah.  These instructions for construction are important as this dwelling for God should be able to be readily dismantled, transported and reassembled as the Israelites wandered through the desert. 



A Touch of Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education    
     This week's Torah portion is Mishpatim, which means judgments or ordinances.  This parsha is filled with the laws covering virtually every aspect of human life.  These rules are a combination of moral values, social and behavioral standards, civil and criminal rulings and rules for worship. They are the first body of laws in the Torah.  The Israelites are also cautioned to remember their treatment as strangers in a strange land, a concept that is repeated 36 times in the Torah.  In our modern world we find some of these laws challenging to understand. There are several laws that deal with slavery, an acceptable practice and a concept that is unthinkable today.  The principle of "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", is also a verse from this text and is often misunderstood in its intention.  The body of these laws are all given by God to Moses and support the distinct relationship between God and the people of Israel.

A Touch of Torah by Cantor Andrew Bernard
     This week's Torah portion, Yitro, is best known for the giving of the Ten Commandments. But there is a wonderfully instructive story preceding that dramatic event. Having successfully left Egypt, Moses gets down to the business of serving as judge and legal counsel for the Israelites. When Moses' father-in-law, Yitro (Jethro), sees how much the people demand of Moses, he admonishes his son-in-law that all of this work puts an unfair burden not only upon him, but on all the people who rely on him as well. He advises him to find others who can share the burden so that no one person is unduly weighed down, and so the people can have their cases heard more expeditiously. This allows Moses to use his energy to arbitrate only the most difficult cases. It is a reminder that taking enormous responsibility upon ourselves is not always virtuous. When we take on too heavy a load, we not only harm ourselves, but the people we seek to serve as well. While our motives may have been good, we achieve better results by spreading out the work of serving the community.



A Touch of Torah by Cantor Mary Thomas
     This week's Torah portion, B'shallach is one of the most beloved by Jewish people the world over, and cantors in particular. B'shallach, never too far off from our nation's MLK observances by coincidence, is when the Children of Israel finally have their first taste of freedom. Standing on the shores of the raging Red Sea, the Israelites walk to the far shore on dry land, two magnificent and terrible walls of water on either side. When they are safely across to the other side, they sing out with wonder: "Mi Chamocha baeilim, Adonai? Mi Kamocha nedar bakodesh?" - Who is like you among the gods that are worshipped, Adonai? Who is like you, working sacred wonders?

     Jewish communities around the world have special, very old melodies to chant the Song at the Sea - the Shirat Hayam. Scholars recognize that the Hebrew is particularly ancient and are confident that this song is among the oldest traditions in our Torah, passed from generation to generation before arriving in its final form in our Torah. Our tradition elevates what it knows to be most sacred with music.

     There are many who have yet to know the full realization of their personal freedom, whether the suffer the bonds of oppression, discrete discrimination, or even the internalization of bias and hate that we harbor in the darkest parts of our souls. Let each year as we read our people's song of freedom stir in us the willingness to do more, to be better, and to act more lovingly towards our fellow humankind.

 

Touch of Torah by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich
How powerful is God and how does God use that power?
These questions arise in this week's Torah reading, Bo, which includes the final plagues and the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt.
     God commanded Moses in the opening of the parasha (Exodus Chapter 10, verses 1-2):
"…Come to Pharaoh! For I have made his heart and the heart of his servants heavy-with-stubbornness, in order that I may put these my signs among them
2 and in order that you may recount in the ears of your child and of your child's child how I have been capricious with Egypt, and my signs, which I have placed upon them – that you may know that I am God."
     God's explicit purpose made life difficult for the Egyptians so that the Israelites would understand the extent of God's power. God's power extends beyond physical miracles, God also controls Pharaoh's heart and mind.
     One of our Renaissance scholars from Italy, Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno, suggests that God made Pharaoh more stubborn so that other Egyptians would have the opportunity to repent. This reading expands our understanding of God. God now cares for more than the Israelites – God cares for all of creation.
     In Sforno's reading we can bring our ideas of God into the central message of the Exodus, that all peoples deserve consideration, and that we should not oppress others because we were once oppressed.


Touch of Torah by Rabbi Judy Schindler  
     In this week's parashah, Vaera, Moses encounters God a second time.  In this second revelation, through which God urges Moses to help free the Israelites from slavery, God states, "I appeared to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and El Shaddai – the almighty God, but My name, Adonai, I did not make known to them." (Exodus 6:3)   God's most personal name, the tetragrammaton which is ineffable, God reveals to Moses.  According to Rabbi Gunther Plaut, author of our Torah Commentary, "Moses begins to see God in a new light: God is faithful, merciful, and compassionate; God remembers God's people and God will redeem them."
     Just as all of us have different sides of ourselves which we show to different people, our professional selves, our working out selves, our personal selves, ourselves as friends, children, parents, or life partners, so does God have many different names and faces. As Moses, in this week's parashah, moves beyond the partriarchs' understanding of God, we too, need to move beyond our childhood notions of God or our traditional notions of God. We need to form our own close connections with the Divine. We can do this through prayer, through study, through silence, through continuously struggling to understand how God acts in this world and in our lives.



Touch of Torah by Andy Harkavy, Director of Youth Engagement
     This week's parsha, Shemot - "names," is the first chapter in the Book of Exodus. This is fitting as we have approached the entrance to a new secular year.  Pharaoh issues harsh decrees against the Israelites, beginning decades of Jewish suffering and slavery. Moses kills an Egyptian who was beating his Israelite slave, and escapes to Midian where he marries Tzipporah.  God appears to Moses in a burning bush and demands that he return to Egypt to redeem the Israelites.  God says to Moses: "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." As Moses and the Israelites move forward, they are connected to those who came before them. Likewise, our journey into the secular New Year as a congregation is built on the foundations of those who came before us over our 70 year history.



Touch of Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education
     This Torah portion derives its name from the Hebrew for "he lived".  Jacob, feeling that his death is imminent makes Joseph, his son, promise to bury him in Canaan, the land of his ancestors.  Joseph comes to Jacob with his two sons, Ephraim and Menashe, as he lies on his deathbed. Before Jacob blesses his sons, he calls his grandsons to his side to receive a blessing and he adopts them as his own sons.  He kisses them and expresses his joy at having lived long enough to see grandchildren. To this day we still have the tradition of blessing our children. 
To our sons we say "May Adonai make you like Ephraim and Menashe".  To our daughters we say, "May Adonai make you like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah". 
We continue with, "May Adonai Bless you and guard you.
May the light of God shine upon you, and may God be gracious to you.
May the presence of God be with you and give you peace".

Touch of Torah by Cantor Andrew Bernard 
     This week's Torah portion continues the story of Joseph and his brothers being reunited in Egypt. Joseph achieved high rank in the court of Pharoah when he foresaw the impending famine which he then prepared the Egyptians to endure. His brothers — seeking relief from the famine — come upon Joseph, whom they do not recognize. The name of this portion is Vayigash, a verb meaning "to draw near." As Joseph's brothers draw near to him and Joseph reveals his identity, a powerful reunion takes place with a mixture of emotions. There is joy, shock, and fear, and the complexity of the different relationships —between Joseph and his father, Joseph and his brother Benjamin, and Joseph with the remaining brothers — demonstrates in a very real way the complexity of familial relationships we all experience. We cannot avoid the complexity of our relationships, but with both effort and perhaps a little divine intervention, we can certainly heal them.


Touch of Torah by Cantor Mary Thomas
     Take four minutes to watch G-dcast's take on this week's Torah portion, Mikeitz. Narrated by sociologist Tobin Beltzer, this brief cartoon provides insight into the world of Joseph, the dream interpreter. This Torah portion is read at Chanukah time each year. I've always thought that it's no coincidence that we read about how lives can be changed by dreaming at the very season when we let the light of our people and our faith warm our homes.  What can we dream for ourselves and our community in the year to come as we light our hearts anew?


Touch of Torah by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich 12-4-12
     This week's parashah, Va-Yeishev, opens, "And Jacob settled in the land of his father's soujourns, in the land of Canaan." (Genesis 37:1)

Jacob aimed to return to the land of his father in peace. Following his dramatic dream of angels going up and down from earth he prayed: "…if I come back in peace to my father's house…" (Genesis 28:21)
 
Rashi, one of the classic Medieval commentators imagined God's response to Jacob's settling: "Is it not enough for the righteous, what is prepared for them in the world to come, that they seek to settle in peace in this world?"
 
Doing the work, wrestling towards greater meaning and more righteous communities and society – these efforts can exhaust us even as we know we must continue them.
 
Even Jacob, named Israel the God wrestler, hoped that his struggle would end, that he could settle down and finally rest. Jacob's life reminds us that the work to build and maintain family continues even as our families mature. As Jacob longed to settle, his adult sons misbehaved without his leadership, and his family spun out of control.
 
Let us rally each other to continue to make the efforts, to continue to strive. We continually discover the wisdom to help us do the work as long as we continue to wrestle.



A Touch of Torah By Rabbi Judy Schindler
11-27-12

In this week's parashah called Vayishlach, Jacob our patriarch is returning to his homeland of Canaan and to his brother Esau after twenty years of being away. He left in haste those decades before after stealing his brother's birthright and blessing.  On this last night before reuniting with his brother, Jacob lay down to sleep and the text tells us that "a man struggled with him until the break of dawn." Most commentators describe this "man" as an angel.  Jacob asked this angel for a blessing and the angel changed Jacob's name to Israel, for as he explained to him, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed."

As Jews we are professional wrestlers.  As Reform Jews, we wrestle with our tradition.  We are taught to confront our sacred texts, to struggle with them, and to glean from them their innermost meaning. As modern Jews, we wrestle between Judaism and the secular part of our lives.  We labor to try and make time for our Jewish selves, as well as the self that lives outside of the synagogue. And ultimately as the B'nei Yisrael, the children of Israel, we continue our struggle with God.  The name Yisrael means one who will struggle with God.  This name is less of a description of what took place in the past with Jacob than of what will take place in the future. To be a Jew does not mean that you have to arrive at a theological certainty but at least you have to struggle.  You have to question God and you have to question the justice of God.


Touch of Torah by Andy Harkavy, Director of Youth Engagement
11-20-12

This week's portion, Vayeitzei, begins with Jacob journeying from his hometown of Be'er Sheva to Haran. On his way, he dreams about angels ascending and descending from a ladder that connects heaven and earth. God appears and reiterates the covenant originally made with Abraham that the land will be given to his descendants. When Jacob wakes up, he raises the stone as an altar, and names the place Beth El, the house of God. Our lives are filled with ups and downs, and we, too, are constantly ascending and descending. As long as we fight for what is right and remain faithful, we will always have our house of God to turn to.


Touch of Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education
11-13-12

Parsha Toldot begins with Isaac and Rebecca praying to God for a child. Rebecca finally conceives, and after a difficult pregnancy she gives birth to twins - Esau and Jacob. Esau turns to hunting while Jacob chooses to stay close to home.Returning from a hunting expedition, exhausted and starving, Esau finds Jacob cooking a pot of lentil soup. Jacob agrees to give his older brother a portion in exchange for the birthright that would go to the first-born. Esau tells Jacob "I am at the point of death, so of what use is my birthright to me" and the deal is completed.Sometimes we make decisions that will impact our future. Instant gratification can have long lasting repercussions.How we live today could determine the quality of our future.

 


Touch of Torah by Cantor Andrew Bernard
11-6-12 

This week's portion, Chayei Sarah, the life of Sarah, begins with her death. This dichotomy arises from the tradition that the Torah portion is known by the first important words: in this case stating the number of years that constituted Sarah's lifespan. What follows is a detailed account of Abraham's effort to provide a proper burial place for his wife. The importance of arranging a burial in a respectful and honorable way continues down to this day. Although the deceased doesn't experience the benefit, knowing that we have honored them at this time of transition helps us begin the healing process we all must go through in order to turn our grief from loss into celebration of the life that touched us so deeply.


Touch of Torah by Cantor Mary Thomas
10-30-12 

Each time I read this week's parashah, Vayera, I am struck by the very first episode: Abraham greets three strangers passing by and offers them shelter from the sun and his family's best food and drink. We learn here about the mitzvah of hachnassat orchim – welcoming guests.
We all have areas in our lives where we excel and areas where we do not. Some of those areas where we are lacking are worth the time and energy to do better, and other areas we can afford to shrug our shoulders and say, "That's just not my forte".
For me, hachnassat orchim is one of those areas where I do constant work to improve. I grew up in a house where guests were limited to family and very close friends. We did not entertain acquaintances or have too many big parties growing up. As I grew older and had the pleasure of being a guest in the homes of people who are great at this particular commandment, my eyes opened to the deeply Jewish value of opening one's home – and one's heart – to all created in God's image.
That said, of course there can be too much of a good thing. In the very section following Abraham's encounter with the three visitors, we have an episode in which Lot essentially offers to allow great harm to come to his children in order to protect guests in his home. Surely, the safety and health of those dearest to us must never be sacrificed at the hands of trying to live righteously. Growing as Jews and citizen's of our world is a finely balanced act. We strive to do better and be better, all the while with a close eye that it can never be at the expense of those who are so dear to us.


Touch of Torah by Rabbi Jonathan Freirich
10-23-12 

God said to Abram: Go-you-forth from your land, from your kindred, from your father's house, to the land that I will let you see. (Genesis 12:1)
This opening verse to this week's parasha includes the words that the parasha is named for, Lech Lecha, and we translate them above as "Go-you-forth". We could just also read them as "Go to yourself".
Journeys to other places often mean more about "finding our selves" than finding a new place. As Abram, not yet Abraham, and his family set out from home to find a new place for themselves we can hear the observation of Paul Monette: "Home is the place you get to, not the place you come from."*
We descendants of Abraham, we journeyers, we must remember that the transformation we seek by leaving must still be found within us. We may find a home by moving, in that by moving we also change our selves. Just as the Mishnah asks us to "make for ourselves a teacher" (Pirkei Avot 1:6), so we must also make a home for our selves.

*From: Halfway Home, (New York: Crown, 1991) p. 262; Quoted by Caryn Aviv and Karen Erlichman in the collection Torah Queeries, Gregg Drinkwater, Joshua Lesser, David Shneer (eds.), (New York: NYU Press, 2009), p. 24.


A Touch of Torah by Rabbi Judy Schindler
10-16-12 

We all know the story of Noah captured in this week's parashah. God is unhappy with creation. According to the sages, there was corruption and immorality and God desired to wind back the hands of time and wipe out most of the living world. Noah is called upon to build a large ark and does just that, saving himself, his own family, two pairs of every unkosher animal and seven pairs of every kosher animal. Noah built an ark only for his family. He did not reach out to save others. There is a Yiddush expression called a tzaddik in peltz which means literally "a righteous person in a fur coat." A tzadik in peltz is one who wears a fur coat, warming only himself rather than building a fire and warming others. It is a negative term for someone who tends to their own spiritual needs while ignoring the spiritual needs of others. May this week's parashah inspire us to create places of warmth and welcome not only for ourselves but for others. May we be moved to give time and talent to our schools, to community organizations and to our home of Temple Beth El.



A Touch of Torah by Andy Harkavy, Director of Youth Engagement
10-9-12

In the first portion of the Torah, Bershit, God creates the world in six days.  In each of the first six days, God creates something new: separating light from darkness, water and land, man and women, etc...   God sanctifies the seventh day so we could all enjoy the Sabbath in our own special way.  We are supposed to make Shabbat different from the rest of the week.  My Shabbat is special because I relax, hang out with friends, enjoy the outdoors, and watch sports.  Many of us make promises at the secular New Year for ourselves.  In addition, the High Holy Days also provide us with a period of introspection and reflection so that we may better our lives and those around us.  My challenge to each of you is to find something special to do to sanctify your Sabbath in 5773 and to make a personal commitment to improve the world around you.  After all, God created the world for us to live in, and it is our duty and obligation to take care of the world in which we live. 


A Touch of Torah by Susan Jacobs, Director of Education 
10-2-12

     This Shabbat is Chol Hamoed Sukkot, the intermediate days of the holiday.The Torah portion we read is Exodus 33:12-34:26.Moses has just pleaded with God to forgive the Israelite's transgressions after losing faith and building the golden calf.As the Israelites repent, God re-establishes the covenant between them.In this covenant, God promises to drive out the inhabitants of the land in which they will settle.In exchange, the Israelites must not make idols, and they are also commanded to observe the three festivals, Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.At Temple Beth El we often refer to the covenantal relationship between the Temple and our congregants.We are here for our members and they, in turn share the responsibility of making sure that the Temple is sound.We must also remember that the primary covenantal relationship is between us Jews and God.We are commanded to observe Sukkot as part of our covenant. After our reflection on Yom Kippur, Sukkot is the time to move from introspection to action by welcoming our community into our Temple home. We hope you will take advantage of the many opportunities we offer for our families to enjoy the beauty of Sukkot and wish you a Chag Sameach, a joyful holiday.
 


 A Touch of Torah by Cantor Andrew Bernard
9-25-12 

During this week's Yom Kippur services, we break from the annual Torah reading cycle and return to two texts with special lessons for the Day of Atonement. On Yom Kippur morning we read from parashat Nitzavim in which Moses brings together all the people to stand before God, telling them that they must choose whether or not to accept the life-giving teachings of Torah. Moses emphasizes that it is within the grasp of each person to follow God's path. This is our choice on Atonement Day. In the afternoon, we will read from the Holiness Code: words from Leviticus that instruct us to "love your neighbor as yourself" and spells out many of the things we must do to bring health and wholeness to our family and community.



A Touch of Torah by Cantor Mary Thomas
9-19-12
  How does this week's Torah portion relate to Rabbi Judy's sermon Rosh Hashanah on middot? Watch this short video to find out! Gamar chatimah tovah - May we all be inscribed for good in the year to come.