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Lech L’cha (Genesis 12:1−17:27)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Lech L’cha – לָךְ-לְךָ (Genesis 12:1−17:27)

“Adonai had said to Abram, ‘Go from … to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation’”; Adonai’s first calling to our first Ancestor is to become a great Nation!

Since the time of Abraham, the Jew has always related personhood to peoplehood. We are part of a people; for Jews, participation in sacred community is the path to ultimate meaning.

Parsha Lech L’cha Torah Summary:

Abram, Sarai, and Lot go to Canaan. (12:1-9) Famine takes them to Egypt, where Abram identifies Sarai as his sister in order to save his life. (12:10-20) Abram and Lot separate. Lot is taken captive, and Abram rescues him. (13:1-14:24) Abram has a son, Ishmael, with his Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. (16:1-16) God establishes a covenant with Abram. The sign of this covenant is circumcision on the eighth day following a male baby’s birth. (17:1-27) “Adonai had said to Abram, ‘Go from … to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation’”; Adonai’s first calling to our first Ancestor is to become a great Nation! Since the time of Abraham, the Jew has always related personhood to peoplehood. We are part of a people; for Jews, participation in sacred community is the path to ultimate meaning. Abram, Sarai, and Lot go to Canaan. (12:1-9) Famine takes them to Egypt, where Abram identifies Sarai as his sister in order to save his life. (12:10-20) Abram and Lot separate. Lot is taken captive, and Abram rescues him. (13:1-14:24) Abram has a son, Ishmael, with his Egyptian maidservant, Hagar. (16:1-16) God establishes a covenant with Abram. The sign of this covenant is circumcision on the eighth day following a male baby’s birth. (17:1-27) “Adonai had said to Abram, ‘Go from … to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation’”; Adonai’s first calling to our first Ancestor is to become a great Nation! Since the time of Abraham, the Jew has always related personhood to peoplehood. We are part of a people; for Jews, participation in sacred community is the path to ultimate meaning.

Noach (Genesis 6:9−11:32)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Noach – נֹחַ (Genesis 6:9−11:32)

Who was Noah? Good or Bad?

“Noah was a righteous person,” says the Torah, and then adds, “in his generation,” meaning maybe a compliment. Even though everyone near him was evil, he managed to stay righteous, or maybe the opposite, compared to the horrible people around him, he was righteous, however in a different generation, he would not be considered righteous.

And I ask myself, what kind of a person hears about a flood that will destroy the entire world, and does not warn his neighbors?

Instead of letting everyone know, he saves himself and his family and only them. Hope and pray we live in a generation that such behavior will be called selfish not righteous!

Parsha Noach Torah 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 again after the Flood. The Noahide Commandments are listed, and God uses a rainbow to make a symbol of the first covenant. (9:1-17) People start to build a city and the Tower of Babel. God scatters the people and gives them different languages to speak. (11:1-9) The ten generations from Noah to Abram are listed. (11:10-29:2) Who was Noah? Good or Bad? “Noah was a righteous person,” says the Torah, and then adds, “in his generation,” meaning maybe a compliment. Even though everyone near him was evil, he managed to stay righteous, or maybe the opposite, compared to the horrible people around him, he was righteous, however in a different generation, he would not be considered righteous. And I ask myself, what kind of a person hears about a flood that will destroy the entire world, and does not warn his neighbors? Instead of letting everyone know, he saves himself and his family and only them. Hope and pray we live in a generation that such behavior will be called selfish not righteous!

Drive-In Movie Night

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Thank you to everyone who joined us for The Temple’s first-ever Drive-In Movie Night! We enjoyed a beautiful night under the stars with snacks, assigned parking spaces, social-distancing and donated non-perishables for our local food pantry. Thanks to all who attended!

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Event Description:

You’re invited to a date at the drive-in! On October 17, The Temple will host a family movie night, under the stars, in our front parking lot. We’ll set up a big screen in our front parking lot and every car gets free snacks as they enter.

Based on an overwhelming member vote – we’ll feature The Secret Life of Pets 2. If you have not yet RSVP’d, please do so ASAP.

The Temple will follow social-distancing guidelines and require all participants to RSVP prior to the event and wear masks. Cars will be spaced out to maintain a social distance so everyone can relax and enjoy the movie. Restrooms in the building will be available, children will need to be chaperoned.  Safety is our #1 priority.

This event is free of charge with your donation of a blanket or food pantry item. See you at the drive-in!

Thank you everyone for joining us for our first Drive-In Movie Night. We passed out snacks and treats, assign spots at a social distance, and donated goods for local causes. Thank you everyone who came! You’re invited to a date at the drive-in! On October 17, The Temple will host a family movie night, under the stars, in our front parking lot. We’ll set up a big screen in our front parking lot and every car gets free snacks as they enter. Based on an overwhelming member vote – we’ll feature The Secret Life of Pets 2. If you have not yet RSVP’d, please do so ASAP. The Temple will follow social-distancing guidelines and require all participants to RSVP prior to the event and wear masks. Cars will be spaced out to maintain a social distance so everyone can relax and enjoy the movie. Restrooms in the building will be available, children will need to be chaperoned. Safety is our #1 priority. This event is free of charge with your donation of a blanket or food pantry item. See you at the drive-in!

B’reishit (Genesis 1:1-6:8)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: B’reishit – בְּרֵאשִׁית (Genesis 1:1-6:8)

The great scholar Rabbi Akiva famously said that the greatest principle in all of the Torah is to: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). But a more humble scholar of that same ancient age named Ben Azzai, chose instead a more humble verse from this week’s Torah Portion. Ben Azzai said that the greatest principle in all of the Torah is:

“This is the story of the generations of Adam: When God created Adam, God made that first human being in God’s own likeness.” (Genesis 5:1)

It is an unlikely choice, I know – one of the many “begats” in the Bible which simply begins a long list of the genealogy of some character whose story is about to be told. But this isn’t just any genealogy, this is the line of the very first human soul, so this is the beginnings of us all.

And, that is Ben Azzai’s point in choosing this verse as the first and greatest principle in all of the Torah. We are all the descendants of one human family and each of us carries within us a certain likeness of the Divine. We are all God’s Children, the creations of God’s hands, and when we see that in one another, there can be no greater principle for the Torah to teach, or for us to learn.

Love your neighbor as yourself, for we are all the children of the One Eternal God.

Parsha B’reishit Torah Summary:

God creates the world and everything in it in six days and rests on the seventh. (1:1-2:3) Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden, where they eat the forbidden fruit and are subsequently exiled. (2:15-3:24) Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills his brother, Abel. (4:1-24) Adam and Eve have another child named Seth. The Torah lists the ten generations from Adam to Noah. (4:25-5:32) God regrets having created human beings and decides to destroy everything on earth, but Noah finds favor with God. (6:5-6:8)

Simchat Torah (Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12, Genesis 1:1–2:3)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Simchat Torah – שִׂמחַת תוֹרָה (Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12, Genesis 1:1–2:3)

There is a tradition that when we say a blessing over food, like the motzi, – between the blessing of the bread and the eating of it, we must not talk or wait any amount of time, but eat the food right away. Similarly, there is a tradition on Simchat Torah that when the Torah Reader says the very last word of the Torah, Yisrael, immediately afterwards they should say the very first word of the Torah, Bereisheet, all in one breath.

On this last day of our harvest festival of Sukkot, we read the last words of the story and then we return to the beginning. This is the ultimate act of T’shuvah, which means repentance or return. Immediately after the High Holy Days, we complete our annual cycle for the reading of the Torah. We turn to the last page and we return to the first: back on the path of Torah, back on the path toward the building of our better selves, back on the path toward the building of a better world.

Now is the time for turning. The summer has past, the leaves have begun to turn, from green to yellow and orange. Our Holy Days are now a memory, may we return to our path renewed.

Parsha Simchat Torah Summary:

On Simchat Torah, the day on which we literally celebrate the Torah, we read the very end of Deuteronomy and the very beginning of Genesis. In the final verses of Torah, we read Moses’ blessing of the Israelites, offered before the prophet dies. Moses then ascends Mount Nebo, from which he sees the Promised Land and takes his final breath. God buries Moses and we are told there will never be another prophet like him. From this passage, we immediately begin our new cycle of Torah reading with the story of creation from the beginning of Genesis. And we create a new year of studying Torah. While each year we return to the same verses, it is we who are different. With each passing year, we grow and change, celebrate and mourn. And it is as if we are reading these sacred words for the very first time.

First Day of Sukkot (Leviticus 23:33-44)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: First Day of Sukkot – יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל סֻכֹּת (Leviticus 23:33-44)

This week we read a special portion from the Torah which calls us to celebrate the harvest festival of Sukkot. In Biblical times they offered sacrifices by fire, gathered the branches of trees and their fruit, and dwelt in temporary shelters for the week of the festival. All this in order to offer thanks to God for redeeming us from slavery in Egypt and bringing us to the Promised Land.

Few of us bring in harvests from our fields and yet we have much to be thankful for as we celebrate this festival of Sukkot. We can offer thanks for the food we eat and the many hands which carefully bring it to our tables. Say a blessing for those who stock our grocery shelves and deliver our food, for those who produce it and bring it forth from the earth, for the earth itself which sustains us, and for God who has created it, and sustained it, and allowed us to celebrate this day. 

.בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָם שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha-olam, shehecheyanu, v’kiyemanu, v’higianu lazman hazeh.

Parsha First Day of Sukkot Summary:

In these verses, we are instructed to observe the festival of Sukkot for seven days. The first of the seven days is a sacred day, one on which we refrain from work. Our ancestors brought sacrifices to the Temple on each of the days and lived in a booth. Why would we be expected to dwell in a fragile booth, exposed to the elements? Perhaps it is so that we do not take our possessions for granted. Anyone who has experienced a hurricane or a fire in their home knows just how fragile our dwellings really are. We are told of the lulav and the etrog and we are commanded to rejoice on each of the seven days. How wonderful to be commanded to celebrate!