July 2021

Eikev (Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25)

July 30, 2021/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Eikev – עֵקֶב (Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25)

Why did God choose the people of Israel? Are we special? Better? Wiser? Mightier?

The answer is NO. We are not better than any other Nation, as God explains it to Moses:

“Yet it was to your ancestors that Adonai our God was drawn (Lusted in the original Hebrew) in love for them, so that God chose you, their lineal descendants, from among all peoples—as is now the case” (Deuteronomy 10:15).

God fell in love with our ancestors, and love is a mystery, it does not always make sense. God explains that Israel is smaller than other Nations, and not that great, however, God has a crush on us, so we are chosen.

Va-et’chanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-25)

July 23, 2021/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Va-et’chanan – וָאֶתְחַנַּן (Deuteronomy 3:23-25)

The most important section of this week’s Torah Portion, Va-et’chanan, are the words of the Shema:

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהֹוָה אֶחָד׃
Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad.
“Hear O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One.”

That the Shema would contain the most important words in any Torah Portion which it might appear should come as no surprise. These are the watchwords of our faith, the self-defining, single most important value for our people over these past 3500 years. We are the people who worship the One God of Heaven and Earth. What other collection of words might be more precious to us or have had more impact on the world.

And yet, this week’s portion also includes the Ten Commandments, a code of justice and righteousness known the world over and adopted by people of many faiths as their own. But there is a reason why we recite the Shema in our services everyday; why we say the Shema in the morning and at night; why we roll slips of parchment with these words into boxes on the doorpost of our homes; why these are the last words we are meant to say.

There was once a time, more than 2000 years ago, when the Ten Commandments played that central role in the life of our people. Replacing them with the Shema was a thoughtful choice, based on the belief that no list of commandments, however short or long, could answer the question why we should follow these rules.

Choosing the Shema as the watchword of our faith meant directing ourselves toward our relationship with God, as partners in the building of a better world. Shema Yisrael – One commandment that encompasses them all.

D’varim (Deuteronomy 1:1−3:22)

July 16, 2021/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: D’varim – דְבָרִים (Deuteronomy 1:1−3:22)

The distance from Mount Sinai to the banks of the Jordan River where Moses spoke to the Children of Israel overlooking the Promised Land is about an eleven day march on foot. And yet, it took 40 years before we would finally arrive!

The story of that long journey, our wanderings through the wilderness, recounted in this week’s Torah Portion D’varim, teaches us that the journey from slavery to freedom was not one of distance, but of time. The generation who followed after Moses, through fear and plagues, through walls of waters; who stood in awe and terror at the foot of Mount Sinai as Moses brought down God’s Ten Commandments – they had learned to follow their faith. But when they were called to become the creators of their own destiny, they stepped back in doubt and in fear.

This new generation who had never known slavery, who were raised in the wilderness, who had fought their way home, stand now again within sight of the Promised Land – and this time they choose to be the makers of their long awaited destiny. Moses speaks these words of D’varim to a people united by their journey.

This is what we mean when we pray:

“Standing on the parted shores of history, we still believe what we were taught before ever we stood at Sinai’s foot; that wherever we go, it is eternally Egypt, that there is a better place, a Promised Land; that the winding way to that promise passes through the wilderness. That there is no way to get from here to there except by joining hands, marching together.”

That journey of our people continues still today, that promise of our future is still waiting to be redeemed, and the lesson of that journey remain with us as well. That there is no way to get from here to there except by joining hands, and marching together.

Matot – Mas-ei (Numbers 30:2–36:13)

July 9, 2021/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Matot – Mas-ei – מַטּוֹת – מַסְעֵי (Numbers 30:2–36:13)

It says in the Talmud that the Torah is “black fire written on white fire.” These words have been understood in many ways, but they all begin with an image of the fire you can see (the black fire) and the fire you can’t see (the white fire).

This week’s Torah Portion, Matot – Mas-ei, is a lesson on Black Fire and White Fire. The black fire, the story written in black ink upon a white parchment page, begins with the tale of the tribes of Reuben and Gad who came to Moses and said that they would actually prefer not to settle in the Promised Land, rather here where they stood, on the far side of the Jordan River. They were herdsmen, and this looked to be fine land for grazing their flocks and herds. Moses replies: “Do you mean your brothers should go to war while you stay here?”

The Torah has no punctuation marks, no frowning face emojis, to help us understand the tone of Moses words. But, it seems clear that Moses is upset. You can see it in the White Fire of the page. There is a long blank space immediately following Moses’ question. And in that space this moment, and the next moment, and the entire history of the Jewish people hangs in the balance. Moses is thinking, “We have been here before. They are just like their ancestors who feared to enter the Promised Land 40 years ago.” The leaders of Reuben and Gad are weighing their words, “How can we assure Moses and the rest of the Children of Israel that we want only a good home for our families and our flocks?”

And then out of the White Fire the Black Fire returns: the tribes of Reuben and Gad step forward and reply: “We shall build sheepfolds here for our flocks and towns for our children to stay in. Then we will serve as shock-troops in the vanguard for the Children of Israel… We will not return to our homes until every one of the Israelites is in possession of his portion.” And out of that same White Fire Moses hears their plea and agrees.

Reading between the words and beneath the lines of the Torah we find the heart of a nation being born: black fire written on white fire, out of many we have become one.

Pinchas (Numbers 25:10−30:1)

July 2, 2021/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Pinchas – פִּינְחָס (Numbers 25:10−30:1)

It’s so small you could almost miss it, just four words of Hebrew tucked away amidst the five chapters of Torah which make up this week’s parashah, Pinchas:

וְשֵׁם בַּת־אָשֵׁר שָׂרַח׃
“The name of Asher’s daughter was Serah.” (Numbers 26:46)

Remarkable as it might seem that this one woman would be listed among the names of all the men who are counted in the great census taken by Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, there is more. Serah, the daughter of Asher, is also listed in the census taken in Genesis 46:17 listing all the souls who went down into Egypt with Jacob and his sons. Serah was the daughter of Asher, Asher was the son of Jacob, so Serah was Jacob’s granddaughter… which means Serah is the only member of the Children of Israel wandering with Moses through the wilderness who actually remembered the Promised Land. At the time of this census, Serah was 450 years old.

Because of her long life, Serah appears from time to time in Jewish legends teach us lessons about our past. A thousand years later, we are told, Rabban Yohannan ben Zakkai was teaching his students that the waters of the Red Sea looked like walls of sprouting bushes, when a voice called out, “No, it wasn’t like that at all!” “Who are you?” Rabban Yohanan asked. “I am Serah daughter of Asher. And I know exactly what those walls looked like because I crossed the Red Sea.” “They resembled shining mirrors in which were reflected every man, woman and child, so that it seemed like an even greater number crossed there, not only those of the present, but also those of the past and future as well.” And when Serah finished speaking, none dared contradict her.

The lesson Serah daughter of Asher teaches us is that all of us traveled from slavery to freedom as one. Until all of us are free, none of us are truly free.

Eikev (Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25)

Parsha Eikev Torah Summary:

Va-et’chanan (Deuteronomy 3:23-25)

Parsha Va-et’chanan Torah Summary:

D’varim (Deuteronomy 1:1−3:22)

Parsha D’varim Torah Summary:

Matot – Mas-ei (Numbers 30:2–36:13)

Parsha Matot – Mas-ei Torah Summary:

Pinchas (Numbers 25:10−30:1)

Parsha Pinchas Torah Summary:

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