Vayak’heil – P’kudei – וַיַּקְהֵל – פְקוּדֵי (Exodus 35:1–40:38)

March 17, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayak’heil – P’kudei – וַיַּקְהֵל – פְקוּדֵי (Exodus 35:1–40:38)

The Cloud of God’s Presence: Vayak’heil – P’kudei
By Cantor Lauren Adesnik

The Tabernacle is FINALLY finished. The instructions and construction of this sacred dwelling place for God comprised most of the book of Exodus. After the Tabernacle, Moses anoints and installs Aaron and his sons as the High Priests of the congregation. (Yes- this is where we get our liturgy and tradition of formally installing our clergy and sacred leadership of modern synagogues!) Finally, God descends into the Tabernacle as a cloud.

We learn that when the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on their journeys. If the cloud did not lift, they would not set out. For over the Tabernacle, a cloud of Adonai rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night before the eyes of all the House of Israel throughout their journeys.

This is a beautiful image of God as protector and guide for the Jewish people. It also elevates the concept of discernment. Discernment is the practice of deep listening beneath the surface of our initial thoughts and emotions. This profound exploration of ourselves and others within the various situations we find ourselves in allows us to choose the path that serves our highest good.

The Israelites understood that if the cloud did not lift, it was not time for them to continue on their journey. Today we have to do more spiritual work than our early counterparts, but the result is the same. When we invite something bigger than ourselves into consideration, our path is true and serves our highest purpose for ourselves and the world.

Ki Tisa – כִּי תִשָּׂא (Exodus 30:11−34:35)

March 10, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Ki Tisa – כִּי תִשָּׂא (Exodus 30:11−34:35)

Ki Tisa: The Gift of Shabbat
By Cantor Lauren Adesnik

Moses is communing with God over 40 days and 40 nights at Mt. Sinai. One of the most pivotal moments in Moses and God’s spiritual connection occurs at God’s declaration that the People of Israel shall observe Shabbat and that this observance will serve as the symbol of the holy relationship between God and the People of Israel forever. In this parsha, this declaration later forms a central part of our Shabbat liturgy: V’shamru.

Ki Tisa teaches us that Shabbat is an anchor in our chaotic world. From the inception of our Jewish heritage, Shabbat has been the focal point defining our sacred time. According to S.A. Taub of Modzhitz, a Hasidic teacher in Poland, Shabbat is intentionally mentioned twice in this parsha to emphasize that Shabbat is about being and doing. Shabbat is both a state of being and an existence that has to be actively pursued (hence the “doing” part).

Not only is it a time for us to rest from the busy schedules of our daily life, but it is also a time to gather as communities and families. Actively gathering together in this way fosters deeper and more meaningful relationships with those we love, with the world, and with God.

Take a moment this weekend, and bask in the elevation of holy time. Pick one moment and immerse yourself in it. This is the gift of Shabbat.

Parsha Ki Tisa – כִּי תִשָּׂא Torah Summary:

Moses takes a census of the Israelites and collects a half-shekel from each person (30:11-16) God tells Moses to construct a water basin and to prepare anointing oil and incense for the ordination of the priests. Bezalel and Oholiab, skilled artisans, are assigned to make objects for the priests and the Tabernacle. (30:17-31:11) The Israelites are instructed to keep Shabbat as a sign of their covenant with God. God gives Moses the two tablets of the Pact. (31:12-18) The Israelites ask Aaron to build them a Golden Calf. Moses implores God not to destroy the people and then breaks the two tablets of the Pact on which the Ten Commandments are written when he sees the idol. God punishes the Israelites by means of a plague. (32:1-35) Moses goes up the mountain with a blank set of tablets for another 40 days so that God will again inscribe the Ten Commandments. Other laws, including the edict to observe the Pilgrimage Festivals, are also revealed. (34:1-28) Moses comes down from the mountain with a radiant face. (34:29-35) Ki Tisa – כִּי תִשָּׂא Ki Tisa: The Gift of Shabbat By Cantor Lauren Adesnik Moses is communing with God over 40 days and 40 nights at Mt. Sinai. One of the most pivotal moments in Moses and God’s spiritual connection occurs at God’s declaration that the People of Israel shall observe Shabbat and that this observance will serve as the symbol of the holy relationship between God and the People of Israel forever. In this parsha, this declaration later forms a central part of our Shabbat liturgy: V’shamru. Ki Tisa teaches us that Shabbat is an anchor in our chaotic world. From the inception of our Jewish heritage, Shabbat has been the focal point defining our sacred time. According to S.A. Taub of Modzhitz, a Hasidic teacher in Poland, Shabbat is intentionally mentioned twice in this parsha to emphasize that Shabbat is about being and doing. Shabbat is both a state of being and an existence that has to be actively pursued (hence the “doing” part). Not only is it a time for us to rest from the busy schedules of our daily life, but it is also a time to gather as communities and families. Actively gathering together in this way fosters deeper and more meaningful relationships with those we love, with the world, and with God. Take a moment this weekend, and bask in the elevation of holy time. Pick one moment and immerse yourself in it. This is the gift of Shabbat.

T’tzaveh – תְּצַוֶּה (Exodus 27:20−30:10)

March 3, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: T’tzaveh – תְּצַוֶּה (Exodus 27:20−30:10)

“Stones for remembrance of the Israelite people, whose names Aaron shall carry upon his two shoulder pieces for remembrance before יהוה.”

When Aaron the High Priest wears his sacred clothes, he stops being about himself and needs a constant reminder that he stands before God on behalf of the Israelites.

Just as everyone needs to know today. All of us need constant reminders, “It is not about us, it is about whom we serve!”

T’rumah – תְּרוּמָה (Exodus 25:1−27:19)

February 24, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: T’rumah – תְּרוּמָה (Exodus 25:1−27:19)

“And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” Exodus 25:8

We build sanctuaries in space (temples and synagogues) and in time (Shabbat and holidays) to let the presence of God dwell amongst us.

A rabbi was asked: where does God live?

The rabbi answered where humans let God in.

Mishpatim – מִשְׁפָּטִים (Exodus 21:1−24:18)

February 17, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Mishpatim – מִשְׁפָּטִים (Exodus 21:1−24:18)

Right after the big revelation in Sinai, Moses shares with the people “The Scroll of The Covenant.”

You would think it would open with big mitzvot, big statements of faith. It opens with the prohibition to have a slave. The Torah teaches us that all humans are created in the image of God, no one is greater than their fellow, and no one should make someone else a servant or a slave to another human.

Yitro – יִתְרוֹ (Exodus 18:1–20:23)

February 10, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Yitro – יִתְרוֹ (Exodus 18:1–20:23)

We received the two tablets of The Covenant (Ten Commandments) from Adonai our God. Everyone was there at Sinai. We all stood there, women and men, elderly and young, rich and poor, chieftains and shleppers, all stood together, and the Torah says, “all the people saw the voices.” Everyone experienced God at Sinai.

This is the moment of the big revelation of the Torah. We are all standing before God, no mediator, no “Holy” person between us and the Divine. We are all equal before our God.

B’shalach – בְּשַׁלַּח (Exodus 13:17−17:16)

February 3, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: B’shalach – בְּשַׁלַּח (Exodus 13:17−17:166)

Freedom Song
Cantor Lauren Adesnik 4.17.2020

My strength is
my song.
My song
Is
Adonai.
The Sea
Was…
A disaster.
Moses praying.
Precious
Objects hurled
Thrown to churning currents
As if
Their value would stop the chaos.
The tears of my people-
They are more than enough to
Fill
A hundred seas.
So I jumped.
I slid and slipped,
And Moses prayed, and precious stones flew, and tears fell…
And I sang.
As I felt my last breath leaving my body
The salt water filling my crevices
The song erupted.
Michamocha BaElim Adonai, MiKamocha Ne’edar Bakodesh?
Who is like you, Adonai?
I sang the sea apart.
I sang my people to the desert beyond sight lines.
I sang them to the shores, and then they sang too.
For my song is my strength,
And God is my Song, so God is my strength.
And God is their song and their strength too.
God is all of ours.
Ozi V’zimrat Yah
God is
our song,
our strength,
our redeemer.
Now what will we do with our freedom?

Bo – בֹּא (Exodus 10:1−13:16)

January 27, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Bo – בֹּא (Exodus 10:1−13:16)

Going into Uncertainty with Confidence
Cantor Lauren Adesnik

וַאֲנַ֣חְנוּ לֹֽא־נֵדַ֗ע מַֽה־נַּעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָ֔ה עַד־בֹּאֵ֖נוּ שָֽׁמָּה׃

Va-anachnu lo-neida mah-na’avod et-Adonai ad-bo’einu shama.

“and we shall not know with what we are to worship יהוה until we arrive there.” Exodus 10:26

Moses stands before Pharoah, once again demanding that Pharoah free the Israelite people. Pharoah goads Moses and tries to bargain with him, “leave behind your livestock,” Pharoah says, and you may go. Moses’ reply demonstrates strength and faith. Men, women, children, and all livestock will come with us, says Moses, because “we shall not know with what we are to worship God until we arrive.” At this moment, Moses has no idea of what’s to come. Moses is following a direct calling from God guided by his faith.

May we find the faith, strength, and inspiration to enter the unknown like Moses. Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Written in the Vilna Ghetto, the song Zog Nit Keynmol, became an anthem of the underground resistance movement. Song to an Unknown Partisan expresses the same faith and courage Moses exudes as he stands up to Pharoah. Let us remember, even in our darkest days, we are here, we are moving forward together.

Never say this is the final round for you,
Though leadened skies may cover over days of blue.
As the hour that we longed for is so near,
Our step beats out the message- we are here!
From lands so green with palms to lands all white with snow,
We shall be coming with our anguish and our woe,
And where a spurt of our blood fell on the earth,
There our courage and our spirit have rebirth.
The early morning sun will brighten our day.
And yesterday with our foe will fade away.
But if the sun delays and in the east remains-
This song as password generations must maintain.
This song was written with our blood and not with lead.
It’s not a little tune that birds sing overhead.
This song a people sang amid collapsing walls,
With grenades in hands they heeded to the call.
Therefore never say the road now ends for you,
Though leadened skies may cover over days of blue.
Ast the hour that we longed for is so near-
Our steps beats out the message- we are here!

Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)

January 20, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)

Obstructed Lips Free Speech

וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר הֵ֤ן בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֹֽא־שָׁמְע֣וּ אֵלַ֔י וְאֵיךְ֙ יִשְׁמָעֵ֣נִי פַרְעֹ֔ה וַאֲנִ֖י עֲרַ֥ל שְׂפָתָֽיִם׃ {פ}
Vay’dabeir Moshe Lif’nei Adonai, leimor hen, ‘B’nei Yis’ra-el lo sham’u ei-lai v’eich yish’ma-eini Pharoah va’ani aral s’fataim.
But Moses appealed to יהוה, saying, “The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, me—who gets tongue-tied!”

Rashi translates the phrase “aral s’fataim” as obstructed. Among the many proof texts he offers, he includes the following:

“their ear is עֲרֵלָה (a-ra-lei)— stopped up so that it will not hear-Jeremiah 6:10

“עַרְלִי (a-ra-li)in heart” — their hearts are closed so that they will not understand; -Jeremiah 9:25

עֲרַ֥ל (a-ral) elevates the underlying currents at play in this parsha. The Israelites are not open to hearing Moses, Pharoah’s heart repeatedly opens and then closes again. Moses’s physical impediment also reflects deep emotional and psychological impediments. He is truly blocked- physically he cannot express the words he needs to, and one might imagine, his fear and apprehension are now heightened as he must face his tragic past and uncertain future all in the same moment.

Yet, Moses does what many would not. He surrounds himself with support- in this case, God and his brother Aaron, and steps into the lion’s den.

What obstructions are you facing in this moment? Who do you need to surround yourself with so that you might feel able to take the next step into your lion’s den? Va’eira Adonai- and God appeared. How is God appearing to you in this moment?

Sh’mot – שְׁמוֹת (Exodus 1:1−6:1)

January 13, 2023/in Torah Tidbit

This Week’s Torah Portion: Sh’mot – שְׁמוֹת (Exodus 1:1−6:1)

“Out of the Mountain of Despair a Stone of Hope^[1]”_Shemot 2023 by Cantor Lauren Adesnik

וְכַאֲשֶׁר֙ יְעַנּ֣וּ אֹת֔וֹ כֵּ֥ן יִרְבֶּ֖ה וְכֵ֣ן יִפְרֹ֑ץ וַיָּקֻ֕צוּ מִפְּנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

V’cha’asher y’anu oto kein yir-beh v’chein yif’rotz va-ya-ku-tzu mi-p’nei b’nei Yis’ra-el.

But the more they [the Israelites] were oppressed, the more they increased and spread out, so that the [Egyptians] came to dread the Israelites.

–Exodus 1:12

18th Century commentator Or HaChaim, one of the founding members of the European Hasidic movement offers an interpretation through a lens of Jewish mystysism. Referencing the Zohar (literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah) he concludes that the more The more persecution the Israelites suffered the more “good” was released from what had been only a mixture of good and evil previously. With the release of that “good”, i.e. good qualities, the Israelite families merited having more and more children.

This abundance of procreation not only elevated the blessings of the Israelites, it brought forth a new generation and a sense of renewed faith and hope for the future. This concept still rings true today. The more oppression many marginalized communities face today, the more good will rise from that oppression if we center ourselves with a firm foundation of faith and hope.

This weekend as we begin our journey from slavery to freedom as detailed in the book of Exodus, we celebrate and remember one of the most remarkable prophets of the 20th century Martin Luther King Jr. We cannot equate our story with that of our brothers and sisters here in America, yet we stand together as brothers, sisters and fellow human beings in continuing to rise above the marginalization and oppression that faces us today.

Hope is our launching pad. It is the light that illuminates our path. It is hope that keeps us moving forward when all seems lost, or the finish line seems impossibly far away. As we face the rise of antisemitism, racism, and divisive community, let hope motivate our action to “go high, when everyone else goes low.”

Shabbat Shalom

[1] Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a Dream” Washington, D.C. August 28th, 1963

Tag Archive for: Torah Tidbit

Vayak’heil – P’kudei – וַיַּקְהֵל – פְקוּדֵי (Exodus 35:1–40:38)

Parsha Vayak’heil – P’kudei – וַיַּקְהֵל – פְקוּדֵי Torah Summary:

Ki Tisa – כִּי תִשָּׂא (Exodus 30:11−34:35)

Parsha Ki Tisa – כִּי תִשָּׂא Torah Summary:

T’tzaveh – תְּצַוֶּה (Exodus 27:20−30:10)

Parsha T’tzaveh – תְּצַוֶּה Torah Summary:

T’rumah – תְּרוּמָה (Exodus 25:1−27:19)

Parsha T’rumah – תְּרוּמָה Torah Summary:

Mishpatim – מִשְׁפָּטִים (Exodus 21:1−24:18)

Parsha Mishpatim – מִשְׁפָּטִים Torah Summary:

Yitro – יִתְרוֹ (Exodus 18:1–20:23)

Parsha Yitro – יִתְרוֹ Torah Summary:

B’shalach – בְּשַׁלַּח (Exodus 13:17−17:16)

Parsha B’shalach – בְּשַׁלַּח Torah Summary:

Bo – בֹּא (Exodus 10:1−13:16)

Parsha Bo – בֹּא Torah Summary:

Va-eira – וָאֵרָא (Exodus 6:2−9:35)

Parsha Va-eira – וָאֵרָא Torah Summary:

Sh’mot – שְׁמוֹת (Exodus 1:1−6:1)

Parsha Sh’mot – שְׁמוֹת Torah Summary:

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