This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayishlach (Genesis 32:4−36:43)
“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28)
We are called Israel because we continue to struggle with the Divine. Trying to understand what God wants us to be! Trying to become what we ought to be! Trying to understand our sacred texts that our tradition bestowed us with!
Jacob prepares to meet Esau. He wrestles with a “man,” who changes Jacob’s name to Israel. (32:4-33)
Jacob and Esau meet and part peacefully, each going his separate way. (33:1-17)
Dinah is raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of the country. Jacob’s sons Simeon and Levi take revenge by murdering all the males of Shechem, and Jacob’s other sons join them in plundering the city. (34:1-31)
Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin and is buried in Ephrah, which is present-day Bethlehem. (35:16-21)
Isaac dies and is buried in Hebron. Jacob’s and Esau’s progeny are listed. (35:22-36:43)
“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” (Genesis 32:28)
We are called Israel because we continue to struggle with the Divine. Trying to understand what God wants us to be! Trying to become what we ought to be! Trying to understand our sacred texts that our tradition bestowed us with!
This Week’s Torah Portion: Vayeitzei (Genesis 28:10−32:3)
“Surely Adonai is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16)
True knowledge can be acquired only when we realize that we do not know. True encounter with the Divine can happen when we realize we do not know.
Jacob dreams of angels going up and down a ladder. God blesses him. Jacob names the place Bethel. (28:10-22)
Jacob works seven years in order to marry Rachel, but Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, Rachel’s older sister. (29:16-25)
Jacob marries Rachel but only after having to commit himself to seven more years of working for Laban. (29:26-30)
Leah, Rachel, and their maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah, give birth to eleven sons and one daughter. (29:31-30:24)
Jacob and his family leave Laban’s household with great wealth. (31:1-32:3)
“Surely Adonai is in this place, and I did not know it” (Genesis 28:16)
True knowledge can be acquired only when we realize that we do not know. True encounter with the Divine can happen when we realize we do not know.
Jacob dreams of angels going up and down a ladder. God blesses him. Jacob names the place Bethel. (28:10-22)
Jacob works seven years in order to marry Rachel, but Laban tricks Jacob into marrying Leah, Rachel’s older sister. (29:16-25)
Jacob marries Rachel but only after having to commit himself to seven more years of working for Laban. (29:26-30)
Leah, Rachel, and their maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah, give birth to eleven sons and one daughter. (29:31-30:24)
Jacob and his family leave Laban’s household with great wealth. (31:1-32:3)
This Week’s Torah Portion: Tol’dot (Genesis 25:19−28:9)
“The babies jostled each other within Rebecca, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of Adonai.” (Genesis 25:22)
Rebecca is the first person in the world that “inquires” of Adonai.
The Hebrew verb used here is לדרוש meaning “to demand” to inquire” to make a Drashah (commentary or story)”. Rebecca is the founder of a long Jewish tradition. We do not accept the world as it is, we demand explanations, we demand a better world for ourselves and for all humanity.
Rebekah has twins, Esau and Jacob. (25:19-26)
Esau gives Jacob his birthright in exchange for some stew. (25:27-34)
King Abimelech is led to think that Rebekah is Isaac’s sister and later finds out that she is really his wife. (26:1-16)
Isaac plans to bless Esau, his firstborn. Rebekah and Jacob deceive Isaac so that Jacob receives the blessing. (27:1-29)
Esau threatens to kill Jacob, who then flees to Haran. (27:30-45)
“The babies jostled each other within Rebecca, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of Adonai.” (Genesis 25:22)
Rebecca is the first person in the world that “inquires” of Adonai.
The Hebrew verb used here is לדרוש meaning “to demand” to inquire” to make a Drashah (commentary or story)”. Rebecca is the founder of a long Jewish tradition. We do not accept the world as it is, we demand explanations, we demand a better world for ourselves and for all humanity.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1−25:18)
“Abraham spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. …The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us.” (Genesis 23:4-5)
Our history begins with Abraham, who was a stranger and a foreigner, and was treaded by the citizens of the land as a mighty prince, with kindness and respect. We should become at list as kind and nice to the strangers and foreigners in our land and treat them with kindness and respect.
Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah in order to bury his wife Sarah. (23:1-20)
Abraham sends his servant to find a bride for Isaac. (24:1-9)
Rebekah shows her kindness by offering to draw water for the servant’s camels at the well. (24:15-20)
The servant meets Rebekah’s family and then takes Rebekah to Isaac, who marries her. (24:23-67)
Abraham takes another wife, named Keturah. At the age of one hundred and seventy-five years, Abraham dies, and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah. (25:1-11)
“Abraham spoke to the Hittites. He said, “I am a foreigner and stranger among you. …The Hittites replied to Abraham, “Sir, listen to us. You are a mighty prince among us.” (Genesis 23:4-5)
Our history begins with Abraham, who was a stranger and a foreigner, and was treaded by the citizens of the land as a mighty prince, with kindness and respect. We should become at list as kind and nice to the strangers and foreigners in our land and treat them with kindness and respect.
Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah in order to bury his wife Sarah. (23:1-20)
Abraham sends his servant to find a bride for Isaac. (24:1-9)
Rebekah shows her kindness by offering to draw water for the servant’s camels at the well. (24:15-20)
The servant meets Rebekah’s family and then takes Rebekah to Isaac, who marries her. (24:23-67)
Abraham takes another wife, named Keturah. At the age of one hundred and seventy-five years, Abraham dies, and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah. (25:1-11)
Tales of Destruction abound in the literature of the ancient world. Flood stories, fire stories, stories of war and plague and destruction. And, in many ways, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is just a Jewish version of that same sort of terrifying tale. And yet, the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah takes these tales and turns them on their heads to ask some deeper questions about the nature of God, the meaning of justice, and the role which we, God’s children, are commanded to play.
The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about the destruction of two cities, lost to the sand and salt of time. The moral of this story is a more lifted legend. The lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah is simply this: God is not in the whirlwind, not in the destructive hand. God is in the still small voice which murmurs beneath the blessing, beneath the pain, beneath the lives we all lead upon this earth. God is in Abraham’s willingness to provoke God, and God is in God’s listening to Abraham’s call. The moral of our story is: never be afraid to provoke, even God, for the cause of justice.
First, Abraham welcomes three visitors. They announce that Sarah will soon have a son. (18:1-15)
Then, Abraham argues with God about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (18:16-33)
Moreover, Lot’s home is attacked by the people of Sodom. So Lot and his two daughters escape as the cities are being destroyed. And then, Lot’s wife is turned into a pillar of salt. (19:1-29)
After that, Lot impregnates his daughters, and they bear children who become the founders of the nations Moab and Ammon. (19:30-38)
Abimelech, king of Gerar, takes Sarah as his wife after Abraham claims that she is his sister. (20:1-18)
Yet, Isaac is born, circumcised, and weaned. Hagar and her son, Ishmael, are sent away; an angel saves their lives. (21:1-21)
In conclusion, God tests Abraham. Most importantly, God instructs him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. (22:1-19)
This Week’s Torah Portion: Lech L’cha (Genesis 12:1-17:27)
This week’s Torah Portion is called Lech L’cha which means “Go Forth” and it is, at its essence, a journey tale – our first journey tale, as our great, great, greatest ancestors Abraham and Sarah set forth on their journey, to a new land, a new life, and a new understanding of their relationship with God. And, at the same time, Lech L’cha is more than the legend of the physical journey of our ancient forbearers across time and space – it is our story, the story of our people, our family, in every age. It is the story of the spiritual journey from what we know, toward that something greater which we can hope to reach. Lech L’cha is that universal story of courage and faith which teaches us how hard it is to let go of the familiar patterns of our lives, the easier paths of less resistance, the way things have always been, even when we long for a better future. Lech L’cha is an ancient legend waiting still for us to live again, this day and every day.
Lech L’cha, Go Forth! How will you answer God’s call?
This Week’s Torah Portion: Noach (Genesis 6:9-11:32)
At the end of the story of the great flood God places a rainbow in the sky as a token of the covenant between God and all the people of the earth.
Why does God choose the rainbow? The rabbis teach us that the rainbow is an appropriate symbol of peace because it is made up of many different colors, and when you look at it, it is impossible to distinguish one color from the next.
The rainbow reminds us that even though no two humans are alike, we are all part of one covenant with God. Like the colors of the rainbow, we are all different, and yet we are all God’s children and we all have a share in the fulfillment of that covenant to help God create a world of Shalom.
This Week’s Torah Portion: B’reishit (Genesis 1:1-6:8)
The Big Bet which Begins each Torah scroll with the word B’reishit is clearly not an accident. God really seemed to want to make a point of beginning the Torah with the letter Bet. This assumes, of course, that God wrote that first letter, with a quill pen and a deep brown ink upon a parchment scroll, just as scribes have done in writing that first word of Torah again and again for thousands of years.
There is a mystical midrash, a legend of our people, which teaches us that God considered beginning the Torah with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet which is Alef. God decided against the Alef because Alef is the beginning of the word Aror, which means “curse”, whereas Bet is the beginning of the word B’rachah, which means, blessing.
May each of us write our works upon this earth for blessing and not for curse, and may we together become repairers of the breach – builders of a better world.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Shabbat Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot (Holidays Exodus 33:12–34:26)
Why do we build a Sukkah? That is a great question, we argued about the right answer for about 200 years and did not come to a conclusion.
One answer is that the Sukkah represents the memory of the Divine presence leading our ancestors when they wandered in the desert for 40 years. “God went before them in a pillar of cloud by day, to guide them along the way,” (Exodus 13:21). When we enter the Sukkah we feel for a moment the presence of the Divine guiding us on our life journeys as we wander through our desert. May you have a Joyous Sukkot, please come and visit the temple Sukkah.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Haazinu (Deuteronomy 32:1–52)
In Haazinu (Listen), Moses explains how the history of the relationship between Adonai our God and Israel began. It is a different version/source, and a different story than the ones we read before. In this version, God did not choose us; God won us in a lottery. We are not the chosen people of God, but the people that won Adonai our God in a lottery. There are many nations in the world according to this version, and each has their own God, our lot is Adonai, and their lot is different.
This Week’s Torah Portion: Haazinu (Deuteronomy 32:1–52)
In Haazinu (Listen), Moses explains how the history of the relationship between Adonai our God and Israel began. It is a different version/source, and a different story than the ones we read before. In this version, God did not choose us; God won us in a lottery. We are not the chosen people of God, but the people that won Adonai our God in a lottery. There are many nations in the world according to this version, and each has their own God, our lot is Adonai, and their lot is different.
Haazinu Summary:
Moses sings his last song, a love poem to God and a chastisement of the people, who are not worthy of Adonai. (32:1–6)
The poem recounts the blessings that God has bestowed on the Israelites, the wicked deeds they have committed, and the punishments that God then inflicted upon them. (32:7–43)
God tells Moses to begin his ascent of Mount Nebo, from where he will see the Land of Israel from a distance but will not be allowed to enter it. (32:45–52)
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