This week's Torah reading is the first of several that detail the construction of the Mishkan, the portable temple that the Jewish people took with us on our journeys through the desert. Even the most mundane technicalities of construction are reviewed thoroughly. This is still important for us to study although we will never build another Mishkan, because it teaches us about the nature of having a relationship with the divine, and bringing holiness and meaning into our lives. It isn't accomplished by separating from the world around us or making grand gestures. Rather, it is found in the tiny details of everyday life. "Make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell within you." (Exodus 25:8)
"Exploring Tomer and Tehudah: A Degendering Experiment
Two weeks ago, we built a shared vocabulary to discuss the difference between gender and sex and how they manifest in Toratah and Torato. Last week, we asked what change is acceptable in Torah, in midrash, and in aggadah. Join us as we read a grammatically degendered English translation of the story of Tomer and Tehudah, also known as Tamar and Yehudah, and here known as Date Palm and Gratitude.
We will discuss if the story works when we attempt to degender it, if neopronouns could help clarify the meaning of the story, and how our perception of the tale changes from masculine Torato to feminine Toratah to agendered Toratam (Their Torah). Degendering version written by and discussion led by Beit Toratah community volunteer Sahar Bareket.
In describing the giving of the Torah on Sinai, the Torah writes that G-D spoke in “a great voice that did not cease.”
The Midrash offers 3 explanations:
The voice was not limited to Hebrew. but spoke the languages of all 70 foundational nations.
The voice is continuous - speaking to each of us now, this very day, although we cannot hear it.
The voice did not have an echo.
Of these three reasons, the third seems the most perplexing. After all, shouldn’t the Creator of all speak with a little reverb? One would expect the giving of the Torah to have all the bass, the Dolby Digital Surround Sound that you’d expect from the Master of the Universe.
The reason is because when the Torah was given, it was not meant to stand in contradiction to Creation, but rather to part of our world. An echo shows that the sound waves bounced off everything - but the Torah was absorbed and became one with all.
The Hebrew word for life, chaim, is phrased in the plural and literally translates as “lives,” indicating multiple phases and expressions of a single, never-ending life…
In stark contrast to the culture of “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die,” when Jews have occasion to drink, they say “l’chaim!” (to life) reminding each other that there is so much more to life than the shallow indulgences of the here and now, and that every meaningful act one does and every mitzvah one performs creates an energetic imprint that outlives our temporary time in a physical body.
Remember kids, it's not antisemitic to create a climate of fear and intimidation for all of those kikes I mean Jews I mean zionists involved in the checks notes Richmond Jewish Food Festival.
"The annual #Richmond#Jewish Food Festival has been postponed indefinitely over what organizers call a "volatile climate" of #antisemitism surrounding the war between #Israel and #Hamas.
Rabbi Dovid Asher, director of Keneseth Beth Israel — a "center of traditional #Torah#Judaism in Richmond" that puts on the yearly event — cited a rise in #antisemitic threats and the prohibitive costs of security as the war in #Gaza enters its 42nd week."
Stumbled across this on YouTube last night whilst going down the nusach rabbit hole. It's made me write out something metaphysical and hopefully motivational.
The word mazal is sometimes translated as “luck,” something that happens perchance. According to this interpretation, mazal tov would mean good fortune or good luck...
Interestingly, mazal is an etymological cognate of the word nozal, which means a downward flow.
This follows the Jewish belief that every person has a reservoir of spiritual energy in the higher realms that can either remain “above” in the ethereal realms as dormant potential, or descend “below” and translate into actual physical blessings in the form of children, health, wealth, or other blessings, depending on our actions and input...
Our “fate” may be decreed “above,” but our “destiny” is determined by our actions “below.”
While the English word humility originates from the Latin, humilis, meaning meekness or lowliness, the Hebrew equivalent, anavah (עֲנָוָה) stems from the word anu (ענו), meaning “to respond.”
In Judaism, humility is rooted in a sense of responsibility and accountability. From this perspective, the awareness of privilege or proficiency does not perversely inflate one’s sense of self-worth and supremacy above others; rather, it fills one with immense gratitude and indebtedness, generating greater dedication to one’s mission...
In the words of R. Lord Jonathan Sacks: “True humility...does not mean undervaluing yourself. It means valuing other people.”
The idea that the body must be tamed or even “beaten” into submission is a pervasive one. In his book, Walking Words, the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano sums up prevailing contemporary views of the body succinctly: “The church says: the body is sin. Science says: the body is a machine. Advertising says: the body is business. The body says: I am a fiesta.”
The Jewish perspective on the body is quite different. Whereas some traditions view corporeal life as an obstacle course—a series of challenges designed to test our spiritual resolve and integrity—Judaism sees the body as the interface and means of expression for the soul in physical reality. In this way, the body gives the soul a voice, and the soul provides the song.
Speaking of hope, in this weeks torah portion, Isaac and Ishmael, the 2 sons of Abraham, who had enmity between them, came together to bury their father. I like to imagine that they wept in each others arms & recognized their brotherhood. May it be so today. Soon. #torah#ChildrenoOAbraham
Sometimes the Talmud comes through with a beautiful passage that could almost be read as a lovely endorsement of science and astrophysics. All you have to do is squint hard so when the Rabbis said "constellations" (mazalot) and "tekufot" (seasons/ages), they were "in a sense" talking about astrophysics, the universe and time... and suddenly, the study of the universe is the study of God
אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן פַּזִּי, אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי מִשּׁוּם בַּר קַפָּרָא: כָּל הַיּוֹדֵעַ לְחַשֵּׁב בִּתְקוּפוֹת וּמַזָּלוֹת וְאֵינוֹ מְחַשֵּׁב, עָלָיו הַכָּתוּב אוֹמֵר: ״וְאֵת פֹּעַל ה׳ לֹא יַבִּיטוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדָיו לֹא רָאוּ״. אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָנִי אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: מִנַּיִן שֶׁמִּצְוָה עַל הָאָדָם לְחַשֵּׁב תְּקוּפוֹת וּמַזָּלוֹת — שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם כִּי הִיא חׇכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים״, אֵיזוֹ חָכְמָה וּבִינָה שֶׁהִיא לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּים — הֱוֵי אוֹמֵר: זֶה חִישּׁוּב תְּקוּפוֹת וּמַזָּלוֹת.
A thoughtful talk on Parshat Lech Lecha from Pardes in Jerusalem, with Judy Klitsner (student of Nechama Leibowitz). Why Avraham, and what was he chosen for? It was recorded just a few days after the Oct 7 pogrom. #Torah#Jewish#Mazeldon#Judaism
What is the meaning of the name "Mary" in #Hebrew מרים?
The name #Mary comes from the Hebrew word Mariam (Miriam) and hence the words mar (bitter) and yam (sea). So, Mary means "bitter sea".
In #Buddhism, the bitter sea is an idiom that means "the sea of bitterness has no bounds, turn your head to see the shore". The sea of suffering has no limit; turn your head back and you will be enlightened.
#TootYourShabbat This is a Shabbat of heartbreak, grief, and ongoing terror for many. We will light candles and pray for peace. I am going to take time to study Torah daily, which I have not done in months because of exhaustion. But I had my logic reversed when I stopped, for Torah brings comfort and strength.
“She is a tree of life to all who hold fast to her; her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.”
“And all the nations of the Earth shall see that the name of the Eternal is called upon you, and they will fear you.”
(Deuteronomy 28:10)
"As much as they would afflict them, so did they multiply and so did they gain strength..."
(Exodus 1:12)
When faced with terror and violence, we are obligated to defend ourselves, for there is no greater mitzvah than saving a life. But we must do more than that. We must show them that they have not succeeded in making us afraid of being Jewish. We will show them that the cause of darkness is hopeless because we will respond not with darkness, but with more light. We will put up more mezuzot, wear tefillin, light Shabbat candles, study Torah. This is what our enemies fear most. A little light dispels a lot of darkness.
Messianic Jews and Christians who understand the Hebrew roots of our faith do not see the NT as the book of another religion but the necessary fulfilment of the OT with the revelation of the promised Messiah fulfilled in Jesus, rooted in the Hebrew scriptures.
The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.
דברים י:יב
Today we read of the things expected of us: ליראה וגו. R. Chanina references this pasuk (Berachos 33b), while claiming that all existence is guided in shamayim except יראה. In what way does this define our free will? It is only asked of us. What else is asked of us here how does this impact us?
Ramban says that הקב"ה has no need for these things but that it was asked because we need it. What is that we need?
A number of historic Jewish events occurred on the 15th of Av:
The Sanhedrin issued a ruling (circa 1200 BCE) allowing women who had inherited land to marry outside their tribe and retain their inheritance. Previously, the daughters of Tzelafchad had won the right to inherit land only on condition that they marry within their tribe, so that ancestral lands remain within their original tribal territory.
The same Sanhedrin allowed men of other tribes to marry women from the tribe of Binyamin. The tribes had censured the tribe of Binyamin for the incident of The Concubine at Givah, and swore not to marry with them, but now the ban was lifted.