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Melekh Ha-Olem DT Shoftim Eron
Each time we pronounce a blessing, we are making a political statement. Within the introduction to every blessing are the words which declare that our Eternal God is melekh ha-olam, Sovereign of the Universe. Every time we express our gratitude for the opportunities and experiences life offers us, we also affirm our loyalty to God as our sovereign and acknowledge our citizenship in the Divine One’s dominion. In Hebrew this is called kabbalat ol malchut shamayim, accepting the yoke of the kingdom of heaven.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/melekh-ha-olam-sovereign-all
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 11:44am
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Justice, Justice - DT Shoftim Kligler
This week’s Parsha, Shoftim, begins with this famous declaration:
Tzedek, tzedek tirdof / צֶ֥דֶק צֶ֖דֶק תִּרְדֹּ֑ף
Justice, justice thou shalt pursue.
Deuteronomy 16:20
This is one of the central declarations of the Torah, echoed in many other instructions. For example:
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/justice-justice
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 11:59am
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Returning Lost Objects - DT Ki Tetzey SCR
When we are lucky, there are unexpected moments in life that suddenly present us with the opportunity to find out who we really are. I recall one such moment during my time as a rabbi in the Los Angeles area. It involved then-22-year-old Ascension Franco Gonzales, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who came to this country from Hidalgo with one goal in mind: to send back enough money to build a two-story cinder-block house for his parents.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/out-sight-not-out-mind
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 1:12pm
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It Just Isn't So! DT Eron Ki Tetzey
There comes a point in the life of all faithful Jews when we face the fact that what the Torah says, just isn’t so. This does not occur when we see the differences between the ancient understanding of the origins and structures of the physical world and contemporary scientific knowledge. The Torah is not a science text book, but uses the knowledge of its time to illustrate the various ways in which God, the Creator, interacts with creation.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/it-just-isnt-so
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 1:15pm
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Honest Weights and Measures DT Eron
Once, during the holy season of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Hasidic master Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, paused in his devotions and looking at his disciples with sad, tear-laden eyes, remarked, “What a funny world it is that we live in these days. There was a time, you know, when Jews would be scrupulously honest in the market place and be the most outrageous liars in the synagogue. These days, however, everything is reversed. The Jews are surprisingly honest in synagogue, but in the streets and market places, I’m ashamed to tell you.”
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/honest-weights-and-measures
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 1:17pm
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Ownership and Return DT Ki Tetzey Pik-Nathan
This week’s parashah, Ki Tetzey, contains the greatest number of mitzvot/commandments of any Torah portion. The 72 mitzvot found in the parashah focus on everything from the treatment of captives, defiant children, lost animals and the poor through laws of inheritance, weights and fair weights and measures. This amalgam of mitzvot may seem random at times, yet there is a guiding principle that reminds us not to be indifferent to other people and the world around us.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/ownership-and-return
Posted on: 2017/08/17 - 1:23pm
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Embracing the Stranger - Interpersonal
At times, we have the opportunity and challenge of embracing strangers when we meet them face-to-face. These encounters can be deeply unsettling at first. But as barriers of difference fall, they can be deeply meaningful, even transformational.
Click here to return to the main “Embracing the Stranger” page)
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/collection/stranger-before-us
Posted on: 2017/08/18 - 12:05pm
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Embracing the Stranger - Justice and Wider World
Embracing the stranger is not just an individual journey—it’s a communal calling. We are commanded as Jews to “Love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:19) In the face of fear, hostility, or simple disregard toward those who are different, our challenge is to lift up our common humanity, and our inherent dignity and worth as beings b’tzelem Elohim, reflecting the divine image.
Click here to return to the main “Embracing the Stranger” page)
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/collection/wider-world
Posted on: 2017/08/18 - 12:46pm
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Embracing the Stranger - Internal
Embracing the stranger is an endeavor that requires not just outward action, but internal effort on many levels. Both as individuals and communities, real inclusion involves rethinking of boundaries.
Click here to return to the main “Embracing the Stranger” page)
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/collection/looking-within
Posted on: 2017/08/18 - 1:06pm
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God Loves The Stranger Feature
The high holy days are a time of collective and personal renewal. We ask ourselves “what do we value?” “What do we cherish?” We deepen our ongoing Jewish human project of creating a just and peaceful society and living a just and peaceful life. And we inquire “what is the relationship between the inner and the outer work of transformation?” I don’t have to tell any of you. It’s not easy.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/collection/love-the-stranger
Posted on: 2017/08/18 - 1:17pm
