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Vayigash - Plans
When I was sixteen my family moved from Santa Monica to Sacramento. I had just finished my first year of high school and had been selected to play drums with the SAMOHI jazz band in the Hollywood Bowl (which I did the night before we moved). I was certainly not looking forward to leaving behind all my friends and everything I had grown up with to move to a strange new place where I knew no one. But my dad had a new job, so move we did.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/if-i-had-only-known-parashat-vayigash
Posted on: 2016/12/22 - 11:59am
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Kaplan on Creation DT Bereyshit
The account in Genesis is perplexing to the modern person. We inevitably get bogged down with the first chapter of the Bible because it seems to conflict with our knowledge that comes from the scientific study of the natural world. Mordecai Kaplan being the modern man par-excellence accepted the scientific view of the universe but realized, of course, that the Torah has a different perspective in telling us about the origin of things. In this selection he focuses on the connection between the creation of the world and God's attention to Israel.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/kaplan-creation-explanation-jewish-mission
Posted on: 2016/08/22 - 10:05pm
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Nachshon - Jump vs. Pushed DT Bemidbar
At first glance this week's parashah, Bemidbar, seems rather tedious. After all, it consists mainly of the names of the heads of all the tribes, given in the context of a census of the Israelites taking place about a year after the events at Mount Sinai. However, one name in the census jumped out at me: Nachshon ben Aminadav, the head of the tribe of Judah. Nachshon is a very famous character in the Midrash even though he is barely mentioned in the Torah.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/nachshon-did-he-jump-or-was-he-pushed
Posted on: 2016/06/16 - 1:07pm
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Marriage - Bemidbar/Shavuot DT
Shabbat Bemidbar usually falls near Shavuot: the day designated as the anniversary of the revelation of Torah at Mt. Sinai. According to a midrash Shavuot is like the wedding anniversary of God and the Jewish people. In Exodus as the revelation unfolds, the position of the Israelites is described with a phrase: בְּתַחְתִּ֥ית הָהָֽר/betakhtit ha-har, which figuratively means “at the base of the mountain” but literally means “under the mountain”. To explain this the rabbis said that Mount Sinai was held over the Israelites like a wedding huppah.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/covenant-marriage
Posted on: 2016/06/16 - 12:53pm
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The Nazirite - DT Naso
Jewish tradition teaches that the Torah yields 613 commandments, which are incumbent on the Jewish people. One would think that this daunting total would be sufficient for most Jews, yet this week's Torah portion, Naso, teaches of additional regulations which one could assume under the status of being a “Nazirite”, one consecrated to the service of God. The haftara (additional) reading for this Shabbat narrates the story of Sampson, who according to the Bible was himself a Nazirite.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/nazirite
Posted on: 2016/06/16 - 11:29am
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The True Honor - DT Naso
This week's Torah portion, Naso, concludes with the lengthy and detailed listing of the twelve identical offerings that the chieftains of the twelve tribes of Israel brought to the newly dedicated Mishkan, the portable shrine that served as our people's holy place from the early years of the desert wandering until Solomon's construction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Torah goes to great pains not to discriminate among the twelve tribes and their leaders. Each tribal leader is mentioned by name. Each gift is meticulously and identically described.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/true-honor
Posted on: 2016/06/16 - 11:26am
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Be Careful What You Wish For - DT Behaalotcha
It seems to come from nowhere: a craving—perhaps to devour ice cream, to gossip, to mindlessly watch TV, to have sex, or to make fun of another person. Ah, it's a long list—all the urges in our lives!
Sudden and strong impulses can be confusing. If what I long for may not itself be bad, then why deny it? Or, if my craving is in fact harmful, why do I feel like doing something I will regret later? On one hand, shouldn't I celebrate my true feelings? On the other hand, shouldn't I be ashamed of feeling this way?
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/be-careful-what-you-wish
Posted on: 2016/06/16 - 11:18am
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Just A Little Prayer Will Do - DT Behaalotcha
Shortly after our ancestors left Egypt, they found themselves standing on the shore of the Red Sea, caught between the rapidly approaching Egyptian army and the seemingly impassable waters. Moses, understanding our people's plight, turned to God in prayer. Instead of answering Moses' prayer, God rebukes him with the question, “Why are you crying out to me?” (Exodus 14:15)
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/just-little-prayer-will-do
Posted on: 2016/06/16 - 11:15am
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The Reminder of Tzitzit DT Shelakh
The parasha this week is Shelakh-Lekha. In this parasha Moses, at God's command, chooses one leader from each of the twelve tribes to serve as spies. Their mission is to enter the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, and to bring back a report to the people. “See what kind of country it is…..
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/reminder-tzitzit
Posted on: 2016/06/15 - 3:43pm
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Why Did Korah Rebel? Korah DT
The tale of Korah's rebellion at the beginning of this eponymous parsha is so compelling, that we are usually distracted from either delving farther in to its subsequent passages, or, more significantly, from questioning the rectitude of its outcome.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/why-did-korah-rebel
Posted on: 2016/06/15 - 3:39pm
