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Standing Together in Covenant DT HC Nitzavim/Vayelech
This week’s double Torah portion opens with the words “You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God…” (Deuteronomy 29:9). A covenantal moment is too important to be trusted only into the hands of just the leaders, officials, priests—or board members and paid professionals. Everyone, from the chieftains to “the woodcutters and water carriers,” even “strangers” (non-Israelites dwelling among the Israelites) must be there to witness and affirm it. The wording suggests not an event that happened once, but an ongoing or reoccurring phenomenon.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/standing-together-covenant
Posted on: 2017/09/11 - 2:29pm
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Standing Together This Day DT Nitzavim/Vayelech
This week’s parasha is the double portion Nitzavim/Vayelekh. At the beginning of the parasha Moses tells the Jewish people, “You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God…to enter into the covenant of the Eternal your God, which the Eternal your God is concluding with you this day…that God may establish you this day as God’s people and be your God.”
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/standing-together-day
Posted on: 2017/09/11 - 12:50pm
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The Inner Witness DT Kligler Ki Tavo
Arur makeh re’ehu ba’sateir – v’amar kol ha’am “Amen”
אָר֕וּר מַכֵּ֥ה רֵעֵ֖הוּ בַּסָּ֑תֶר וְאָמַ֥ר כָּל־הָעָ֖ם אָמֵֽן׃
Cursed be the one who strikes down their fellow in secret – and all the people shall say, “Amen.” (Deuteronomy 27:24)
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/inner-witness
Posted on: 2017/09/01 - 10:20am
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Serving God in Gladness DT Eron Ki Tavo
It’s hard to believe that in a few weeks we will be begin the fall holidays with the celebration of Rosh Ha-Shanah, the Jewish New Year. While we often think of this season as a time of solemn observance to be approached with awe and reverence, the High Holy Days are truly festive days, as well. On these holidays, we celebrate God’s presence in our lives and the opportunity that presence offers us to be better people.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/serving-god-gladness
Posted on: 2017/09/01 - 10:14am
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First Fruits - DT Ki Tavo
This week’s parasha, Ki Tavo, includes within it a description of the intricate ritual the people were to engage in once settled in the Land of Israel. Moses commands them to place in a basket the first fruits of their harvest and to present them to the priests at the Temple. While doing so they are to recite a formula recalling they were slaves in Egypt, liberated by God, and given the land whose first fruits they now enjoy.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/first-fruits
Posted on: 2017/09/01 - 10:12am
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Consequences - DT Ki Tavo
When it comes to parenting, I confess to being a slow learner. I should know by know that my almost-seven year old does not respond well, in general, to declarations of causality. Despite this general self-awareness, whether due to stubbornness on my part or just plain fatigue, I still find them tumbling out of my mouth.
https://archive.reconstructingjudaism.org/dvar-torah/consequences
Posted on: 2012/06/11 - 12:00am
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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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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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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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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
