Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - Shemot

This week's Torah Portion, Shemot, begins Sefer Shemot or the Book of Exodus. In Parshat Shemot, a cruel Pharaoh comes to power. Baby Moses is rescued from the Nile by Pharoah's daughter. When grown, Moses kills an Egyptian who is beating a Jewish slave and flees to Midian where he marries Jethro's daughter, Zipporah. God speaks to Moses from the Burning Bush, telling Moses to free the Israelites from Pharaoh's oppression. Moses and his brother, Aaron, approach Pharaoh, but Pharaoh refuses to free the Jewish slaves.
God tells Moses that God will show Pharaoh "a greater might." (Exodus 6:1)

Shemot is filled with famous events and there is no shortage of commentary, both ancient and modern. But, I prefer, in this instance, to add my own. Of all that occurs in Shemot, I was struck by the words, "A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph." (Exodus 1:8). What?! Didn't know Joseph? Joseph who interpreted Pharoah's dreams? Joseph whose astute planning saved Egypt from famine and economic ruin? Joseph whose family was welcomed and honored? Didn't know that Joseph! How was such a thing possible in a society like Egypt obsessed with recording its own history? What is the Torah trying to teach us in this startling statement, presented without any background detail or explanation?
I think this statement from the beginning of Shemot serves as a reminder, a warning even, to us, the descendants of those ancient Israelites, who, like Joseph, live comfortably assimilated (or so we think) in many lands.

Even in America, land of the free, where Jews are thoroughly assimilated and contribute successfully to all facets of American life, there is always the potential for anti-semitism to arise like a "new king." We need to be as aware of the forces around us as Moses was when he realized that the burning bush was not simply dry foliage on fire, but a miracle.

I suggest that Shemot leads us to recognize that if we are knowledgeable about our Jewish history and heritage; if we maintain our Jewish values and actively participate in Jewish observance; if we support Israel, our Jewish Homeland; and above all, if we engage in the study of Torah; we need never again fear a "new" Pharaoh.

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and Renew.

Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - Va-Yishlach

This week's Torah Portion, Va-Yishlach continues the drama of Jacob's life, twenty years after his bitter parting with his brother, Esau. Jacob is now anxiously planning for what he hopes will be a chance to reconcile with Esau. On his journey to meet Esau, Jacob wrestles one whom the Torah calls "ish" (man), but whom some Torah commentators have identified as an angel or "man-angel." My students also expressed various ideas about who the stranger might be and sought clues in the illustrations which accompanied the information sheets that I gave them about Va-Yishlach. "This picture is definitely an angel." "No, here, the stranger looks human." "Maybe it was God." My students, in struggling to understand this mysterious event, are joining in the time honored tradition of Rabbis and scholars and truly engaging in the study of Torah.

Harvey J. Fields, author of A Torah Commentary for Our Times, offers this observation:
"So who was this 'man-angel' with whom Jacob wrestled? Perhaps a figment of his imagination. Perhaps it was Esau or Esau's angel in a dream. Perhaps it was meant to represent all the enemies who would arise to destroy the people of Jacob-Israel. Perhaps, the man-angel was Jacob, and the battle was between two sides of Jacob's character.

At times, the intent of the Torah is unclear. Great literature and art allow for many differing opinions and interpretations. Each person, and often each generation, uncovers new meanings. That, now, is our challenge with Jacob's mysterious night battle."

Shabbat Shalom Rest and Re-new

Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - Va-Yetze

In this week's Torah Portion, Va-Yetze, Jacob is on his way from Beersheba to Haran. He spends the night in a "place" and dreams of a ladder which reaches from the ground to heaven. Angels are going up and down on the ladder, and Jacob, in his dream, receives a message from God.

In his book, Honey from the Rock, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner comments on the role of human Messengers - Messengers who might be you, me , or anyone.

"The Hebrew word for angel is malach. Which also means messenger. One who is sent.

Not cherubic creatures who adorn architecture, valentines, and fantasy. They can be anyone who is sent. Just as anyone who is sent can be an angel. It is required only that there be an errand. One message.
One angel never performs two missions just as two angels never go on one mission. (Genesis Rabba 50:2)...

There is one great difference between people chosen to be God's messengers and earthly messengers. While those on errands of this world almost always know that they are sent and where and why, people chosen to be messengers of the Most High rarely even know that they are His messengers. Unsuspecting and unaware. Consumed by their own plans and itineraries. Busy at work on their own schemes. God is already sending them somewhere else.

I do not know how many times in one's life one is also a messenger. But for everyone it is at least once. One to whom it is given to know that their errand is completed is blessed and rare. Not so for most of us.

Remember only that you are not always going where you are going for the reasons you think you are."

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and renew.

Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - Toldot

In Hebrew class, my students plotted, wrapped their hands in "fur," shuddered and howled, as they dramatized the actions of Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and Esau in this week's Torah Portion, Toldot. After re-enacting the story of Rebekah's and Jacob's plot to trick Isaac into giving his blessing to Jacob, rather than to his first-born son, Esau, they voiced some of the questions that Toldot raises.
"Why was Rebekah so determined to have Jacob rather than Esau receive Isaac's blessing?"
"How could God allow such devious and dubious behavior on the part of three of our Ancestors whom we honor in the Avot V'Imahot Prayer?"

Responses to such difficult questions may be found in the commentary which accompanies the Torah Text. The following are selections from the "Gleanings" commentary section following Toldot in The Torah - A Modern Commentary; W. Gunther Plaut, General Editor.
The Torah - A Modern Commentary was published by the Union for Reform Judaism Press (2005).

"The Dilemma of Divine Choice"
" Apparently even God must select imperfect instruments to fulfill His purposes. He must choose between Jacob - a man who desires the birthright so deeply he will cheat to secure it - and Esau who so lightly esteems it that he forfeits the birthright for a bowl of lentils. Jacob's calculated cunning must be weighed against Esau's undisciplined craving for immediate self-gratification. Working with 'human material' involved God in a difficult but inescapable choice, and God decides: It is better to care too much than too little."
SAMUEL E. KARFF

"The Voice of Jacob"
"When Isaac said, 'The voice is the voice of Jacob, yet the hands are the hands of Esau' (27:22), he spoke prophetically. 'The voice of Jacob' means learning and truth; 'the hands of Esau' means force and violence. As long as the voice of Jacob is heard in the houses of prayer and learning, the hands of Esau will not prevail against him."
MIDRASH

Shabbat Shalom Rest and Re-new

Words of Wisdom - Chayyei Sarah

Sarah's Tent was the ultimate Shabbat place - ever fragrant with freshly baked challah and glowing with Shabbat candlelight.

As we prepare for Shabbat, we remember Sarah's example. Even the youngest descendents of Abraham and Sarah can experience the spirit of Shabbat in wise and wonderful ways.

The following are excerpts from an article on Shabbat preparations from the perspective of the Early Childhood Center classroom. This article appeared in a recent edition of the online newsletter "TAPBB" (Torah Aura Productions Bulletin Board). The authors, Idie Benjamin and Dale Sides Cooperman, are master Early Childhood educators who have written "Drops of Honey," a series of holiday and values lessons for the Early Childhood Center classroom. The "Drops of Honey" series is published by Torah Aura Productions www.torahaura.com
You may view the entire article at http://tapbb.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/shabbat-why/

"Welcoming children with 'Shabbat Shalom' instead of 'Boker Tov' begins the morning differently. There could be special, quieter materials that only are available on Friday. All week long, we paint, glue, etc. to make things for holidays and other curriculum areas. Friday could be a day for only process-not-product art activities - playing in shaving cream, a water table full of cotton balls and feathers, soft blocks, and other sensory materials. Baking hallah fill the classroom with delicious smells and provide yet another special sensory experience. Do the teachers and children dress differently to mark the day?

Do we give children an opportunity to reflect on the week? What are their memories of what has happened in the classroom? As we pass the tzedakah box, children can tell a mitzvah they did that week."

..."What is the tone you want to set? How do you begin so as to set that tone? Dale invites the children into the room one-by-one. To each child, she bends down and quietly asks, 'Are you ready for Shabbat?' They enter with a sense of the wonder that is about to happen."

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There is so much for us to learn (or re-learn) from those who are just starting their Jewish Journey.
Are you ready for Shabbat?

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and Renew

Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - Vayera

The beginning of Parshat Vayera tells how Abraham reached out and welcomed visitors to his tent.
The Midrash excerpt below describes how Sarah's tent was also special. My Hebrew School students enjoyed reading and discussing this section of a longer Midrash.

"Sarah had a tent of her own. Every time that the family made camp, Sarah's tent was set up first. Abraham taught the men about the One God. Sarah was the women's teacher. Abraham's tent had doors on all four sides so that everyone who was looking for hospitality could easily find their way in. Sarah's tent was where Shabbat was created. Every week Sarah baked hallah. Every week Sarah lit Shabbat candles. The smell of the hallah lasted from week to week. It was always in the tent. The Shabbat lights burned from one Shabbat until the next set were kindled. The tent always smelled of hallah. It was always a place of light.

The Shekhinah is the part of God that gets close to people. It is the part that can be our neighbor. God was comfortable with Sarah and her tent. God liked the smell and the light and the peace of Shabbat. The Shekhinah would come down in a cloud and rest on Sarah's tent."

This warm, expressive section of a Midrash is taken from the textbook, S'fatai Tiftach Volume 2 by Joel Lurie Grishaver and Jane Golub (Torah Aura Productions www.torahaura.com )

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and Renew

Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - Everyday Miracles

"Each time we say a berachah, we say to ourselves, 'Pay attention. Something awesome is happening all around us.' And then we realize that the ordinary world conceals mysteries."
...
"When we say God is everywhere, it does not mean that God is invisible. It means that if we look closely, we can find God's presence hidden everywhere because God created everything. And, because God is hidden inside everything, all things are connected to one another."

From The Book of Miracles, by Lawrence Kushner

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and Renew

Words of Wisdom for Shabbat - B'reishit

We enter the new cycle of Torah reading with B'reishit, the Creation Story. The words of the Torah are unchanging, but we can never remain the same. As we begin a new year of Torah study, we strive for greater understanding, deeper commitment, and active fulfillment of Mitzvot.

The following is my translation from Hebrew of a Midrash for B'reishit which appears in an Israeli public school textbook for the study of Torah by upper elementary grade students.

Once David, the king of Israel, was sitting in his garden. He saw a hornet eating a spider.
David said, "Ribono shel Olam [Master of the World], what use are these [creatures] that are in Your World?"
"The hornet - it has no honey and it has a sting. It is of no benefit."
"The spider - it weaves webs all year and [yet] has no clothing."
Elohim said," David, you mock my animals. The day will come when you will need them."
The day came. King Saul was pursuing David.
David hid from Saul in a cave.
Elohim sent a spider to help him.
The spider spun a web on the entrance to the cave and closed it.
Saul came and saw.
"The entrance to the cave is woven [over] with webs," he said. "Certainly, no person could have entered here. If a person had entered, he would have torn the web."
Saul went away and did not go in there.
David came out of the cave. He saw the spider.
He said, "Blessed is the One Who Created you and blessed are you."

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and renew.

Words of Wisdom for Simchat Torah

In celebration of Simchat Torah -

"...the Torah furnishes us with a failproof plan for leading our lives in harmony with God. The ideal of living by Torah is that whatever we do, we will act in unison with God in such a way that there will be no perceptible difference between what we do and what God is doing. God is behaving through us."
From commentary by Edward Greenstein in the book, The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary by Michael Strassfeld.

Chag Sameach!

Words of Wisdom for Shabbat and Sukkot

On this, the second day of Sukkot, please enjoy these words from Arthur Waskow...
"We walk into the sukkah - the fragile field hut, open to the light of moon and stars, that our forebears lived in while they gathered in the grain. We dangle apples and onions, oranges and peppers, from its leafy roof. And we feel the joy that for a moment life is so safe, the world so loving, that we can live in these open-ended huts without fear."
From Seasons of Our Joy.

"Blessed are You, Adonai, Guardian of Israel, whose shelter of peace (Sukkat Shalom), is spread over us, and over all Your people Israel, and over Jerusalem."
From the Shabbat Evening Service

Chag Sukkot Sameach
Shabbat Shalom - Rest and Renew

Words of wisdom for Shabbat and Yom Kippur

"... Yom Kippur has become the moment when most Jews individually and the Jewish people collectively experience the strongest sense of partnership and covenant with God - the strongest sense that if the people have striven with all their energy to redress the wrongs they have done, God will forgive them and give them a sense of harmony and wholeness...

This moment of most intense spiritual experience is the moment of atonement - the moment when all misdeeds are covered over. Yom Kippur becomes a kind of tallis in time - a prayer shawl to cover the confusions of the year. As worshippers walk into shul and pick up the tallis , they cover their heads for a moment so as to wipe away the pointless, pathless wanderings of the world. Under the tallis, with the world invisible, it is possible for a moment to look toward God. So we could look at Yom Kippur as the prayer shawl that God spreads over all the people Israel, if we will take the trouble to pick the tallis up. Under this tallis we can stand face to face with God."
From Seasons of Our Joy by Arthur Waskow


Putting on the Prayer Shawl

"Recalling the generations,
I wrap myself
in the tallit.

May my mind be clear,
my spirit open,
as I envelope myself in prayer."

From The Book of Blessings by Marcia Falk

Shabbat Shalom Rest and Re-new
G'mar Chatimah Tovah

Words of Wisdom...from Arthur Waskow

Shabbat Shalom.
After services on Rosh HaShana morning, I picked up a copy of the Jewish Calendar for 5771.
The first month was Tishrei - no surprise there! But Judaism can be tricky - as Arthur Waskow explains in the following excerpt from his book, Seasons of Our Joy:

"Rosh Hashanah comes in the month of Tishri, which the Bible calls the seventh month. It is the month of early fall, of catching our breath after the dry hot winds of summer. Because it is in the seventh month, it echoes the seventh day, the Shabbos of rest and contemplation, of catching our breath after six days of hard work.

So perhaps Rosh Hashana is the new year for renewal. Like Shabbos it is the time to focus our attention on ultimate spirtual truth. This is then the new year for learning how a human being can turn toward God. Perhaps it is the head of the year because the head is raised toward heaven, away from the earth..."

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and Renew.

Shabbat Shalom - Words of Wisdom from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

In the spirit of Shabbat, let's turn aside from the everyday how-to's, what-to's, and when-to's, and consider Words of Wisdom from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov:

"The Architect of the World
never does the same thing twice
Every day is an entirely
new creation. Take as much as
you can from what each new
day has to offer."

Shabbat Shalom - Rest and Renew