Torah Portion: Emor, Leviticus 21:1-24:23

This has been an incredible week in world affairs.  The news media swung from the violent storms in the South, to the Royal Wedding, to the end of Osama Bin Ladin.  As an observer to all of these events, I cannot help but feel a sense of whiplash!  I heard someone says recently that when a home defaults in Ohio, Iceland goes bankrupt; when a rebellion erupts in the Middle East, our gas prices go up.  Today, we are connected in unprecedented ways—not only to the people in our own country, but to every other country in the world.  In many ways, this is a blessing; in many ways, it brings great challenge to our every day existence.

Torah Portion: Vayeira, Genesis 18:1–22:24

The tradition of hachnasat orchim, or being welcoming to guests, runs deeply throughout our tradition.  On Sukkot, we have an "Ushpizin" ceremony, when we welcome our ancestors into our sukkah.  On Passover, it is considered a great mitzvah to include guests who do not know anything about the holiday.  And every Shabbat, it is traditional to invite anybody who doesn't have plans to join you for Shabbat dinner.

Torah Portion:  Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot, Exodus 33:12–34:26

One of the most interesting commandments relating to Sukkot is the command to be joyful.  The Torah says, "Rejoice in your holiday....  You should have nothing but joy!" (Deut. 16:13 and 15).  Feelings are very rarely commanded in the Torah in the first place (notable exceptions include "loving God" and "thou shalt not covet"). But one could argue that Sukkot is one of the most uncomfortable holidays we share--we eat outside, rain or shine; we are supposed to sleep in the sukkah, the least stable structure most of us ever build; for some the weather is downright nasty (my husband remembers Sukkot with lake effect snow in Cleveland!).  How, then, can we be joyful when the holiday makes us so uncomfortable?

Torah Portion: Nitzavim/Vayeilech, Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30

I know that everybody laughs when I say it, but this week's portion is truly my favorite portion!  When rabbinic students are ordained we are allowed to select a verse from Jewish tradition for our ordination books, and I selected a verse from this week's portion:  "I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse.  Choose life... by loving the Lord your God" (Deut. 31:19-20).  These words have particular resonance this time of year because they are also our Torah reading for Yom Kippur.  They contain a potent and challenging message.  Life is filled with things we label as "blessings" - good health, happy marriages, special friends, successful careers, and delightful children.  Life is also filled with things we label as "curses" - debilitating illness or accidents, financial loss, horrible natural disasters.  Can we really CHOOSE what comes in to our life?  Sometimes we can, but more often than not life throws curveballs at us and all we can do is duck.  Yet our Torah portion still contains the message to choose, to choose life.  What does this mean?

Torah Portion:  Va'etchanan, Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11

I've always been interested in my Christian friends and colleagues who talk about being witnesses for their God.  I've always been perplexed by this language, not really understanding what it means, not really thinking that it was "Jewish" language.  But I was reminded while reading this week's Torah portion that "witnessing" is, in fact, part of Jewish faith and experience.  If you actually read the Torah for this week's portion, you will find the familiar words of the Shema prayer.  But what might not be familiar is the fact that the last letter of the first word of the shema - AYIN - and the last letter of the last word of the prayer - DALET - are enlarged.  These two letters combine to form the word eid, or WITNESS.  Written into the Torah itself is the message that through the Shema, we serve as wtinesses for God.

Torah Portion: Matot/Masei, Numbers 30:2-26:13

Not everything in the Torah is pretty.  The beginning of this week's portion, in fact, contains a disturbing story about the Israelites waging war against the Midianites.  God instructs Moses to instruct the Israelites to spare no one, to decimate the entire Midianite people.  The battle commanders, however, kill only the men, and spare the women and children.  When Moses learns of this mercy, he rebukes the commanders and orders them to kill every young male, while sparing only the women and girls.  Reading this story, one cannot help but think of Pharaoh's evil decree to kill every Israelite male child, an event that eventually led to the Israelites' freedom.  This story brings up a number of difficult theological questions: Are the Israelites actually more spiritually "chosen" than other peoples?  If God is compassionate, why would God order the death of all these people?  Was Moses a righteous leader?  

Torah Portion: Korach, Numbers 16:1-18:32

When I was a junior in college, I spent a year abroad in Israel.  I took an amazing class on biblical studies at Hebrew University, and one of the passages we studied was actually this week’s Torah portion, Korach.  The Torah describes not one, not two, but multiple groups of rebels who stand up and openly resist Moses’ leadership and God’s rule.  They are led by Korach and his family, two other men named Datan and Aviram, and a group of 40 elders of the tribes.  If you sit down and just read the portion, it seems like this was one mass rebellion led by multiple people, but I learned at Hebrew University that the Torah is reflecting multiple rebellions occurring at different times for different reasons.  The Torah conflates them all into this one portion! 

Torah Portion: Sh'lach L'cha; Numbers 13:1-15:41

This week’s portion, Sh'lach-L'cha, tells the story of the twelve spies who make an early entrance into the land of Israel in order to scout out the land.  They return to the wandering Israelites and report that while the land is indeed flowing with milk and honey, it is inhabited by such strong people that the rag-tag group of Israelites could not possibly hope to overcome.  This report throws the Israelites into chaos, and they shriek that through Moses, God led the Israelites out of Egypt (which at least had good food!) only to die in the desert.  All the Israelites seem to join in this accusation, except for two of the spies—Joshua and Caleb.  These two men literally put their lives on the line and tell the people that God will remain with them, and that they should not fear.  Joshua and Caleb risked everything in order to speak the truth.

Torah Portion: Naso, Numbers 4:21-7:89

This week's Torah portion, Naso, contains the obscure story of the "sotah," a woman who has been accused of committing adultery. The Torah describes the arcane test that the accused woman must undergo to either prove or disprove her innocence. While this Torah section might not seem to be the most exciting topic of study, I actually spent about a year learning about the sotah ritual with my study partner, my hevruta. Judaism, as most of us know, has always placed a premium on education, but the most important form of study has been Torah study. Torah study for its own sake - not for monetary gain, educational advancement or increase in status - is considered its own reward, deepening our spirituality and connection with God. That is why studying the ritual of sotah was such an important part of my weekly schedule.

Torah Portion: B'midbar; Numbers 1:1-4:20

This week's Torah portion, B'midbar, begins a new book of the Torah, the book of Numbers.  The Hebrew word for this book (the same as this week's portion) is B'midbar, which literally translates as "in the wilderness."  This name makes sense because this book tells the story of the Israelites wandering through the wilderness before they entered the land of Canaan.  So where did the name "Numbers" come from?