Parashat Vayikra - Modern Sacrifice

*I wrote this, and then as I was writing the concluding paragraph, remembered that this Saturday is the Passover Model Seder for the Hebrew school kids instead of regular services, so I don't actually have to deliver a d'var Torah. Oh well!*

This week’s parasha is one long speech from G-d. As we open the book of Leviticus, having just finished preparing the tabernacle in Exodus, we find no new narrative, no speeches from Moses, no new mischievousness from the people. Just G-d. G-d telling Moses to tell the Israelites about proper sacrifices. The Hebrew word for sacrifices, korban, literally means to draw near. G-d is telling Moses all the different ways for the Israelites to be nearer to G-d. And there are a lot of different ways in this parasha. There’s a sacrifice to do purely out of love and exultation of G-d, there’s a sacrifice to be done alongside a request of G-d, there’s a sacrifice to do in case of a sin, there’s even a sacrifice to be done if you discover you have mistakenly done something wrong!

This week’s haftarah scolds the people for turning away from sacrifice. Although we also no longer offer sacrifices in the way the Torah lays out, we do have modern ways to similarly get near to G-d, unlike the people in the haftarah, who had turned completely from the message and meaning of the sacrifices. Today, we have songs of prayer that are joyous and help us express love for G-d and our community. There are prayers to ask for things from G-d. There is one way we might apologize to someone we’ve knowingly hurt, and another way we would apologize to them if they explained to us that something we did by accident also hurt them, and different ways we might ask G-d for forgiveness for those things, too, even after the person has forgiven us. The apologies with our fellow person help us get closer to humanity, and the follow up prayer with G-d helps set our minds at ease that our friends mean it when they say they’ve forgiven us.

Besides prayer, we do offer sacrifices as well, just a different sort of sacrifice, and that also helps us get closer to each other and to G-d. Two weeks, we were short one snack in the class, but two classmates offered to share with each other. Rather than fight over the last snack, they were both willing to sacrifice half, to make sure everyone got some. When I suggested that everyone in the class contribute one fruit snack to the pair sharing, so that they would have more to share, everyone did. It wasn’t a big sacrifice, but it made a difference to the two that had been sharing. Whenever you are charitable, it is a sacrifice, because you are giving up something of your own, even if it is a small something. In doing so, you are helping out another person. That makes the community grow closer, which can help everyone get closer to G-d.

As we begin to study the book of Leviticus, with its weird archaic laws, and it’s lack of narrative, let us keep in mind, that there is still much to learn from it. May we all learn to offer our small sacrifices with an open heart, and draw near to G-d and to each other. Amen and Shabbat Shalom. 

Vayakhel-Pekudei - TEAM work

Lizz Goldstein

3/9/13

Vayakhel-Pekudei

            The Torah spends 40 verses describing the construction of the universe, and something like 4,000 verses describing the construction of the Tabernacle. The last few weeks’ parshiyot told of Moses receiving the instructions from G-d, and the first of this week’s double portion –Vayahkel – begins with Moses reiterating those instructions to the people of Israel. They all immediately set to work. Betzalel and Ohaliab seem to be doing the bulk of the building, as head architect and interior designer, but the whole community chips in to the best of their abilities, donating all they can find to contribute to the demands of gold, copper, silver, skins, yarns, and the acacia wood. In the second parsha of this week, Pekudei, soon all of this preparation work of building and making garments is finished, and the Mishkan and the priests are ready. As promised, the cloud of G-d appears over the Tabernacle and settles, so that the people will always know that G-d is with them. When the cloud rises and starts to move, the people follow. If the cloud stays put, the people know that it is not a good day to travel. At night, the cloud becomes a fire, so that the people will still see G-d’s presence clearly.

            The Israelites, as they wander through the desert, are not always grateful for all that G-d has done for them. Despite all the miracles they had seen, in last week’s parasha they still demanded that Aaron build them an idol to pray to instead of G-d. Throughout the next 40 years, they constantly complain about the hardships of wandering in the desert, and whatever G-d provides and whatever guidance Moses gives, the Manna, the water that springs from rocks, the leadership of Moses, it is often not enough for these people. But when they are given these very specific instructions to give up their money, jewelry, precious stones and fabric, they do so immediately and wholeheartedly. Together, they throw themselves into the work of building the Mishkan. They work together, accept the direction of Moses, and don’t complain about the special roles given Betzalel and Ohaliab. When G-d tried to talk to the people directly, they were freaked and sent Moses to talk to G-d for them. When Moses had been gone too long, and they heard nothing from this G-d, they lost faith. But when G-d, via Moses, gave them a specific task, they set to it. The people need to keep busy, and they need to be able to work together, for this mass of wanderers to survive.

            The construction of the universe is told in only 40 verses, because that is G-d’s domain. G-d created the world in 6 days through Divine powers that we could never hope to comprehend, so why bother trying to explain it in simple human words? The construction of the Tabernacle is allowed half of the book of Exodus, because it is a human domain. Through teamwork, generosity, and sheer human strength and wisdom, the Israelites were able to bring G-d’s blueprints for a dwelling place to fruition. The Israelites learn how to be a TEAM – where Together Everyone Accomplishes More. Although the teamwork itself is a small paragraph in comparison to the pages and pages of descriptions of the materials and how they are to be used, it puts into perspective how massive the task was, and how easily they were still able to complete it when they put their minds and hearts to it. In Genesis, G-d created humans and a place for them to live. In this week’s double parasha, humans create a place for G-d to live, and a community that serves G-d, basically validating G-d. This is not a small thing!

            As we go through our tasks in life, which may sometimes be unappealing, and sometimes do not inspire gratitude, let us remember that through hard work, our lives are made fulfilling and by using teamwork to complete our hard tasks, our loads are made light. May we always try our best to work well together and be generous, giving G-d a home and a strong community. Amen and Shabbat Shalom. 

Parashat Ki Tisa - G-d's Butt

            This week’s Torah portion has so much going on. There are lots of instructions regarding the building of the Tent of Meeting, the sort of portable Temple to be used in the desert. The architects are appointed, how it is to be built is explained, the rules of what Aaron and the other priests will do once the Tent of Meeting is ready are laid out. Then G-d reminds us, that though the Israelites will work for 6 days at a time on this huge project, on Shabbat, everyone must stop and rest. This is particularly important to remember this week, as we celebrate Shabbat Across America and remember that this is an important commandment that has kept the Jewish people throughout the ages. We may celebrate the Shabbat differently now, as Reform Jews, but we still stop and remember Shabbat. It also has the iconic incident with the golden calf, which itself could have innumerable things to say about it, as well as the smashing and reconstruction of the tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

This parasha also has one of my favorite moments in the Bible, an experience a friend of mine once referred to as “G-d showing Moses his butt.” Moses demands of G-d, “Show me your glory!” and G-d responds, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see it and live.” But G-d agrees to let that “glory” pass by Moses and Moses can see it from behind. G-d says, “I will place you into the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand, and you will see My back but My face shall not be seen.”

            What does all that mean?! Well, here are some visual aids for what that might have looked like literally, I have the mountain face with the cleft in it here, and a Moses stick figure, and Moses fits inside the cleft, so he can’t see what’s happening on either side. G-d (please don’t read any megalomania into my playing G-d in this scenario, but, you know, I’m bigger than the cutout mountain and stick figure, and I have hands, so it works for this representation) puts a hand out [I demonstrate as I explain], and walks in front of the cleft, and then takes G-d’s hand away after the face has passed, and Moses can see G-d’s backside, until that, too, passes behind the rock. But do we really believe that G-d has a hand in that literal sense that can cover eyes like a game of peek-a-boo? Or that G-d has a butt? Do we believe in such a personified G-d?

Onkelos, the famous convert and commentator in ancient times, shared that he believed “hand” meant guidance. G-d put some guidance before Moses, but soon G-d will remove that and pass by. Moses will be able to see “the backside” of his interactions with G-d, that is, as we see the past in hindsight. He will be able to maintain all that he learned in his time on the mountain, when G-d gave him so much guidance, but since G-d removes the hand or the guidance from before Moses’s eyes, Onkelos says we can learn from this that even Moses was not able to really grasp the whole Greatness of G-d. So if you don’t understand G-d, if you don’t know what to believe about the Divine, or how G-d directly guides you in your life, don’t worry. Even our great teacher Moses didn’t fully know, and he talked to G-d in a very direct way!

Life can be confusing and painful. But it can also be glorious and liberating. Sometimes it’s hard to know where to put G-d into all that. Is there a man with a long white beard in the sky watching us, who can come down to Earth and put hands before our eyes? I don’t believe that, but I do believe that sometimes G-d, unknowable as Divinity can be sometimes, still gives us guidance, and sometimes we let the opportunity to follow it pass without really seeing it, and sometimes it’s hard to look tough situations right in the face, and we only really see them from behind, in hindsight. The important thing is to learn from that hindsight. To remember the guidance that was once in front of us, to learn from every experience and take that with us as we go on in life, especially in the moments that feel like there is no guidance or hand of G-d to help us. May we all recognize the glory of G-d as it passes by us at various points in our lives, and take strength from those moments into our futures which may be as unknowable as G-d. Amen and Shabbat Shalom. 

Parashat Mishpatim

            When all of humanity in the time of Noah was being “bad,” they were wiped out. We don’t know what they were doing wrong, or if they were given any idea of what was right. Now, we don’t ever have to worry about such things again. Not only because G-d made a promise to Noah to never wipe out humanity again, but because now we have rules to live by. We know what is right and wrong, so we can know to live our lives righteously and never fear a wrathful G-d.

            Last week, we received the 10 Commandments. Ten rules to start with, basic laws to live by. The 10 commandments start with acknowledging G-d, who led us out of Egypt, and being commanded to have no other G-ds, but then the rest of the ten are pretty great basic laws for all people: Don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t lie, etc. This week, the list of rules, or ordinances continues. Rashi comments that the parasha opens with “v,” meaning “and,” to show the continuation from the previous parasha. “Here are the ten commandments, AND here are the ordinances.” Basic laws to start from, AND more detailed explanations of rules and regulations, including proper punishments for transgressions.

            Although not all the rules in this week’s Torah portion are still relatable to us, such as the first ten, regarding proper slave ownership, they still give us an idea of good behavior, and most importantly, accountability. This week’s Torah portion isn’t just, “Do this, don’t do this.” It’s IF YOU DO THIS, you have to pay. And it’s not just about our own actions, but also about responsibility for our property, and about respecting other people’s property. We are told that if two people fight, and one severely injures the other, he should pay for the medical costs. We are also told that if one farmer’s livestock eats another farmer’s crops, or kills his livestock, the first farmer should pay for the damages. Even though animals can be unreliable and it’s not necessarily the farmer’s fault, it’s still his responsibility. If an animal kills a person, the animal should be put down. If for some reason it isn’t, and it kills a second time, the owner is liable for the death, and will have to face the punishment as though he himself did the killing. Again, the person him or herself did not do the wrong, but is responsible for his animals, for keeping it in its pen, especially if it has been known to injure or kill in the past.

            It’s hard to agree with the punishments laid out, and even the earliest rabbis found ways around fulfilling these ordinances, and punished lawbreakers without resorting to physically harming or killing them. However, if we look beyond the specificities that might make us uncomfortable with this parasha, there is still a great premise: you are responsible for your actions, and your property. Be just, be fair, be kind, take care. May we all remember to do these things, so that we may create a just world, where all are held equally responsible for creating peace. Shabbat Shalom! 

Parashat Yitro

            Everyone needs a support network. Even in the face of miracles, life is hard, and G-d alone cannot provide the support and comfort we each need to make it through the hard days. No one person has ever had the relationship with G-d that Moses had, and many people do not feel G-d’s presence at all, at least not on a day to day basis. That doesn’t mean that G-d isn’t still present, but that sometimes, for some people, it’s hard to feel that presence. Moses talked to G-d directly, heard all that G-d had to say, knew exactly what his purpose in life was, and had ample opportunity to pour his heart out and confide all his anxieties in a Divine Confidante. But he still needed Jethro, his father-in-law and friend, to give him advice. In this week’s parasha, our title character, Jethro, expresses concern that Moses is overwhelming himself, and makes suggestions on how Moses can reduce his stress level. Jethro has Moses’s and his people’s best interest in mind. He’s got Moses’s back.

            Jethro suggests that Moses cultivate an even wider support network than himself and G-d. Jethro knows that as much as Moses alone cannot care for the entire people of Israel and bring their words to G-d, and G-d’s word back to them, Jethro himself cannot alone be Moses’s aid in life. So Moses selects leaders of the people to help him with his task. He builds himself a posse, and only in this way is he “able to survive, and also, all this people will come to their place in peace” (Ex 18:23).

            Even with freedom, enough food to eat, security, and family, life isn’t perfect. No matter how good you have it, there will always be stress factors and sadness. It’s important to be sure to have a support network in place when that happens. Everyone should have a confidante and a crew, as Moses did, besides G-d and immediate family. Someone to tell our troubles to, someone who listens and can offer advice, someone who will remind us of our own limits and be honest with us. We can’t all just select our posse as Moses did, because none of us are national leaders with direct face-to-face contact with G-d, and most of us don’t have people lining up waiting to talk to us and be graced with our presence. But, we can be mindful of how we present ourselves, remember to be friendly, to treat others with respect and kindness, and to be honest with others, as we would want them to be with us. We can let people know when we care about them, tell them how much we value their input and companionship, but also be mindful of when they might need their own space. If we do these things, we may find that we’ve built ourselves a pretty good support network of our own.

            So, this Shabbat, consider me your Jethro. You are all Moses. You all have your own tasks and burdens in this life, assigned by G-d or your math teachers, and you can’t do everything alone. May you all find friendship, support, and peace. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.  

Parashat Beshalach –Tu B’Shevat

            Earlier this week, I was looking through some of the materials Hazel bequeathed to the Hebrew School, I found these handouts [present handouts]. One is on this week’s parasha, Beshalach, and one is for the first of the 9 plagues, which we saw in the last two weeks’ parshiyot [pass around handouts]. In them, modern Biblical scholars explain some scientifically possible explanations for the extraordinary events we read in the narrative of the Israelites’ escape from Egypt. Personally, I love this idea. That there is some scientific reasoning that supports the possibility that something happened, which looked to the Egyptians and Israelites like plagues and a deliberate parting of the Red Sea. If they could have really happened as much by the laws of nature as by the hand of G-d, how much more miraculous would that be! How amazing that we live in a world where nature is so complex and interesting and interconnected, that an over-abundance of algae could make the water look red like blood, and set off a whole chain reaction that leads to the frogs, flies or wild animals, locusts, illness in the people and cattle, and create the narrative we have today. The scientific explanations for how the universe, and specifically Earth as the only planet known to be able to sustain life, came to be is as much proof of Divine intention as our story in B’reshit. To me, G-d is in nature.

            It can be easy to forget about that, though, when you live in a city without a lot of greenery, with too many artificial lights to see the stars, when you’re busy, when it’s too cold to go for a walk just to appreciate the outdoors. I honestly can’t remember the last time I watched a sunrise, sunset, or really looked at the moon. I don’t think I’ve done any of those things since I moved to New York, almost two years ago. And when we forget about how lovely nature is, when we don’t get to see it, and appreciate it, it’s easy to forget how important it is. We breathe just fine in this city, even if we find ourselves on a block with no trees! How easy to forget that trees provide our oxygen. We have plenty of fruits and nuts in front on us today, and I’ve never seen a carob tree in person before! How easy to forget where our foods come from. And in lands far away, where people wage war, it is easy for them to forget that the space between them and their enemies is natural land, neutral ground that everyone could find use of.

            Our Jewish laws teach us, then, that when we are fighting a war, we should not harm the trees in our way. The trees cannot run away, or choose sides, or ask for mercy. They are completely innocent casualties. Every Shabbat we pray for peace, we pray for the healing not only of people close to us, but any in the world injured in disasters, we say a Mourner’s Kaddish not only for those our own community has lost, but for all those in world who have died in war with no one to say Kaddish for them. This Shabbat, as we are celebrating the birthday of the trees, Tu B’Shevat, let us also say a prayer for peace for all the trees hurt by war, a prayer for healing all the soil on other continents rendered unhealthy and unusable for plant by the land mines put in it from wars past, and a Mourner’s prayer for all the pieces of the natural world lost forever by humanity’s ignorance of how important nature is. Now that we know how important nature is, now that we have organizations like the JNF learning to plant the right kinds of trees in Israel for us, now that we have modern Biblical and scientific scholars working together to hypothesize how the miracles of the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea could have really happened, may we always remember to appreciate the nature around us. Children of the Hebrew School, you are the future! May you be the first generation to have everyone reduce, reuse, and recycle, to plant sustainably, and to appreciate the trees every day! Amen, Shabbat Shalom, and Chag Ha-Ilanot Sameach! Happy Festival of the Trees! 

Parashat Bo

            What was the purpose of the plagues? At first glance, it seems it would be to punish Pharaoh for not listening to G-d. Each time Pharaoh refuses to let the people of Israel go, G-d brings down a new plague. It looks like a classic struggle of good and evil, a fight between two titans, although it is too obvious who is the greater titan, who will end up the winner. This idea, though, often leads to the same questions. How can the plagues just be about punishing Pharaoh each time he refuses to let the people go? How can this be a struggle between good and evil or a fight between two titans? We’re talking about G-d verses a mere mortal, here! Sure, it’s Pharaoh, the great king of Egypt. Probably the most powerful man in the world at the time. In his own culture, people revered him as the embodiment of one of their own gods. But, we know there is no G-d but Adonai. Pharaoh has no unearthly powers. Although I think we have some proof that G-d cannot be both omniscient and omnipotent, or the Jewish people wouldn’t have been enslaved for so long in the first place, it seems that once G-d “heard their moaning, and remembered the covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and [finally] took notice of them,” it should have been pretty easy to swoop in and save them

But maybe, G-d didn’t want to save them right away. In last week’s parasha, the Torah speaks of Pharaoh being stubborn, or hardening his heart. In this week’s parasha, the text is more explicit, that G-d is hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Why would G-d do this? Why does G-d want to drag out the suffering of all the people in Egypt? The children of Israel continue to suffer as slaves, though they are safe from the plagues, and the children of Egypt suffer from the plagues, though they are safe from slavery. Perhaps this time was meant to prepare them for their journey.

In Parashat Shemot, there is a hint that the people were oppressed and enslaved for a long time before they thought to call out to G-d for help. When they cry out, their cries rise to heaven, and G-d takes notice of them, resolving to free them. Why didn’t they think to call out sooner? Maybe because they were busy being oppressed! It’s easy to forget about G-d’s protection when not actively benefitting from it. Sometimes, when at a low point, it’s hard to believe that someone out there really cares at all. Sometimes it’s hard to accept help or reassurance after getting quite used to despair. Maybe G-d was worried that these people weren’t emotionally ready to be freed, to have their whole lives uprooted and flipped upside down, even if for the better. First G-d needed to show the people that they were noticed, that they were still cared for, by an Awesome Being that truly had the power to free and protect them. While protected in Goshen, the people of Israel could see G-d’s wrath reign down on their oppressor through the plagues. They could see that G-d had great power to both destroy and protect at the same time, and build their trust in this G-d that put up a fence around them to keep them safe while swarms of wild beasts, locusts, and hail plagued the people of Egypt.

Additionally, I think the plagues served as something of an equalizer between the people of Israel and Egypt. The Egyptians, cruel slave masters and uninvolved citizens alike, suffered from the plagues. Even innocent children were forced to suffer the plagues. I’m sure this made the people angry toward their Pharaoh and the slave masters that brought this suffering down on them. Maybe not at first, but once it became evident that indeed Moses brought the wrath of Adonai, and Pharaoh was powerless to stop it, not an embodiment of their own god at all,  they might wonder why Pharaoh didn’t just admit defeat and end it. What kind of leader allows the suffering of their own people to continue, because of his pride and his hatred of the “others”? (Well, most, but it’s still not right). Certainly by the tenth plague, the people of Egypt might have come around to see that G-d is powerful, and loves and protects the people of Israel, and Pharaoh is a stubborn meanie. Thus, by the time the Israelites were able to flee, the Egyptians were disposed favorably toward them, and gave the Hebrews all their gold and silver to escape with.

So, when you find yourself in a time when you feel plagued, try to think of it as a learning opportunity. You probably will never be plagued by slavery or by swarms of wild beasts and locusts. But you might find yourself otherwise oppressed, or feel like the world is coming down around you more figuratively. This happens to everyone, at several different points in life. It’s normal. It’s awful, but it’s normal. When it happens, try not to forget about G-d’s love and protection, as the Israelites might have. Try to look around at the situation and find where G-d’s might is playing a role, and what good the time of darkness (figuratively, or as in the 9^th plague) may lead to. What lesson is it trying to teach you? Should you change your alliances or help out a neighbor or another community you never paid attention to before? After the plagues comes freedom, made all the more sweet by the contrast of the hardships endured to get there. May you all have the patience and wisdom to make it through the plagues, and reach a time of safety and freedom with peace. Amen. Shabbat Shalom.