One of the topics of this week’s parashah is the famous story of Moses striking, rather than speaking to the rock. Becuase of this and Moses’ murder of the Egyptian task master, he does not gain entry to the Holy Land. This situation provokes many questions. Rabbi David Teutsch shares one response in his drash published by the UJC project Mekor Chaim.
Go and Learn!
This week’s parashah, Korah, tells the story of rebellion against leadership. Korach leads a group to foment rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Their rebellion does not go well, to put it mildly.
What do we learn from this rebellion?
Rabbi Offel reflects on the “Balancing the Individual and the Communal”
Rav Kook writes on the role of Priestly Leadership in ancient and modern days in his drash Korach: Who Needs the Priesthood?
Go and Learn!!
Yep – it is back – commentary and links to drashot on the weekly Torah portion!!
This week’s parashah is B’khuqotai, a rather difficult portion closing the book of Leviticus. One of the more difficult sections is the listing of rebukes which can be interpretated as if you mess up G-d gets back at you. But, not all understand them this way.
This week’s haftarah, from the book of Jeremiah, responds to the listing of rebukes through the lens of war and despair in his own day. Rabbi Andrea Lerner comments on Jeremiah’s response and how we might answer the age-old question of why bad things happen to us. My Jewish Learning has a copy of a drash she wrote titled Faith In Difficult Times: Jeremiah’s deep faith despite the impending exile predicted in Parashat B’hukotai can teach us to turn to God in the most troubling of times.
Go and study and may you find comfort and encouragement from Jeremiah’s words.
Here is another daf yomi site – Yeshivah University Torah Online
More and more women are engaging in serious Torah study. Quite a few are even participating in daf yomi.
The Jerusalem Post has a story on women studying daf yomi and the controversy and various opinions which this issue raises.
In honor of today’s siyyum of the 7-year cycle of daf yomi (daily study of a page of Talmud) I am posting some new links for Torah study. They appear in this post and in the margin where appropriate. (Thanks to Temple Sholom in Eau Clarie for many of the links.)
Daf Yomi
E-Daf
Daf Yomi Advancement Forum
Daf Yomi
Torah & Tanach
Targum Onqelos on the Torah with parallel Hebrew and Aramaic text (Mechon Mamre).
Tikkun Korim (Unvocalized text as in the sefer Torah (Mechon Mamre).
Genealogies of People in the Tanach (ORT)
Reference on People and Places in the Torah (ORT)
Rabbinic & Medieval Texts
Four of the Major Sources of Oral Torah – Hebrew (Mishnah, Talmud Bavli Talmud Yerushalmi and Tosefta from Machon Mamre).
Talmud Bavli in English (Under construction.)
Rashi Study Source>
Rambam’s Mishneh Torah with Parallel Hebrew/English text (Mechon Mamre).
Seforim Online, a Source for Many Texts.
General Study Resources
Hebrew Books.org
As the sages said – Zil G’mor – Go and Study!
Hello. This week’s Torah portion is Ki Tisa, a text which includes the infamous story of the golden calf followed chapters later by the second giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai. Much has been written about this text in modern day and throughout the ancient and mideival commentaries. Rather than posting one commentary this week, I am going to link to a website with nine differnt articles, My Jewish Learning commetaries and text discussions for Ki Tisa. The list of online articles includes:
Go Down, Moses! by Rabbi Andrea Lerner
The Idol Of Complacency by Rabbi Neal Joseph Loevinger
Up And Down The Mountain Of Life by Jennifer Werby
Tzedakah And Jewish Education by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson
Negotiating A Relationship With God by Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses
Transformative Power by Ismar Schorsch
Veiling And Unveiling by Rabbi Aaron Mehlman
Our Golden Calf: When Tzedakah Is Not Righteous by Rabbi Dan Bronstein
Positive Communal Action by Laura Safran
This week’s parashah is Tetzaveh and opens with the instruction to create an ever-burning light in the Tent of Meeting. This becomes the ner tamid, the eternal light.
Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson of the University of Judaism has written a powerful commentary on this symbol and its connection to Torah and Judaism in our lives. Amongst his words is the citation of a midrash, a commentary on the text.
The Midrash continues: “Just see how the words of the Torah give forth light to those who study them…. Those who study Torah give forth light wherever they may be. It is like standing in the dark with a lamp in hand; when you see a stone, you don’t stumble, nor do you fall into a gutter because you have a lamp in hand…. God said, ‘Let My lamp be in your hand and your lamp in My hand.’ What is the lamp of God? The Torah.
In our day, then, the lamp of God is the rich teachings of the Torah. God shines that light into the world, illumining the pitfalls and stumbling-blocks along the way. Through the guidance and discipline of the mitzvot, God offers us a path of sanity, profundity, and morality.
Go and Learn!
This week’s Torah portion is Termuah. One of the elements of Termuah is a detailing of the instructions for the construction of the Tent of Meeting or Tabernacle in the desert. Of course, one of the elements of construction is the need for materials and supplies.
To get these supplies/materials/tools G-d says in Exodus 25:2, “Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him.”
A key clause is “whose heart so moves him” (and her). Giving to the community holy place is voluntary, regardless of one’s capacity, capability and willingness to give.
Rav Kook writes about the mitzvah of tzedakah (righteousness – the closest word in Hebrew to “charity”). In the midst of this drash is the following,
There are two objectives to the mitzvah of tzedaka. The first concerns the one receiving. Through this mitzvah, we assist the poor and help provide what they are lacking. The second aim concerns the one giving. By donating our time and money, we express in the world of action our inner qualities of chesed and kindness. The act of tzedaka actualizes our feelings of generosity, and contributes towards our own spiritual growth.
Read the rest of the drash here.
Go and Learn and Give!
This week’s Torah portion is Mishpatim, a continuation of the statement of laws for the Jewish community. Can we be inspired by these laws? Even by the first letter of the first word? Read this commentary by Rabbi Ben Hollander.
Let’s look at that first letter, the “vav”—usually translated as the conjunction “and”. I remember an elementary school teacher who sternly forbade us to begin a sentence with “and”. Well, she would have liked the new-JPS translation of our verse: it leaves out the conjunction and translates simply, “These are the rules…!” (Similarly, Ex. l:l.) Besides the linguistic reasons, this fits how modern Biblical scholars regard the collection of laws in Mishpatim: a discrete “book”, the “Sefer Ha-Brit” (Book of the Covenant) of 24:7 whose ratification is described at the parashah’s end….
Click here to read the rest of this wonderful drash.
Go and Learn!