Naso

Numbers 4:21−7:89

D'var Torah By: Rabbi Laurie Rice for ReformJudasim.org

The Torah on Women: Think Again!

Our ancient sages were obsessed with organization. As such, they categorized most everything, which is best reflected in the Talmud’s 63 tractates, which address a variety of subjects including Jewish ethics, philosophy, customs, history, lore, and much more. Nearly every topic has its place and order, with the exception of women. Women must have perplexed our dear Rabbis. We can imagine the discussion: Are they women or are they chattel? They bleed, but do not die, yet they must be impure, but they create new life, something we certainly cannot do. And while there is indeed a tractate attributed to women, Nashim, we find the ambiguity of women’s roles in the Bible and within ancient Israelite society reflected in this inability to “categorize” women as one might the Jubilee year or the subject of ketubot.

The ritual of the sotah, addressed in Parashat Naso, is an example of this ambiguity. Because of the linguistic difficulties that riddle this passage (Numbers 5:11-31), an accurate understanding of the details of the ritual and the motivation behind them may forever elude us (perhaps just like the nature of woman herself).

Adultery is considered a very grave offense in the Bible, much in the same way that incest is a sin punishable by death (see Leviticus 20:10-12). Unlike the laws of incest, which apply to both men and women (see Leviticus, chapter 18), in the case of adultery there is a fundamental difference between men and women. A married woman is forbidden to have sexual relations with all men except her husband, but a married man is free to have sexual relations with any other woman as long as she herself is single and available. Since biblical law allows men concubines as well as wives, there are no punitive measures against a married man who engages in extramarital sex. Even when the Babylonian Talmud attempts to prohibit a man from spending time in privacy with women outside his family (Kiddushin 80b-81b), such relations still remain outside the purview of sexual transgressions.

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B'midbar

Numbers 1:1−4:20

Dvar Torah by Rabbi Philip “Flip” Rice for ReformJudasim.org

Finding Your Soul in the Wilderness Scroll

"[I will] lead her to the wilderness . . ." (Hosea 2:16)

Few places lend themselves to personal growth as well as the wilderness. Whether you conceive of it as a desert or a forest, a mirage or an oasis, a wilderness is a place of nature and a refuge from the world. It is in the wilderness where our ancestors encountered God and where Torah, their stories, were revealed. As we count down these days toward the holiday of Shavuot, our Torah portion this week invites us to join Jews worldwide as we enter the backwoods. Called "Numbers" in English, the Hebrew title of this book of Torah, B'midbar, is translated as and takes place "In the Wilderness." Political scientist Robert Maclver writes, "The healthy being craves an occasional wilderness, a jolt from normality, a sharpening of the edge of appetite, his own little festival of Saturnalia, a brief excursion from his way of life."1

As summer approaches and we ready ourselves for the outdoors, consider that the wilderness, like camp, is also a school. It affords us opportunities to learn and mature. Its unique environment and landscapes teach respect for the wonders of nature and invite growth of the spirit. It was in the wilderness of Sinai that our people learned the value of each person to the community. That is where our ancestors acquired the necessary skills for survival by recognizing their mutual dependence and loyalty to one another. No longer living by the will of others, the experiences recorded by those who came before us teach us the values of freedom in creating our own destinies, the conviction in our will to survive as a people, and the importance of experience to bolster education.

B'midbar reflects the uncertain and adventurous human journey of every generation, including ours! The trials facing the Israelites as they trek across the wilderness for forty years, maturing as a people, mirror the obstacles, successes, and failures that we encounter in life as a people and as individuals. During the course of our lives, we are certain to spend time in the rough country. Like Moses did personally, like the Israelites did long ago, we cannot help but gain perspective when times are tough, and afterwards we often find a new appreciation for life. The experience of disappointment can bring other rewards. While in the wilderness, for instance, the Children of Israel experience constant danger. A newly freed people, this allowed them to mature as a community and enabled them to receive the priceless gift of Torah; a gift given in "no man's land" and therefore belonging to no one and to everyone.2

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B'chukotai

Leviticus 26:3-27:34

Dvar Torah by Robert Tornberg, RJE, for ReformJudasim.org

Reflection in Multiple Ways

Parashat B'chukotai is the final Torah portion in the Book of Leviticus. Here we have learned, perhaps more than we ever wanted to know about the statutes, rules, and details of the work of the kohanim, the priests, and the sacrificial system. In the midst of all this we were also presented with a whole series of inspiring laws in Parashat K'doshim about how we can bring a measure of holiness into our daily lives as we interact with others. In fact, the focus of the much of the Book of Leviticus is considered by commentators and scholars to be "holiness."

This week's portion seems qualitatively different than the rest of the book and is divided into two sections, basically by the two chapters. The first section (Leviticus 26:3-46) contains a series of blessings and curses, and is considered to be an epilogue to all of Leviticus. The second section, chapter 27, appears to be somewhat of an afterthought containing supplementary laws about vows, gifts, and dues that seem to have been left out previously. In our examination today, we will focus on the epilogue.

The parashah opens with the following words: "If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce ..." (26:3-4). After being told that the Land will be fruitful if we obey God's commandments, we further learn in the next 8 verses that there will be peace in the Land, we will be victorious over enemies outside the Land, we will be fertile and multiply, and the Divine Presence will dwell in our midst.

Following this picture of prosperity and tranquility, we read, "But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments ...and you break My covenant, I in turn will do this to you..." (26:14-16). The section continues with 5 subsections of curses that parallel the blessings. The difference, however, is that the curses are described in much greater detail and take up a total of 30 verses (26:14-43) compared with the total eleven verses (26:3-13) of blessings. The penultimate verse in this chapter raises the specter of hope as God promises to " ...remember in their favor the covenant with the ancients, whom I freed from the land of Egypt ... " (26:45). The final verse in this chapter teaches clearly that all of the laws in Torah – including Leviticus – were given at Sinai (26:46).

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B'har

Leviticus 25:1-26:2

Dvar Torah by Robert Tornberg, RJE, for ReformJudasim.org

For God's Sake

Parashat B'har begins in a very unusual way. "The Eternal One spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai: Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: . . ." (Leviticus 25:1-2). Since the Book of Exodus, we have come to expect phrases in the Torah like "The Eternal said to Moses . . . "; "The Eternal spoke to Moses and Aaron . . . "; and, in Leviticus, "The Eternal One called to Moses from the Tent of Meeting . . . " (Leviticus 1:1). Why, in this instance, do we have a somewhat different "introduction" mentioning Sinai? After all, we already know – and assume everywhere else in the Torah – that Torah was given at Sinai. Why say it again?

Rashi and other commentators have made efforts to explain this using fairly convoluted logic. I would suggest that this phrase is intended to make us sit up and pay attention, not so much to the actual laws that follow, but to the actual message or meaning embedded in these statutes and ordinances. So what are the rules that may lead us to these bigger ideas?

The first set of regulations following our introduction includes laws about the Sabbatical Year – the land's Sabbath. Every seventh year, the land must have a complete rest: ". . . you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your untrimmed vines. . . . But you may eat whatever the land during its sabbath will produce . . . " (Leviticus 25:4-6). While any number of commentators try to explain how this shows a good understanding of the science of agriculture, for our purposes, please set this thought aside until we get to a discussion of our "bigger ideas."

The next group of laws is related to the Sabbatical in many ways, especially in the use of the number seven. "You shall count off seven weeks of years – seven times seven years – so that the period of seven weeks of years gives you a total of forty-nine years" (Leviticus 25:8). Then, on Yom Kippur in the fiftieth year, the shofar is sounded and a Yovel (often translated as "Jubilee") is proclaimed. During this entire fiftieth year, the land again lies fallow (yes, for the second year in a row!), all agricultural lands that have been sold in the previous fifty years revert to the original owners, and Israelite slaves are to be set free. Much has been written about the progressive economic and social implications of these rules, but again, those comments will not be our focus here.

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