Sh'mot

Exodus 1:1−6:1

D'var Torah By Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus for ReformJudaism.org

Visions of Redemption

The last word of the Book of Genesis is b'Mitzrayim, "in Egypt," and that is where we find the Israelites at the beginning of the Book of Exodus. The narrator lists "the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob" (Exodus 1:1), hence the Hebrew title for the book, Sh'mot, " Names." We soon learn that these descendants of Jacob have been enslaved by "a new king . . . who did not know Joseph" (Exodus 1:8), who ruthlessly oppressed them with forced labor. When the Israelites continue to increase despite the hardship, Pharaoh orders all infant boys killed.

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Va-y'chi

Genesis 47:28–50:26

D'var Torah By Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg for ReformJudaism.org

In Place of God? In God’s Place?

After a natural calamity or terrorist attack an understandable question presents itself: Where is God in all this?

We've seen the evil that people can do, and we've seen the spirit of sacrifice and service in firefighters, emergency workers, police officers, and ordinary citizens. But the question remains, "Where is God in all this?"

And as we look for answers, it makes sense to go back to the beginning, to the Book of Genesis, and discover how our ancestors responded to attacks that were as unexpected and as evil as the suicide missions of 2001 and all those that followed.

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Vayigash

Genesis 44:18−47:27

D'var Torah By Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg for ReformJudaism.org

Leadership and Letting Go

Can you say chutzpah? How about arrogance? Or is ignorance a more appropriate word for people behaving badly?

When I served a congregation in Hollywood, I met many performers who were both prominent and very fine human beings. But on occasion, I met one who plays a beloved movie or TV character and the actor, in real life, turned out not to be so nice. Similarly, as a student of religion, I remember a few professors who taught about morality but were known to lash out harshly at late arrivals to the classroom. We've all had occasion to observe this kind of contradiction in the behavior of a prominent person; a boss, politician, or community leader of high ideals who can be difficult to interact with. As I've heard Rabbi Larry Kushner point out, many of us know brilliant and spiritually enlightened teachers who, nonetheless, are very unpleasant people.

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Mikeitz

Genesis 41:1−44:17

D'var Torah By: Edwin C. Goldberg for ReformJudaism.org

Joseph the Educator

In this week's Torah portion, Mikeitz, Joseph, now the viceroy of Egypt, receives a visit from his brothers who seek relief from the famine in Canaan. While Joseph recognizes them, they don't realize that he is the brother they kidnapped and sold into slavery. This makes sense. They expected him to have died as a poor slave in Egypt long before. There is no reason for them to suspect that the Egyptian VIP who confronts them, speaking through an interpreter, is long-lost Joseph.

Joseph could them kill when he recognizes them. He could embrace them, forgiving them and consoling them to feel no guilt. He does neither. Instead, anticipating King David,1 and later, Hamlet,2 he puts on an act. In his case, he pretends to suspect them of being spies. He imprisons them. Then, he lets them leave and return to Canaan, keeping Simeon as a hostage of sorts. He tells them not to come back without their youngest brother (Benjamin).

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Vayeishev

Genesis 37:1−40:23

Practice Positive Pessimism and Partner with God

D'var Torah By: Edwin C. Goldberg for ReformJudaism.org
Most of us have grown up with the power of positive thinking. We've been warned about negative outlooks and what popular psychologists call "catastrophizing." To have a successful outcome when facing a problem, we're told that we need to avoid the bad and focus on the good.

But there is another point of view. The leadership guidebook, Great by Choice,1 discusses the responsible need to practice "productive paranoia." In other words, worry a little bit because there are things that can hurt you. (The book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, by Richard Carlson, is also useful in its own way, but sometimes the small stuff isn't so small.) Julie Norem, author of a highly counterintuitive book called The Positive Power of Negative Thinking2 suggests that upbeat strategies don't always work. In fact, they may make some people—those who are naturally anxious—more nervous than ever.

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Vayishlach

Genesis 32:4−36:43

D'var Torah By: David Segal for ReformJudaism.org

The Reluctant Warrior

Because we know how it ends, we may not feel the suspense as Parashat Vayishlach opens. Jacob prepares to return home and confront his estranged brother, Esau, after 20 years apart. They had not parted on good terms. Esau vowed to kill his brother for stealing their father's blessing; Rebekah sent Jacob off to her brother Laban to wait it out until "your brother's rage cools down" (Genesis 27:44).

Two decades later, Jacob fears Esau's vengeance as much as the day he left home. His messengers inform him that Esau approaches, "accompanied by four hundred men" (Genesis 32:7), with motives unknown to Jacob. Do they come in peace or to make war? Thus, "Jacob was terrified. So anxious was he," (Genesis 32:8), scared for his safety and his family's in the face of what Esau might do.

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Vayeitzei

Genesis 28:10−32:3

D'var Torah By Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg for ReformJudaism.org

Wherever You Go, There God Will Surely Be

 

We live in a self-indulgent time. One of the best examples of our era's trend toward self-indulgence is the "Travel List Challenge's 100 Places to Visit Before You Die."1 On this Web page, users are asked to check off which of the 100 author-recommended places in the world they have visited. The places range from North American sites like the Smithsonian Museum, the Washington Monument, and the Empire State Building to exotic, faraway destinations like the Taj Mahal in India, Machu Pichu in Peru, and the Great Wall of China. It's an interesting exercise, allowing us to recall some great memories of places we've seen.

But like much of what we find on social media, it's also a way show that our life is OK—maybe even better than OK—in comparison to that of our friends.

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Toldot

Genesis 25:19−28:9

D'var Torah By: Edwin C. Goldberg for ReformJudaism.org

What Would You Hold Onto – At Any Price?

The show, Pawn Stars, is a runaway hit on the History Channel. It tells the story of three generations of the Harrison family and their Las Vegas pawnshop. There's Richard, the patriarch (affectionately known as the "old man"); Rick, the son (who really runs the business); and Rick's adult son, Corey (who wants to become a tough businessman like his father and grandfather).

The setup is simple: Every customer who walks through the door, intending to pawn or sell some family heirloom, has a tale. Sometimes the item is worthless, other times priceless. Rick can always tell the difference.

When he does pronounce that the medieval knight's helmet is really a 19th-century reproduction, the item's owner must make a choice: Sell it for less than the asking price or call the whole deal off. Often, customers call off the deal because the item's sentimental value has just exceeded its actual value.

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Chayei Sarah / The Life of Sarah

Genesis 23:1−25:18

D'var Torah By: David Segal for ReformJudaism.org

Deliberate Destiny

Different circumstances demand different paradigms of thought and action, and the Jewish people have advanced through history by fulfilling the action demanded by the moment. Even God's promised blessings only are achieved through human agency. Our patriarchs and matriarchs showed a sophisticated variety of approaches to ensuring the transmission of the Jewish story. Taking any one episode from their narratives out of context robs us of the benefit of their worldly wisdom, creativity, and commitment.

Two episodes in Chayei Sarah illustrate this lesson. The first is Abraham's acquisition of the Cave of Machpelah as a burial site for Sarah. Upon Sarah's death, Abraham mourned and then set about to make arrangements for her to have a final resting place. He approached the Hittites, residents of the land, with humble nobility: "I am a foreigner living for a time among you; sell me a gravesite among you, that I may bury my dead here" (Genesis 23:4). Having already proved himself a powerful military leader, Abraham surely could have taken the land by force. After all, God already had promised that it would belong to him and his children. Instead, Abraham chose a path of respect and peace, insisting that he pay a fair market price. Ephron the Hittite negotiated with Abraham according to a pattern known from ancient Near Eastern sources.1 It was in Abraham's interest to purchase the land contractually in good faith; land given to him on a whim could just as easily be taken away, but a legal exchange endures.
 
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Vayeira

Genesis 18:1–22:24

D'var Torah By: Rabbi Edwin C. Goldberg for ReformJudaism.org

Hearing the Cries of Mothers and Children

    Pack your loads on my back. / Force me to your destination. / I will go the mile you demand, and even a mile further. / With your guns and your authority / you can force me to do your will, / but never can you take way my freedom, / for that lies deep within my soul / where your bullets and harsh words / can never reach. / No load is as heavy / as submitting to slavery, / and that load I will never bear.

    (Nyein Chan, resident of a refugee camp in Myanmar [Burma])

Mishkan HaNefesh, the new Reform High Holiday prayer book introduced this year, offers some Torah passages that previously were not chanted in most Reform temples on Rosh HaShanah. These include Genesis 21 (part of this week's Torah portion, Vayeira), which also appears in traditional prayer books. This passage is sure to launch a lot of sermons and provoke some controversy. After all, its main subject is the expulsion of Hagar, the Egyptian handmaiden to Sarah and mother to Abraham's son, Ishmael. Ishmael is also expelled. They almost die.

These words from Mother Teresa resonate with this week's text:

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Lech L'cha

Genesis 12:1−17:27

D'var Torah By: Edwin C. Goldberg

Answers Are Important, But Questions Matter More

Who's there?" is the first thing we read in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It encapsulates the topic of the entire play. "Where are you?" is the first question asked by God in the Torah (Genesis 3:9). From a metaphysical point of view, it captures the topic of the entire Bible. Paying attention to questions is a clever way to get to the heart of any matter. As the physicist Isaac Rabi used to recall, when his mother greeted him at the end of the school day, she always asked, "Did you ask good questions?"

In his excellent business primer, Leadership Without Easy Answers, Ron Heifetz defines leadership as the ability to ask the right questions. This week's Torah portion, Lech L'cha, gives us the chance to ponder Abraham's leadership potential and why God chooses him to begin the enterprise that will lead to Judaism and the Jewish people.

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Noach

Genesis 6:9−11:32

D'var Torah By: David Segal for ReformJudaism.org

The world's first "skyscraper" was built after the great Flood. All of humanity, unified by a single language, decided to build "a tower that reaches the sky" (Genesis 11:4), known today as the Tower of Babel. I've always taken this story as an act of defiance and hubris; God reacted by dispersing the people and confusing their speech.

A midrash depicts the height of the people's arrogance: " 'Come,' they said, 'let us make a tower, place an image on its top, and put a sword in its hand, and it will seem that it is waging war against [God]' " (B'reishit Rabbah 38:6). If there was any ambiguity in the Torah, the midrash has removed it. These people were asking for God's retaliation!

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B'reishit

Genesis 1:1−6:8

Deconstructing Adam

D'var Torah By: David Segal for ReformJudaism.org

Biblical literalism is on the rise. You can see it in the growth of Bible-based mega-churches where the "word of God" is preached as inerrant truth. But any serious reader of the Bible knows it contains contradictions, ellipses, and vague commands that require interpretation to be understood, let alone followed.

The most apparent challenge to biblical literalism occurs at the beginning of the Bible. The first two chapters of Genesis tell two starkly different stories of the Creation of the world and of humanity.

In the first story, humanity is created "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27), with no mention of the physical body's creation. In the second story, man is created from dust, and God breathes life into his nostrils (Genesis 2:7). Similarly, the first Creation story culminates with humans created together, "male and female" (Genesis 1:27). In the second, Adam is created first, followed by the fish, birds, and beasts; only then does God derive the woman from Adam's rib. While the first account mentions only the word Elohim to refer to God, the second uses the Tetragrammaton (the Hebrew letters, yud-hei-vav-hei) as well as Elohim.

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Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot

Holidays Exodus 33:12–34:26

D'var Torah By: Shira Milgrom for ReformJudaism.org

The Torah reading for the Shabbat of Sukkot (Exodus 33:12–34:26) includes the reconciliation between God and Moses following the Golden Calf, the inscription of the second set of the Ten Commandments, and the verbal covenant that accompanies this second giving. Two brief sections have direct connections to the holiday of Sukkot. The first is God’s response to Moses’s request for more knowledge of the Divine Essence. Moses, in essence, has said to God, “I can’t go on unless You tell me more about Yourself.” This answer has been parsed as the Thirteen Attributes of God, and is included as a liturgical addition to the Torah service on festival mornings:

    “The Eternal! The Eternal! a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin—yet not remitting all punishment, but visiting the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations” (Exodus 34:6–7).

The second section with connection to Sukkot is a listing of the three—or more—festivals themselves. The mention of the festivals is part of what may be seen as an alternative (older?) version of the Ten Commandments. This is a summary of Exodus 34:10–26:

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Haazinu

Deuteronomy 32:1–52

D'var Torah By: Shira Milgrom for ReformJudaism.org

I've always thought it curious that it is customary on the holiday of Shavuot to eat foods made of sweet dairy (cheese blintzes, cheesecake, and so on). In all my childhood and adult years, I never heard a reason for this that made sense. (Perhaps I'll learn others as a result of this column.)

One year, in my reading of this week's parashah, an idea jumped out of the text: almost the entirety of Haazinu is the Song of Moses. This is his second shirah, "song," as the people of Israel stands poised to enter the Promised Land, the end of the wilderness journey. The first shirah catapulted the people into this journey at the shores of the Sea of Reeds. This second poem is filled with images of God: circling, guarding, and carrying the Israelites as an eagle would its young (Deuteronomy 32:10-11); a rock—steady, faithful, and perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4), a father—who created and made us (Deuteronomy 32:6).

Most surprising in this poem are the many feminine images of God. First, the Rock: "You neglected the Rock who begot you, forgot the God who labored to bring you forth" (Deuteronomy 32:18).

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Shabbat Shuva Vayeilech

Deuteronomy 31:1–30

D'var Torah By: Shira Milgrom for ReformJudaism.org

Expanding the Covenant

At the edge of the Promised Land, Moses convenes his people one last time, to draw them into the covenant between them and their God. This great gathering of the masses evokes the last great gathering, forty years earlier, when the people of Israel were encamped at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Then, in the Book of Exodus, God instructed Moses:

    "Go to the people and warn them to stay pure today and tomorrow. Let them wash their clothes . . . Moses came down from the mountain to the people and warned the people to stay pure, and they washed their clothes. And he said to the people, 'Be ready for the third day; [the men among] you should not go near a woman' " (Exodus 19:10, 14–15).

The Torah: A Modern Commentary, Revised Edition, 1 added the (corrective!) phrase in brackets, [the men among]. The Hebrew reads simply, "You should not go near a woman." This startling direct address to men calls into question who is being covenanted at Mt. Sinai. To whom is God (or Moses) speaking? It is possible to read this formative narrative of the Jewish people in a way in which only men are brought into the covenant, and indeed, many still do.

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Nitzavim

Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20

A Jew Is a Jew, No Matter How Far

D'var Torah By: Audrey R. Korotkin for ReformJudaism.org

In Parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20), Moses is coming to the end of his oration, the end of his leadership, and the end of his life. His last sermon is brief, as he calls the people to attention; reminds them not to follow the idolatrous ways of the Canaanites among whom they will dwell; and promises them that, even if they should stray, God will take the penitent back in love:

    "Then the Eternal your God will restore (v'shav) your fortunes and take you back in love. [God] will bring you together (v'shav) again from all the peoples where the Eternal your God has scattered you." (Deuteronomy 30:3)

The English translation found in The Torah a Modern Commentary, Revised Edition1 does not quite capture the repetition of the word for "restore" or "return." But looking at the Hebrew, the duplication is a puzzlement. The Meshekh Hokhmah, commentary of Rabbi Meir Simhah ha-Kohen of Dvinsk (late 19th century Russia), gives us this interpretation:

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Ki Tavo

Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8

D'var Torah By: Audrey R. Korotkin for ReformJudaism.org

Everything Old Can Be New Again

A few weeks ago, in studying Parashat R'eih, I noted that the Torah gives us a great gift of joy—a command to celebrate with one's entire household—tucked into a long passage replete with warnings of failures and curses literally shouted from the mountaintops. This week, in Parashat Ki Tavo (Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8), our tradition tells us that joy now takes center stage from the very first word:

    "When you enter the land that the Eternal your God is giving you as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take some of every first fruit of the soil, which you harvest from the land that the Eternal your God is giving you, put it in a basket and go down to the place where the Eternal your God will choose to establish the divine name." (Deuteronomy 26:1-2)

Wait—what's so joyous about this? According to an early Midrashic tradition, everything:

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Ki Teitzei

Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19

We Are What We Remember

D'var Torah By: Rabbi Shira Milgrom for ReformJudaism.org

The last paragraph of Ki Teitzei is the maftir reading in non-Reform congregations on the Shabbat before Purim. Its opening word, zachor, "remember," names that Shabbat.

"Zachor, Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt—how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear. Therefore, when the Eternal your God grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that the Eternal your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!" (Deuteronomy 25:17–19).

I was present on a Yom Kippur morning many years ago when Rabbi Harold Schulweis asked his congregation if they could name members of Hitler's SS. And the names came pouring out from all corners of the sanctuary: Himmler, Eichmann, Goering, and on. And then Rabbi Schulweis asked the community to name the people who tried to save Anne Frank and her family. Silence.

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Shof'tim

Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9

D'var Torah By: Audrey R. Korotkin for ReformJudaism.org

It Takes Two, Me and You

In many Jewish weddings I have officiated at over the years, the bride and groom have chosen to add to the traditional vows these words from the prophet Hosea: V’eirastich Li b’tzedek uv’mishpat uv’chesed uv’rachamim, “I will betroth you to Me in righteousness, and in justice, and in loving-kindness, and in mercy” (Hosea 2:21). While the traditional vows reflect the view of Jewish marriage as a legal institution, Hosea’s words reflect marriage as a sacred partnership born of mutual love and respect. Hosea, of course, was using the language of marriage as a description for the relationship between God and Israel, challenging Israel to be faithful and chastising her when she strayed. - See more at: http://www.reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/shoftim/it-takes-two-me-and-you#sthash.vkl5RNaF.dpuf

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R'eih - Rosh Chodesh 1

Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17

Looking on the Bright Side

D'var Torah By: Audrey R. Korotkin for ReformJudaism.org
Sometimes, I feel that a lot of people—including some Jews themselves—see Jews as a collective Eeyore. Take this quotation from A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh:

    "Eeyore," said Owl, "Christopher Robin is giving a party." "Very interesting," said Eeyore. "I suppose they will be sending me down the odd bits which got trodden on. Kind and Thoughtful. Not at all, don't mention it."

That’s us: trodden on, perpetually melancholy, laden with thousands of years of oppression, exile, pogroms, and genocide. Always letting out a big sigh. This year at Passover, supposedly our season of celebration at redemption, comedian Jon Stewart pointed out on The Daily Show that the scene-setter for our seder meal includes dips of salt water, bitter lettuce, horseradish, and matzah—not exactly a boffo sales pitch for the Tribe.

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Eikev

Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25

Getting What We Deserve

D'var Torah By: Audrey R. Korotkin for ReformJudaism.org
A baby boy born with a defective heart has multiple surgeries before his first birthday and will suffer from physical and cognitive impairments for as long as he lives. An aging matriarch, who thrives on mentoring young people and challenging them to push the boundaries of their abilities, is suddenly enfeebled by a stroke. A young mother often incapacitated by pain, is, after years of inconclusive tests, finally diagnosed with a genetic disease—but not before she passes it on to two children.

And that's just in my congregation, just this year.

We all struggle with "why bad things happen to good people," a question for which there is no answer. Is God not all-powerful? Or all-good? Or is God—if you believe in God's existence—removed from the world? More than three decades ago, Rabbi Harold S. Kushner deliberately titled his book about theodicy When Bad Things Happen To Good People, not why, because, he came to believe, pain and tragedy are simply part of the world as God created it. Kushner wrote:

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Shabbat Nachamu

Va-et'chanan Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11

Do Not Make Yourself a Pesel, Lest Torah Become an Idol

D'var Torah By: Shira Milgrom for ReformJudaism.org

In the next parashah, Moses will tell the Israelite people: "Thereupon the Eternal One said to me, 'Carve out two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain; and make an ark of wood. I will inscribe on the tablets the commandments that were on the first tablets that you smashed, and you shall deposit them in the ark.' . . . . After inscribing on the tablets the same text as on the first—the Ten Commandments that the Eternal addressed to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the Assembly—the Eternal gave them to me" (Deuteronomy 10:1-4).

Our parashah, Va-et'chanan, contains this second text of the Ten Commandments. One would expect a perfect replica of the first set, an exact repetition, as Moses and God both promise. It is startling and wonderful to see that the texts are not identical. Traditional commentary,1 encoded in L'cha Dodi, tells us that both versions of the commandment to observe the Shabbat are uttered in the same instant by God (shamor v'zachor b'dibur echad); the single Divine word shatters into countless sparks as when a hammer strikes the anvil. Biblical criticism 2 teaches that the (edited) text we have before us is made up of different versions of our sacred narratives. Either way, the Torah pushes back against the notion that there could ever be a singular version of Divine truth. Divine truth is always beyond human grasp; the pure light of the Divine is necessarily refracted by human experience into countless colors.

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Shabbat Chazon

Devarim, Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22

Tishah B'Av: Words and Visions

By Rabbi Lisa Edwards for ReformJudaism.org
Rabbi Oren Hayon teaches: "Reading Deuteronomy is a very different experience from reading the rest of Torah. Here, the omniscient narrator of the earlier books has vanished, replaced abruptly by Moses's subjective voice. Deuteronomy, as its Greek name indicates, is a second telling: Moses's own reiteration of earlier events. In this book, we experience the Jewish past only through Moses's narrow perspective, which frustrates and disorients us at times. And yet it is this particular characteristic of Deuteronomy that makes it deeply relevant and meaningful for the formation of spirituality in a postbiblical diaspora."

Rabbi Hayon reminds us that Moses narrates the Book of Deuteronomy. Here at the end of the forty years in the wilderness, just before his own death, Moses gives his "own reiteration of earlier events." Also important is that in Deuteronomy, Moses speaks not to the generation that came with him out of Egypt but to the children of those people (and to us). If you've ever eagerly (or sleepily) listened to your grandparents reminisce about their lives, you get the picture.

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Matot-Mas'ei

Numbers 30:2-36:13

The Heart of the Matter

D'var Torah By: Rabbi Philip “Flip” Rice for ReformJudaism.org

    "Moses spoke to the heads of the Israelite tribes, saying: This is what the Eternal has commanded . . . " (Numbers 30:2)

As the Jewish people worldwide make our way toward the conclusion of the fourth book of the Torah, B'midbar, we approach with the Israelites the end of our time together "in the wilderness." Unfortunately, the material and agenda of the final two portions of the Book of Numbers are difficult to reconcile given our modern sensibilities. This week in Parashat Matot, not only are we taught to commit genocide in the name of vengeance (Numbers 31:14–18), but also our text reflects a society that is misogynist and considers women not fit to govern themselves. The beginning of our Torah portion relates that it is fathers and husbands who will decide which vows their wives and daughters enact that will stand and which are to be revoked (Numbers 30:3–17). A woman's word is not their word. How do we reconcile the power and purpose of Torah here with our modern understandings of Judaism today? What might we learn from this portion of the Torah?

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Pinchas

Numbers 25:10−30:1

D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org

Five Women Whose Names We Should All Remember

The story of the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27:1-11) has all of the earmarks of a Jane Austen novel: the disenfranchisement and injustices borne by women surrounding the question of inheritance rights; the formal but respectful articulation of the grievances of those women; the dramatic and triumphant vindication of their plight and plea.

The story starts out revolving around the issue of land allotments in anticipation of the Israelites settling the land of Canaan. Ownership of land was an essential component of the society of ancient Israel. This was a people that wandered, a migrant nation, a community of slaves. The idea of owning property, of having something permanent that would endure into the future and could be handed down from generation to generation was a central value. But it applied only to men.

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Balak

Numbers 22:2−25:9

D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org

"Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came to be . . ." (P'sukei D'zimrah, morning liturgy). It is among the most central of Jewish values. The power of the word. God created the universe by "speaking" it into being. The Torah, the link connecting God and Israel, is also known as mikra, "that which is (verbally) called." And the most essential communications of that sacred text, the Ten Commandments, are not actually referred to in the Jewish tradition as "commandments" but rather Aseret HaDib'rot, the "Ten Utterances."

The word is the currency of covenant. God speaks to us and we listen (Sh'ma Yisrael). Among the most serious breaches of our relationship with the Divine is to utter God's name in vain. Conversely, when our daughters and sons come of age to assume their place within the structure of that covenant we ask them to master the word. The list goes on and on.

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Chukat

Numbers 19:1−22:1

D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org

Holy Cow

It is the most enigmatic mitzvah in all of Torah: the parah adumah, the "red heifer." If a person comes in contact with a human corpse, she or he must go for ritual cleansing. The "defiled" individual shall then be sprinkled with a concoction made of the mixture of fresh water (literally "living" waters, mayim chayim) and the ashes of a slaughtered and burned "red" cow that had absolutely no blemishes nor ever bore a yoke. But here's the paradox: while the mixture of these "waters of lustration" (mei nidah) cleansed the person who had been rendered ritually impure by contact with a corpse, the individuals who burned the cow, made contact with its ashes, and sprinkled the mixture on the "defiled" person would be rendered impure in the process. In other words, the act of making one person ritually pure makes the purveyor of purity impure.

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Korach

Numbers 16:1−18:32

The Way We Were: The Need to Get Remembering Right

D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org

    Chadeish yameinu k'kedem, "Renew our days as of old." (Lamentations 5:21)

Perhaps not as dramatic as "Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear" (from the opening sequence of The Lone Ranger), but the sentiment is the same. A nostalgia for a time gone by. The good old days. Simply put, the past was better than the present.

It's a common theme for the wilderness generation. Recently freed of an oppressive existence, but one nonetheless characterized by certainty, the Israelites are hard-pressed to adjust to the uncertainty of freedom. From the very moment of their redemption at the sea, they yearn for the clarity of the past. Whether it is a lack of water or food or a wanting for a more varied diet, they complain. They grumble. In time, they will even rebel. And throughout it all, their mantra is a constant: life was better in Egypt.
 
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Sh'lach L'cha

Numbers 13:1−15:41

Spiritual Authenticity

D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org

I think it's fair to say that just about everybody knows that the Israelites were condemned to wander in the wilderness for forty years, a biblical generation. With the exceptions of Joshua and Caleb, all those who had witnessed the redemption at the sea would die without ever setting foot into the Promised Land. What led to their life sentence of ceaseless wandering, however, is less well known. This week's parashah—Sh'lach L'cha—tells that story.

The setting is clear: Israel is on the verge of entering the Land of which they and their ancestors have spoken and dreamed. The moment is pregnant with excitement and trepidation. Moses, on directions from God, has sent in an advance team, one scout from each of the twelve tribes. And now, after forty days of reconnoitering the land, they return with pomegranates and figs, with a cluster of grapes so large it takes two men to carry it. They tell of a Land of extraordinary wonders, of an abundance of wondrous natural resources, a Land that truly "flows with milk and honey" (see Numbers 13:27, 14:8). But they also tell of fortress cities and the inhabitants of the Land, of a people whose physical size is both intimidating and daunting. The people respond with cries of fear. They want to go back to Egypt. Moses and Aaron are beside themselves (once again). Only Joshua and Caleb, two of the twelve scouts, want to continue on with their sacred journey. For this they will merit the reward of eventually crossing the Jordan River. As for everyone else, they will neither enter the Land nor return to Egypt. They will drift aimlessly in the wilderness of Sinai until they die.

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B’ha’alotcha

Numbers 8:1-12:16

Sacred Leadership

D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org

This past winter saw the release of a movie version of the Exodus story, directed by Ridley Scott. I will leave it to film critics and biblical scholars to debate the merits and deficiencies of the production. For me, the single most symbolic point of departure from the biblical original comes at the Red Sea, but is not the parting of the water (which, admittedly, was graphically most impressive). Everything you need to know about the filmmaker's orientation, and where it differs from Torah, is made clear when Moses (played by Christian Bale)—despairing that the sea poses a seemingly insurmountable obstacle in the Israelites flight from Pharaoh's chariots—lifts up his sword and casts it into the waters.

Watching this, I was taken aback. What has happened to Moses' staff? What's Christian Bale doing with a sword? Could this have been the model Torah wanted us to embrace of the leader of Israel? Moses as warrior?

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Naso

Numbers 4:21−7:89

The Torah on Women: Think Again!

D'var Torah By Rabbi Laurie Rice for ReformJudaism.org

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.

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B'midbar

Numbers 1:1−4:20

D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org

Becoming Midbar

There are only three places in Torah: Mitzrayim or Egypt, which means "the narrow place" in Hebrew; eretz zavat chalav u' d'vash, "land that flows with milk and honey" at the opposite end of the continuum; and in the middle, midbar, the unknown empty space of wilderness. It is midbar, this in-between place, that is at the center of our attention this week (and, for that matter, the next eight weeks). It is the overriding theme of the entirety of the Book of Numbers in Hebrew, B'midbar, "In Wilderness."

While often translated as "In the Wilderness," let me note that the name of this week's parashah and the book it commences can be read as "In Wilderness," at least if we are translating just the word B'midbar by itself. The vocalization of B'midbar has a sh'va beneath the first letter bet, which sounds like b' or beh, indicating the word "in." There is no patach under the bet (ba) to indicate a definite article, "the." Reading the word in isolation, therefore, one can find a hint that midbar is a larger, more generic notion than a specific place. Wilderness is more than a construct of geography: it is a state of being.

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B'har/B'chukotai

Leviticus 25:1-26:2 / 26:3-27:34

D'var Torah By: Richard N. Levy for ReformJudaism.org

In Which the People and the Land Are Redeemed

As we have made our way through the Book of Leviticus, we have often noted how boundaries have been crossed—between the inside and outside of the body in issues of tzaraat ("leprosy"); between the clothing of the priest and the furniture of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle; between proper offerings of fire and dangerous ones. Now, as the Book draws to a close, in the first of this week's two portions B'har, we have another boundary crossing, between human beings and their land, as the model of the seventh day of rest, Shabbat, determines the manner in which the land is cultivated and sold. As human beings need a day to rest and refresh, so does the earth—a suggestion that when God promised uncountable progeny to Abraham along with an eternal claim to the land, the two promises were really one: human beings and land deriving sustenance and refreshment from each other, as the first "human being," adam, did from the adamah, the "earth."

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