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:

Continue reading.

The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

Check out Jvillage’s High Holiday+    page.

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).

Continue reading.

The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

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.

Continue reading.

The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

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:

Continue reading.

The High Holidays are upon us, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit

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:

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

The High Holidays are coming up, check out our High Holidays Spotlight Kit