Monday, November 24, 2014

Vayeitzei

Genesis 28:10−32:3

Children And Deferred Dreams


Reflected in the names of her children, Leah grows to recognize her own worth, independent of Jacob's feelings for her.


By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com
We all dream about our lives, our families and our destiny

Born into a world we did not create, motivated by hope, energy and drive, we spend our childhood and adolescence absorbing wonderful stories of adventure, heroes and fantasies.

And we dream. We dream of achieving the highest ideals of our fantasy life...of being president, landing on the moon or becoming a star. We imagine ourselves as wealthy, or famous or wise. Venerating a galaxy of admired adults, we imagine ourselves as one of them, as one of the best of them.
In the fantasies of children, life has no end; possibilities, no limit. And we are not alone in spinning those dreams. Children may aggrandize themselves, but they do so with the active consent and encouragement of their parents, grandparents, teachers and a supporting cast of thousands.

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Monday, November 17, 2014

Toldot

Genesis 25:19−28:9

John Wayne Meets Jacob


Jacob inspires us to overcome our Esau-like desires for instant gratification and physical power.


By Rabbi Bradley Artson for MyJewishLearning.com

Esau is surely one of the most tragic figures of the Bible.

 He is a simple man, whose robust nature leads him to exult in his own health, strength and energy. Esau loves to hunt. He revels in the outdoors and in bursting limits. Esau is a man of impulse. Like Rambo or John Wayne, Esau thrives on his tremendous power, his physical courage and his own inner drives.

Modern America admires that. We distrust the intellectual. Someone who thinks too much, or who is too sensitive to the feelings of others (or to his own feelings) is held in disdain. We prefer a man who can impose his own will through a show of determination and strength, someone who doesn't plan in advance, someone who can relish the moment and trust his own passions.

America accepts the romantic notion that the truest and best expression of who we are lies in the unbridled release of our feelings. Therefore, our feelings are not--and should not be--subject to control.

The Torah asserts, to the contrary, that every aspect of being human--heart, mind and soul--needs constant training, direction and restraint.

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Monday, November 10, 2014

Chayei Sarah

Genesis 23:1−25:18

Prayer: Service Of The Heart


Abraham's servant teaches us the power of spontaneous prayer, a concept that challenges our contemporary focus on consistency and conformity.


By Rabbi Bradley Artson on MyJewishLearning.com

One of the universals of human culture is the need to commune with something larger, something that extends beyond ourselves.

We all feel the desire to speak, to create, to perform. One aspect of the human urge to communicate is worship--the simple act of noticing the awe of existence, the staggering marvel of the world and its order. Awe moves us to a silent expression of gratitude and wonder. Awe moves us to worship.

What is Worship?
For many Jews, worship means the formal ritual of reading from a printed Siddur (prayer book), listening to the chanted words of the Torah and the Haftarah (weekly reading from Prophets or Writings), and absorbing the insights of the rabbi's sermon. Worship is public, planned, and cyclical. What we did last week we will do again next week.

Today's Torah portion illumines another aspect of Jewish worship, one sadly neglected by too many Jews today. While most of us are familiar with reading the stirring words of prayer composed by other, earlier Jews, few of us are comfortable approaching God with the simple outpouring of our own hearts. The whole notion of just speaking with God sounds strikingly un-Jewish.

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Monday, November 3, 2014

Vayeira

Genesis 18:1–22:24

Rabbi Bradley Artson, American Jewish Unversity, for MyJewishLearning.com

Honesty As A Form Of Idolatry

 

Honesty is a value only insofar as it leads to growth, compassion and peace.  


Idolatry is the practice of treating something of relative importance as though it were of ultimate significance.  In our idolatrous age, we often act as though money, careers, sex appeal, or prestige are of ultimate importance, when in fact, they are only worthwhile to the degree that they can contribute to our becoming better, more compassionate and more responsible people.

Parashat Vayera highlights another source of idolatry.  It is altogether common to treat honesty as the highest value possible.  We justify an unkind remark with the observation that it is true; we make a virtue of telling it like it is, regardless of the effects of our self-centered "integrity."

Caring Form of Honesty

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