Sh'mot

Exodus 1:1−6:1

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

These Are The Names–Where Is Yours?

By listing the names of Jacob's family members who went into Egypt the Torah reminds us of the number of people who affect our lives and our potential to affect the lives of numerous others.
In many ways, Sefer Sh’mot (the Book of Exodus) is the most Jewish book of the Torah. It begins with the origins of the Jewish People as a nation–newly liberated from Egyptian slavery by the God who created the Universe, led to Mt. Sinai, where that same God established an eternal covenant with the Jewish People.

The Mishkan

The remainder of Sefer Sh’mot details the content of that covenant in the many mitzvot (commandments) that comprise Jewish practice and then authorizes the building of a place of worship, the Mishkan (Tabernacle) so that God can dwell amidst the Jews.

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Va-y'chi

Genesis 47:28–50:26

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Seeing The Bigger Picture

Joseph reminds us that our perspective of reality is limited compared to the ultimate meaning that God perceives.

Remember the Midrash of the blind people and the elephant? Each one touched a different part of the animal and then described the elephant based on their own particular perceptions.

One compared the elephant to a long, powerful tube. A second portrayed the elephant as an enormous barrel. A third, feeling the elephant’s ears, depicted it as resembling large drapes. Each person described what they knew–accurate as a characterization of part of the elephant, but completely misleading as a representation of the entire animal.

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Vayigash

Genesis 44:18−47:27

By Rabbi Charles Savenor, Reprinted with permission of the Jewish Theological Seminary for MyJewishLearning.com

Joseph’s Moment of Truth

Revealing his true identity, the viceroy cannot control his emotions.

The moment of truth has arrived. With Benjamin framed for stealing and sentenced to enslavement, Joseph waits to see how Jacob‘s other sons will respond. Joseph believes that his well-orchestrated ruse will finally expose his brothers’ true colors.

Judah’s Appeal

This week’s parsahah opens with Judah appealing to his brother Joseph, the Egyptian viceroy, to free Benjamin and to enslave Judah in his place. Judah’s eloquent petition recounts his brothers’ interaction with this Egyptian official as well as the familial circumstances of Jacob’s household. Benjamin, the youngest son in the family, occupies a valued place in their father’s eyes, Judah says, because he is the last living remnant of Jacob’s deceased wife, Rachel. In conclusion, Judah asserts that if he were to return home to Canaan without Benjamin, he could not bear to see his father’s immediate and long-term pain and suffering.

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Mikeitz

Genesis 41:1−44:17

Two Kinds Of Intelligence

To be fully educated and human we must study a range of disciplines--humanities and sciences, secular and Judaic.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com
Pharaoh has endured a night of terrible dreams. To make matters worse, neither he nor any of his ministers understood what the dreams were about. The only person able to interpret those dreams is a Hebrew prisoner in an Egyptian jail. That person is Joseph.
Seven Years & Seven Years

After hearing the dreams described, Joseph announced that Egypt would enjoy seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of universal famine. In advance, Joseph argues that Pharaoh should appoint someone "navon ve-hakham," discerning and sage, who will store enough food to ensure the survival of the population.

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Vayeshev

Genesis 37:1−40:23

From Pride Comes Loneliness

Joseph's experience in prison teaches him, and us, that we succeed and flourish when we support those around us.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com
In the development of Joseph’s character and the events of his life, the Torah portrays a bittersweet lesson about the loneliness of pride. On the surface, there is no reason for Joseph to be lonely. He is, after all, the favorite child of his father, surrounded by 11 brothers, in the midst of a bustling and energetic family.

Joseph has the potential to fill his life with friendship, family and love. Yet his need to be preeminent, his need to belittle the gifts and experiences of this family in order to glorify his own talents, isolate him from his own kin. We get a clue about the extent of Joseph’s pride from the very start.

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Vayishlach

Genesis 32:4−36:43

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Truly Present To God And People

We can learn from Jacob's encounter with Esau to meet others as we would meet God.

Religious thinkers throughout the ages have pondered the question, "How do people have the audacity to stand in the presence of God?"  Finite in power, wisdom and longevity, human beings are paltry and insignificant when compared to a supernova or to a galaxy, let alone to the eternal Creator who fashioned those marvels.  How, then, do we have the temerity to place ourselves before God, to address God, and to argue with God?

The same question might also be leveled toward the paradox of standing in the presence of another human being.  Each of us is a universe in miniature–replete with our own depths and eddies, our hidden doubts and fears and talents.  None can ever fully know themselves, let alone claim to truly know another person.  So how do we summon the nerve to  address each other with intimacy and familiarity?

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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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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, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, 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.

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Chayei Sarah / The Life of 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, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for 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.

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Vayera

Genesis 18:1–22:24

By Rabbi Joshua Heller. Reprinted with permission of the Jewish Theological Seminary for MyJewishLearning.com.

Balancing the Needs of Home and Community

Why did Abraham beg for mercy for the city of Sodom but not for his son Isaac?

Ever since I was a child, I’ve struggled with a fundamental question about Abraham’s personality, a question which is posed by this week’s parashah, Vayera. When God comes to Abraham to inform him that the city of Sodom is to be destroyed for its wickedness, Abraham responds aggressively by shaming God into agreeing to spare the city if 50 righteous can be found within it, saying,”Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Genesis 18:25). Then, with a bargaining style that would be the envy of any used-car buyer, teenager, or trial lawyer, he lowers the number to 45, to 30, to 20, to 10.

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Lech L'cha

Genesis 12:1−17:27

Abram and God’s Mutual Faith

As Abram and God demonstrate, Judaism understands faith as deep trust despite doubt, confusion, and suffering.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

At a ripe old age, Abram receives a message from God, telling him that he will yet produce an heir, and that the child will inherit not only Abram’s property, but also his father’s covenant with God. Surely God’s promise would strain the credulity of even the most devoted follower. Sarah had been barren throughout her life. Now, her body no longer surged with the monthly cycle of women–childbearing wasn’t even a possibility. And she herself testified that her husband was far too old to father children. Yet, despite biological reality, God tells Abram that he will have a child, and that his descendants will outnumber the stars in the sky!

In response to God’s astounding promise, the Torah states simply that "because he put his trust in the Lord, he reckoned it to his credit." In that one ambiguous sentence, the Torah contrasts the rich complexity of biblical faith and the flimsy superficiality of the contemporary notion of faith.

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Noach

Genesis 6:9−11:32

God Of Jews, God Of Humanity

The seven Noahide commandments mediate God's love for all of humanity and God's unique relationship with the Jewish people.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Is Judaism a particularistic religion, concerned only with the well-being and sanctity of the Jewish People, or is it also one of the universalistic faiths, expressing a concern for all humanity in every region of the globe? To the enemies of our people, Judaism is portrayed as a narrow, legalistic and particularistic religion.  By focusing on the Chosen People–defined as the Jews–and their needs to the exclusion of everyone else’s, Judaism seems to show an indifference to the rest of the world.

By its own admission, Judaism doesn’t actively try to seek out converts–those who are attracted to our ways are welcome, but there is no burning drive to "Get the word out."

The God of the Bible is one who liberates the Jews from slavery, who gives them a path of life, who provides them with a Promised Land.  Doesn’t that focus make everyone else peripheral, indeed negligible?

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Bereishit

Genesis 1:1−6:8

The Two Creation Stories

An attempt to reconcile two opposing views of nature.

By Rabbi Ismar Schorsch. Reprinted with permission of the Jewish Theological Seminary for MyJewishLearning.com.
The opening chapter of a book is often the last to be written. At the outset, the author may still lack a clear vision of the whole. Writing is the final stage of thinking, and many a change in order, emphasis, and interpretation is the product of wrestling with an unruly body of material. Only after all is in place does it become apparent what kind of introduction the work calls for.

I often think that is how the Torah came to open with its austere and majestic portrait of the creation of the cosmos. An act of hindsight appended a second account of creation. One, in the form of chapter two–which begins more narrowly with the history of the earth and its first human inhabitants–would surely have been sufficient, especially since it argues graphically that evil springs from human weakness. All else is really quite secondary.

two creation storiesI should like to suggest that the inclusion of a second creation story from a cosmic perspective, with all its inelegant redundancy and contradictions, was prompted by a need to address a deep rift that had appeared within the expanding legacy of sacred texts that would eventually crystallize as the Hebrew Bible. The unfolding canon spoke with many voices. Chapter one of Genesis was intended to reconcile conflicting views toward the natural world. Does reverence for nature lead to idolatry or monotheism?

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Chol HaMo-eid Sukkot

Holidays Exodus 33:12–34:26

This week's commentary was written by Dr. Alan Cooper, Elaine Ravich Professor of Jewish Studies and provost, JTS

Last month, an op-ed appeared in the New York Times under the title "Aw, Wilderness!"—an obvious play on Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!" While O'Neill's "wilderness" was a town in Connecticut, the op-ed was about the real thing, recalling the sad incident of a skier who got lost on a trail in northern Minnesota and died of exposure. In response, the Forest Service installed markers along the trail, but when the time came to replace them the agency refused to do so, claiming that the signs violated the 1964 Wilderness Act.

The article went on to discuss the problematic balance between preserving wilderness areas and providing safe access to them. An interpretation of the Wilderness Act tilted in favor of preservation led to the banning not only of signs, but also of vehicles and tools that might facilitate access and improve safety. "As a result," the author observed, "the agencies have made . . . supposedly open recreational areas inaccessible and even dangerous, putting themselves in opposition to healthy and environmentally sound human-powered activities, the very thing Congress intended the Wilderness Act to promote."

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Haazinu

Deuteronomy 32:1–52

This week's commentary was written by Rabbi David Hoffman, JTS.

Psychotherapy as a Lens for Conceptualizing Teshuvah

I have always thought it interesting that Maimonides places so much emphasis on words in the process called teshuvah, even for transgressions not against other human beings. After quoting the verse from the Torah that speaks about the importance of confession (vidui) as part of the process for repairing a wrong enacted in the world (Num. 5:5–6), Maimonides emphasizes that this must be done with words. Teshuvah cannot be limited to an internal process of reflection. Maimonides stresses that any internal commitments must ultimately get expressed with words and counsels that the more one engages in verbal confession and elaborates on this subject, the more praiseworthy one is (Laws of Teshuvah 1:1).

Freud also placed much emphasis on the role of language in the psychotherapeutic process. Talking, as in the "talking cure" (Freud would later adopt this description for psychotherapy), was not simply seen as a means for diagnosing the conflicts troubling the patient. Rather, talk itself was the treatment. Giving words to one's inner life allows a person to better understand the motivations for his or her behavior. The process of "talking things out" creates an opportunity to explore undefined feelings and conflicts. Verbally expressing this inner life allows an individual to begin to see the coherent narrative that links up his or her past with the present and a yet-to-be future. It is not so much what we say, but rather it is the process of exploring the inner life that creates healing. Talking—putting thoughts into language—is itself a transformative and redemptive process.

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Shabbat Shuva Vayeilech

Deuteronomy 31:1–30

by Rabbi Marc Wolf, JTS.

There is so much fundamentally wrong with the world today. As Chancellor Eisen wrote in his High Holiday message this year, “On bad days, the problems seem utterly beyond managing. On good days, they call for a degree of judgment, sacrifice, and national unity seldom seen in our country or our world.” My fear is that we have actually become too accustomed to calamity; too proficient at responding to disaster.

Our world is rife with adversity—be it at the hands of nature, the economy, or governments. When natural disasters ravage our country and world, we respond with aid, financial and otherwise, to assist those in need. As the economy comes dangerously close to collapse, lawmakers and advisors strategize on how to avert the crisis. When instability in governments the world over is giving way to escalating tensions, world leaders do their best to keep them under wraps with negotiations. While each appears to be manageable for the short term, collectively these states of affairs illustrate that we are much better at responding to a situation rather than changing an underlying behavior that would keep us from the brink of failure in the first place.

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Nitzavim

Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20

On This Day God Calls To You

Parashat Nitzavim teaches us the importance of viewing ourselves as partners in a dialogue with God.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Some look to religion to transmit a sense of the majesty of the past. Traditions, because they come to us from a purer time, embody fragile vessels carrying remnants of a lost insight.

Such a view of Judaism correctly perceives the treasures of our ancestors’ seeking and recording their relationship with God. But it errs in transforming the record of that search into a type of fossil, a brittle relic that can only be passed from hand to hand, without any direct contribution from the viewer.

Such an idolization of the past removes God from the theater of our own lives, and threatens to trivialize the worth of our own continuing journeys, to ignore the harvest of our own insight and response. The Torah itself rejects this excessive veneration of the past.

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Ki Tavo

Deuteronomy 26:1–29:8

The Order of Disorder

A word and its opposite may be one and the same.

By Rabbi Ismar Schorsch. Reprinted with permission of the Jewish Theological Seminary for MyJewishLearning.com.

The Bible’s most famous riddle was the brainchild of Samson. “Out of the eater came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet” (Judges 14:14). Samson posed it on the occasion of his seven-day wedding feast to 30 young Philistine men who came to celebrate his marriage to one of their own. On the last day, the young men responded gleefully: “What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion?” Dismayed, Samson accused them of coercing his bride: “Had you not plowed with my heifer, you would not have guessed my riddle.” And indeed, threatened by them with savage revenge, she had wheedled the answer out of Samson, only to betray him, exactly as Delilah would do later in his life.

Behind the riddle lay a real life experience. On his first trip to the land of the Philistines to arrange the marriage, Samson had killed bare-handed, a full grown lion on the attack. Upon his return for the wedding feast, he turned aside to inspect the carcass. A swarm of bees had taken up residence in its skeleton. Samson scooped up a handful of honey which he savored and shared with his parents without revealing its source. The riddle conveys the impact of the experience: Samson was intrigued by the phenomenon of an object becoming its opposite. Reality seemed more fluid than fixed.

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Ki Teitzei

Deuteronomy 21:10–25:19

Let’s Get Physical!

The commandment to remove a corpse from the stake on which it is impaled teaches us the importance of respecting the holiness of the body.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

The definition of what is "religious" shifts throughout the ages. In antiquity, being religious meant offering sacrifices (of children, women, prisoners taken in war) and making regular gifts to the gods. In biblical Israel, it meant being aware of God’s presence, by bringing animal sacrifices to the Temple in Jerusalem at the designated times.

By the Second Temple period, a new emphasis, one of ritual purity, ethical rigor, and obedience to a growing oral tradition became the defining feature of pharisaic religiosity, which the Rabbis of the Talmud extended into an emphasis on the performance of mitzvot (commandments) and study as religious acts.

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Shof'tim

Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9

Rabbi Robert Harris, associate professor of Bible, JTS

"Alas, Poor Yorick": A Grave Affair

"Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio, a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy. He hath bore me on his back a thousand times, and now how abhorr'd in my imagination it is! My gorge rises at it." (Hamlet Act 5, Scene 1, 179–188)

As most everyone knows, these lines (even as they are more often mis-remembered!) are spoken as Hamlet lifts the skull of his father's court jester from the grave, and contemplates the common fate—decay—of both kings and court jesters. And while this sentiment would be a worthy topic of its own (see Eccles. 11:7–8: "How sweet is the light, what a delight for the eyes to behold the sun! Even if a man lives many years, let him enjoy himself in all of them, remembering how many the days of darkness are going to be. The only future is nothingness!"), what, might you ask, has this to do with our weekly Torah portion?

A fair question, indeed! Among the far-ranging topics of our parashah is the following paragraph:

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Re'eh - Rosh Chodesh 1

Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17

The Kosher Turkey Debate

Dealing with disagreements in interpretation of the law

By Rabbi Joshua Heller; Reprinted with permission of the Jewish Theological Seminary for MyJewishLearning.com

This week’s Parashah, Re’eh, contains a wonderful juxtaposition of mitzvot, which, when taken together, provide an insight into how Jews deal with novel situations and the disagreements that arise from them, and also allows me to share a peculiarity of my own family history. One of the commandments which the Jewish people have found most difficult to follow in practice is found in Deuteronomy 14:1: “lo titgodedu.” The plain sense of the verse is “You should not gash yourselves… because of the dead.” One must avoid pagan mourning customs that include self-mutilation. The rabbinic interpretation of the verse, however, is that Jews should not form themselves into multiple subgroups “agudot agudot” (B. Yevamot 13b) each following a different understanding of the law. Therefore, there should not be two Jewish courts in one city, one permitting a particular practice, the other forbidding it.

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Eikev

Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25

This week's commentary was written by Rabbi Abigail Treu, director of Planned Giving and Rabbinic Fellow, JTS.

My third-grade art teacher was a terror. Her rules were ironclad, and disobedience was severely punished. Quick to lose her temper, she once grabbed a paintbrush from me, and critiquing the stars I had sketched in my rendition of the night sky, painted directly over them. One day, as the class was gathered around, watching her at the demonstration table, I realized that I needed to go to the bathroom. But I knew the rules: no leaving the room without permission, no interrupting the demonstration, and no raising your hand unless the teacher asked a question. I waited patiently until she posed a question, and then, with all of us permitted to raise our hands, fervently waved mine in hopes of being singled out. Minutes went by—eons to a seven-year-old with a full bladder—and I was left squirming from one foot to the other. Panic welled up in me. I knew I wasn't going to be able to hold it much longer, but I also knew the wrath that I would encounter if I bolted for the door without permission. When I finally lost control in front of the entire class, the teacher scolded me: Why didn't you just ask?

I didn't know I could.

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Shabbat Nachamu

Va-et'chanan Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11

This week's commentary was written by Rabbi Mychal B. Springer, director of the Center for Pastoral Education and the Helen Fried Kirshblum Goldstein Chair in Professional and Pastoral Skills, JTS.

The dreaded has happened. The inconceivable has come to pass. The Temple has been destroyed. Our center is no more. Our sense of safety is shattered. The world is no longer familiar. We are in a place of disorientation. So this Shabbat we begin the hard work of consolation: Nachamu, nachamu ami ("Comfort, oh, comfort My people, Says your God" [Isa. 40:1]). These are the opening words of this week's haftarah portion. Each week, for seven weeks, we will receive another haftarah of consolation, until we reach Rosh Hashanah. The number seven conveys completeness, like the seven days of the week. Like the seven days of shiv'ah. Consolation cannot happen in one brief moment. It is a process, a journey. How is it that consolation does happen?

There are three verses in the haftarah that stand out as offering great insight into the dynamics of consolation:

A voice rings out: "Proclaim!"
Another asks, "What shall I proclaim?"
"All flesh is grass,
All its goodness like flowers of the field:
Grass withers, flowers fade
When the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Indeed man is but grass:
Grass withers, flowers fade—
But the word of our God is always fulfilled!" (Isa. 40:6-8)

These verses contain a dialogue between two voices. They can be understood as the voices of the Prophet and God, the voices of two angels, the voices of two people, or the conflicting voices inside a single individual.

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Shabbat Hazon

Devarim, Deuteronomy 1:1–3:22

This week’s commentary was written by Rabbi Daniel Nevins, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and dean of the Division of Religious Leadership, JTS.

What is your vision of a righteous city? This is an important question, because this week is known as Shabbat Hazon, the Sabbath of Vision, and the vision offered by our prophets is that of a city that has gone astray, abandoning the path of righteousness. In our haftarah, the book of Isaiah opens with the chilling depiction of a “faithful city” (kiryah ne’emanah) that has become distorted into harlotry. What sins does Isaiah associate with such faithlessness? It is not ritual error but ethical failure that he decries. If so, then what would a righteous city look like? Is such a vision within our grasp?

Shabbat Hazon leads into the black fast of Tish’ah Be’Av in various ways. The opening chapters of Deuteronomy and Isaiah, which we read this week, set the stage for the calamity that will be described in horrific detail by the book of Lamentations. In Midrash Eikhah Rabbah, we read that three prophets used the language of Eikhah (how?!) to describe the sorrows of Israel. Moses, who saw the people in its glory, asked, “How can I bear their burden alone?” Isaiah, who saw Israel in its fallen state asked, “How did the faithful city become a harlot?” And the book of Lamentations, traditionally attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, saw Jerusalem destroyed and asked, “How did the great city become like a widow?”

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Mattot-Mas'ei

Numbers 30:2-36:13


This week's commentary was written by Dr. Alan Mintz, Chana Kekst Professor of Hebrew Literature in the Department of Jewish Literature, JTS

The Torah is replete with lists of every kind: the generations before and after Noah, the enumeration of the tribes and their chieftains in the desert, the catalogs of forbidden foods, the inventories of priestly garments. The book of Numbers, which begins with a census, is especially true to its name. The beginning of chapter 33, which opens Parashat Mas'ei (the second of the double portions read in the synagogue this week), presents one of the grandest lists of all: the forty-two stations of Israel's wandering from Ramses in Egypt to the steppes of Moab on the eve of the entry into the Promised Land. Although we may feel that we have heard all of these place names in earlier weekly readings, the fact is that a significant number of these stations (verses 19–30) are mentioned here for the first time. The uniqueness of this list is indicated by the fact that Moses is specifically instructed to record the names in writing. In many synagogues, a special singsong melody used by the Torah reader also makes this passage unique.

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Pinchas

Numbers 25:10−30:1

Pinhas in America?

The Torah portion deals with intermarriage, a problem we know all too well today.

By Rabbi Ismar Schorsch; reprinted with permission of the Jewish Theological Seminary for MyJewishLearning.com.

In 1962 I graduated rabbinical school and entered the army for a two-year stint as a chaplain. Such national service was then still required of all JTS graduates before they could take a pulpit. After completing chaplaincy school in New York, I drove to my first assignment at Fort Dix, New Jersey. I arrived in the late afternoon and decided to visit the Jewish chapel where I would preside without delay. That was my first mistake.

Outside the door paced an agitated, well-dressed gentleman in civilian clothes looking for a Jewish chaplain. I revealed my identity all too quickly and smugly, my second mistake. In the office I would occupy for less than a year (the army would reward my stellar work at Fort Dix by sending me to Korea), he unloaded on me an impassioned account about his daughter who was going to marry a young Greek in basic training at Fort Dix. I couldn’t tell exactly whether the father, a wealthy man from Connecticut, was furious because the kid was Christian or poor and uneducated. In fact, the father suspected him of seeking to marry his daughter for her money. He insisted that I call in the kid to disabuse him of his folly, and I, by now floundering in my inexperience, reluctantly agreed. To my surprise, the young man came when I summoned him and turned out to be good-looking and charming. Despite great discomfort, I carried out my futile task and never heard from him or his nemesis again.

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Balak

Numbers 22:2−25:9

Rabbi Jonathan Lipnick, Jewish Theological Seminary

Reading Parashat Balak along with Rashi, the medieval 12th-century French exegete par excellence, one quickly discovers how vilified Balaam is in Midrash. But not all biblical commentators side with Rashi. There's a fantastic chapter by Nehama Leibowitz (1905–1997) in Studies of Bamidbar entitled "Prophet or Sorcerer?" Rabbi Jacob Milgrom (1923–2010), too, has an article on the subject entitled "Balaam: Saint or Sinner?" in his extraordinary The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers.

The biblical accounting of Balaam's behavior, without rabbinic interpretation, is rather straightforward. Balak, king of the Moabites, has asked Balaam, a non-Israelite sorcerer, to put a curse on Israel. Balak, aware that the Children of Israel have been blessed by God, hopes that a curse will allow the Moabites to be victorious in their battle against the Israelites. After several entreaties from Balak, along with permission from God and a stop along the way with God's angel, Balaam ends his journey at a mountaintop, where he sees from a distance the Children of Israel encamped. From this vantage point, Balaam proceeds to bless the Israelites four times (Num. 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:3-9, 15-24). It is some of the most beautiful poetry in all of biblical literature.

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Chukat

Numbers 19:1−22:1

Miriam–Water Under The Bridge?

Miriam's death should motivate us to recognize people today who provide nurture and support that often goes unnoticed.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Careers of public figures take on a life of their own, ebbing and flowing with shifts in public opinion

and the latest values. One Jewish figure whose popularity is at an all-time high is the prophet Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron.

While featured prominently in the Torah, Miriam’s claim to fame always paled in the face of her more visible brothers. After all, Aaron was the first Kohen Gadol (high priest), the link between the Jewish people and their religion, and Moses was the intimate friend of God, transmitting sacred teachings to the people.

Compared to those two leaders, Miriam simply faded into the background. True, we celebrate her beautiful song at the shores of the Red Sea, but even that poem is overshadowed by Moses’ far-lengthier song. Today, Miriam’s fame rests less on any specific accomplishment and more on the fact that she was a woman.

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Korach

Numbers 16:1−18:32

To Serve With Distinction

Korah's rebellion was based on his inability to appreciate the value of diversity and distinctiveness.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com
The rebellion of Korah against Moses and Aaron is painful to most Jews who read it, precisely because it is so complex and so timeless.  While we are trained to sympathize with Moses and his supporters by our upbringing and by Jewish tradition, it is difficult for anyone who is passionate about democracy not to become stirred by Korah’s powerful message.  Our Jewish loyalty seems pitted against our democratic commitments.  That conflict hurts.

Moses and Aaron have successfully led the Jewish tribes out of slavery in Egypt and through the dangers of the wilderness.  The life of the tribes is now relatively secure and comfortable.  God regularly speaks, through Moses, to the Jewish people, and the families live out their lives waiting to move into the Promised Land.

In the midst of this idyllic serenity, Korah rebels.  He resents having to follow Moses in all matters, and challenges him with the moving line: "All the community are holy, all of them, and the Lord is in their midst.  Why then do you raise yourselves above the Lord’s congregation?"

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Sh'lach-Lekha

Numbers 13:1−15:41

The Power Of Perception

The survival and success of the Jewish people stems from our ability to mold reality to match our dreams and ideals.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Moses instructs 12 spies, one for each of Israel’s tribes, to investigate the characteristics of the land the people are about to enter. They travel throughout the land of Israel during the course of 40 days, and they return to the camp bearing an enormous load of the fruit of the land.

Yet when they return, their testimony is contradictory. On the one hand, they assert that the land is one which "flows with milk and honey," a land bounteous and fertile. On the other hand, they also insist that the people in the land are giants–nefillim–who cause the hearts of those who see them to collapse. Based on the perceived strength of the inhabitants, the spies urge Israel not to occupy the land, despite the assurances of God and of Moses that they would do so successfully. Alone among the spies, Caleb and Joshua assert, with complete faith, that Israel should enter and take the land immediately.

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B’ha’alotkha

Numbers 8:1-12:16

Trying To Remember The Reason I Forgot

Being constantly engaged in learning allows us to guard against the pervasive forgetfulness around us.

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

The human mind presents us with both a marvel and a mystery. Capable of mastering a remarkable range of complex tasks, of remembering obscure experiences or facts, that same organ will also forget an important appointment, an acquaintance’s name, or the contents of this morning’s breakfast. Simultaneously able to outperform a computer in our manipulation of data into concepts, each of us also faces the unpleasant reality that we continually forget information we desperately desire or need.

Anyone who has reviewed notes taken in college or remarks scribbled in the margins of books read years ago has admitted to the enormity of what is routinely forgotten. It is not uncommon for authors to report rereading their own writing after the passage of several years with the uncomfortable sense that they are no longer the masters of what those essays or books contain.

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Naso

Numbers 4:21−7:89

By Rabbi Bradley Artson, provided by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, for MyJewishLearning.com

Situational Ethics And God

The importance of preserving the relationship between a husband and wife provides an example of the Torah's use of relative morality.

Often, we define the moral position as the one that adheres to objective standards of right and wrong.  Consequently, someone who evaluates an action in the light of eternal, immutable values demonstrates a higher level of moral development than a person who uses other, more situational standards.  The roots of this perspective lie in ancient Greek thought, which associated the true with the eternal–what was perfect never changed.  Similarly, the highest level of morality would be immutable.

The Greek mind sought out "laws of nature" which functioned in the realm of human morality no less than in the realm of astronomy.  Modern psychologists of moral development–primarily students of the late Lawrence Kohlberg–looked to those Greek suppositions and found confirmation in the moral development of boys and men.  Apparently, the highest level of moral development among males involves recourse to external rules of ethical standards that are always true and always definitive.

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Bemidbar

Numbers 1:1−4:20

By Rabbi Mychal Springer, Director of the Center for Pastoral Education, JTS

Keeping A Sound Relationship With God

The midrash teaches us that God destroyed the world several times before creating our world (Bereishit Rabbah 3:7 and 9:2). Famously, after the flood, God establishes a covenant with Noah, Noah’s sons, and all living things. God says: “I will maintain My covenant (briti) with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen. 9:11). When we read this verse in light of the midrash, we understand that God came very close to destroying the world again, but managed to enact a symbolic destruction, providing some people and some of the living creatures with a way to survive. This covenant is the vehicle for keeping humanity and all of creation connected with the divine even when rupture looms as a possibility.

In this week’s Torah and haftarah portions, the specter of rupture looms repeatedly. First, we are reminded of the deaths of Aaron’s two older sons, Nadav and Avihu. Though they had entered into a sacred pact to serve God in the intimacy of God’s holiest places, they got it wrong—they “offered alien fire before the Lord” (Num. 3:4)—and died as a result. Their missing the mark led to their deaths and a transfer of the sacred role from the older to the younger sons. Similarly, our parashah recounts the undoing of the sacred place held by the firstborn sons, chosen to be dedicated to God when they were saved from the 10th plague, the plague of the slaying of the firstborns. While God simply asserts that Moses should substitute the Levites for the firstborns (Num. 3:41), we must notice that, once again, a special relationship of service has been abrogated and a new group has replaced the original one.

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B'har/B'chukotai

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

Raising The King's Sons

By Rabbi David Levy, Director of Admissions for the Rabbinical School and the H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music for JTSA

ויקרא רבה (וילנא) פרשה לו
ולמה הוא מזכיר זכות אבות ומזכיר זכות הארץ עמהם אמר ר"ל משל למלך שהיה לו שלשה בנים ושפחה אחת משלו מגדלתן כל זמן שהיה המלך שואל שלום בניו היה אומר שאלו לי בשלום המגדלת כך כל זמן שהקב"ה מזכיר אבות מזכיר הארץ עמהם הה"ד וזכרתי את בריתי יעקב וגו' והארץ אזכור  Leviticus Rabbah Chapter 36

And why did God make mention of the merits of our ancestors and the merit of the land alongside them? Reish Lakish shared a parable, (he said) [i]t is like a king that had three sons, and one of his handmaidens raised them. Every time that the king asked after the welfare of his sons he would say also ask about the welfare of she who is raising them. So too, each time God remembers our ancestors, he recalls the land alongside them. That is why it is written "And I will remember my covenant with Jacob . . . and I will recall the earth." (Leviticus 26:42)

In Parashat Behukkotai, God spells out a list of blessings that will come if the Israelites will follow God's rules. This is followed by a harrowing list of curses that will ensue if the Israelites fail in this task. Finally, at the end of chapter 26, God foretells that even after the curses, when the Israelites repent, He will remember the covenants He made with our ancestors, and will remember the land. We might assume that the land is mentioned here because it is a part of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

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