Dvar Torah Parsha Va Yetzei 5784

Our Parsha this week is Va Yetzei. We see Yaakov flee Beersheba to escape Esav’s anger and sleeping one night, sees the stairway to heaven with angels going up and down the ladder. He names the place Beth El, the Home of Hashem, taking the stone that was his pillow, standing it up and anointing it with oil. Hashem promises him safety going forward.

Travelling on, he meets and falls in love with Rachel who goes back to tell Laban of his kinsman. After years of tending Laban’s flock, he is duped by Laban and marries Leah thinking she is Rachel, works years more and then marries Rachel. Between them and the maidservants Bilhah and Zilpah, they birth the 12 tribes of Israel. Finally, they feud as Yaakov and his family leave, ultimately agreeing to a non-aggression pact between them. They leave and once again, Yaakov sees angels and marks the location.

How interesting that this parsha begins with a dream of angels climbing and descending from the stairway to heaven, then ends when after leaving Laban, he sees angels again. In both, there is an awareness of Hashem when he stands alone in the dark, with his own insecurities. He in the absence of self, feels the presence of Hashem and reaches out in prayer. Prayer by its nature is moving from the egocentric I to a selfless cry. I’m reminded of the days following October 7, when we turned to Psalm 130: “Out of the depths I call You, O Lord.” Every one of us have those moments in this life, and it is not angels, or rather, we are called to be those angels. We are called to be those angels, those workers for Hashem to right wrong and to extend loving kindness to those in need.

If I could, I’d like to share a story of an angel in my life. Many, many years ago, long before I became a Jew, long before I had transitioned, my brother, daughter, and mother drove to Dallas from Houston to attend a family Christmas get together. On our way back, on a very desolate strip of the Interstate, we had a flat. We got out to fix the flat, and to our horror, my brother had not put his car jack back after he used it the last time in Houston. So here we are, on a desolate stretch of the road with my elderly mother and toddler daughter, stranded. My brother and I got out and started walking to find help, and about a mile down the road, we found a small country store on the feeder. We went to see about getting help, and they called for a wrecker, but advised us the only wrecker in the area was busy on a bad wreck so it might be a while. We walked back to the car. As we approached the car, there was a wrecker pulling up.

So he gets out and replaces the flat. We ask how much we owe him, and he smiles and replies, “Nothing.” He goes on and explains that every year at this time, he drives this highway to help as a way of giving back. We thanked him profusely and driving on, we pulled in to get gas at that small store. The counter person said he was sorry, but the wrecker was still busy. We explained how a wrecker had helped us already, and he scratched his head, saying there were no other wreckers in the area.

Whoever that guy was, on that night, he was our angel. He was there in our time of need. We in the caring community, and all of us period, are called to be those angels, to show up in someone’s depth of despair or to heal body and or soul. Back to our Torah parsha: “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the House of G_d; this is the gate of heaven.” This is how each of us in our own way repair the world. It is our calling to be angels to our fellow human beings. Baruch Hashem!

Dvar Torah Parsha Noach 5784

Choosing Chesed

Parsha Noach frames a significant span of time, from Noah and the great flood until Abraham. It begins with the evil of the people and Hashem having Noah build an ark for him and his family. I find it significant that Noah, learning what is to come, is concerned only with his family, neither arguing with Hashem nor pleading on behalf of others. This of course is a flood narrative historically found in other Near East traditions such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and Atra Hasis dating back to the 18th century BCE. Even including the building of a window, a raven, and a dove to test conditions in the aftermath. But in Babylonian traditions, it was the incessant noise made by humans that led to the floods, irritating the gods mightily. In our tradition, human violence is the cause and at the end, a covenant is established not to flood the world again. Here we find the Noahide laws which our tradition teaches belongs to all humanity. Our covenant is symbolized by the rainbow.

Then we have the tale afterwards of Noah getting drunk and one of his sons seeing his nakedness. Noah wakes up and curses Ham’s youngest son Canaan to be the basest of slaves. It likely was a response to the later event where the Israelites displaced the Canaanites but has been used in more current times disgustingly as racist fodder for those from Africa. In reality there is no indication that the curse was ever honored by Hashem. We then see genealogies i.e. the Table of Nations. Interrupting this is found our story of the tower of Babel. Probably based on the Babylonian Ziggurats, it is used to show the arrogance of humanity and the punishment of mixing up languages.

We then learn the ten generations from Noah to Avram. We see the family of Avram who will become Avraham and Sarai who will be named Sara. I might add my own Hebrew name Yiskah shows up. Rabbinic tradition suggests Yiskah and Sarai are the same person, either as one of great beauty or one who could be prophetic. More recently, scholars believe she was a different person and because Yiskah was named, there was early on a prophetic tradition involving Yiskah that has since been lost to time.

We seem in my opinion to be seeing an evolution in morality and in behavior, for humanity, but also Hashem seems to be learning and growing in Their relationship with humankind. Looking back, we see humanity being cast out of the garden. Then we are so evil that all but Noah and his family are destroyed. What follows is the mingling of languages, but then we arrive to Avram and Sarai where a new covenant will be established, a covenant still with us today. Noah is only concerned with his family, obeying without question. But later, we see Avraham talking to Adonai, pleading on behalf of the people of Sodom. We are witnessing in our origin stories the growth of morality, learning to look out for each other as human beings.

In reality, we see in Torah that we are both, as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory suggests, destructive and constructive. We are born to compete and cooperate. It seems that Hashem created humans in the faith that we would naturally choose right and good but learns soon enough that’s not so. So it is that we have a covenant holding with it the idea of moral law. So, we teach that we should love the stranger, your neighbor as self. It is why we are gathered here today as a Caring Committee. We hold each other in the difficult times and find joy in the good. We are capable of good and evil, but we choose good. Such is the nature of free will. And good behavior, loving behavior is contagious. We are called to repair the world, not because we must, rather because we choose to do so.

I feel called to add something else to this drash as well. Ours are dangerous times. Hate is growing, and recent reports from the FBI and Dept of Justice say hate crimes are at an all time high. I recently had to after all these years, move my Facebook settings from public to friends only after someone jumped in on my page to preach and demonize. I’m in communication as we speak with people in other parts of the country including Texas where I came from because of transgender attacks. Never more than ever, have we been called to acts of loving kindness, for each other and for the world outside. As a committee, as human beings, our call to duty has never been louder. May peace be ascendant and love transcendent. Acts of tzedakah and gemilut chesed are our greatest hope in these dangerous times. Oh, and to vote of course! Baruch Hashem

Dvar Torah Parsha HaBeracha 5784

Devarim 33:1 – 34:12

The Sweetest Kiss

So here we are, V’zot HaBeracha, the final parsha in Torah before we start over. Where so much of the latter parshat offer what could be considered lengthy scolding, here Moshe offers blessings to each of the twelve tribes. This parsha unlike the others is not read on Shabbat, rather on Simchat Torah. It is interesting that he offers his blessings not to his two sons by Zipporah named Gershom and Eliezer, but rather to the twelve tribes he has led through the desert.

He offers his blessings in the order where the tribes will reside, from Reuben where they cross to Judah in the south moving up to Asher in the far north. There also seems to be a relationship to maternal lineage, with 3 of 4 of Leah’ first 4 sons, followed by Rachel’s two sons, then Leah’s fifth and sixth son, followed by the four sons of handmaids Zilpah and Bilhah. Interestingly, the verse for Judah suggests he may need rescuing. Some have suggested that this blessing may have originally been intended for Simeon.

After the blessings, Moshe goes up Mt. Nebo to the summit of Pisgah (combining two traditions it would seem. Moshe views the land promised to his heirs and then he dies. What follows is a period of mourning for the next 30 days for this greatest of all the prophets. What a journey he had been on, dying at 120 after leading his people for 40 years in the desert. Through him, Hashem gave us the precious gift of Torah. Like Moshe Rabbenu, our lives are finite, but guided by Torah, we can choose Life. We can choose good rather than evil. We are imperfect, but we are on a journey every day of self-improvement.

I often think of Moses’ last moments on earth, looking over the land promised to Abraham and our people. His journey was imperfect, and he could not cross because of his misdeeds. Still, he had done so much more than most, putting his people before himself. Midrash suggests during the Exodus, while everyone else was looking for gold and silver to take on the journey, Moshe searched for Joseph’s bones and carried them on his own shoulders, I read a story in dvar offered by the URJ by Jonathan Stein, describing a midrash about Moshe’s death. It suggests G_d leans down from heaven and ends Moses’ life with a soft gentle kiss. This is derived from Devarim 34:5 where it is written, “So Moses, the servant of the Eternal, died there, in the land of Moab, at the command of the Eternal.” The Hebrew used says, “pi Adonai,” “by the mouth of the Eternal.”

I find that a fitting end in a story that has no end but leads up to this very day. Our journey in Torah of course begins again with Bereishit, Genesis. May each of us have a blessed journey through Torah which begins anew.

PROLOGUE

A year ago, I set out to write a dvar for each Torah parsha from Bereishit (Genesis) through Devarim (Deuteronomy. I have done this. I now will be moving to other writing tasks, though from time to time I am called to write a dvar and I will post them here when I do. It has been an amazing journey, and I’ve learned so much. Thank you so much to all who have read my posts over this time, and I hope my perspectives have in some way enriched your journey. Either way, Baruch Hashem!

Dvar Torah Parsha Ha'azinu 5784

Devarim 32:1 – 52

Like Rain and Dew

We find ourselves at the next to last Parsha. Ha’azinu means “give ear”. It’s a poem without title but is often referred to as “Song of Moses” or “Shirat Ha’azinu.” As mentioned last year, linguistic interpretation suggests this was written earlier than the rest of Deuteronomy and was of independent composition per Torah: A Women’s Commentary. It was likely added towards the end to drive home the points made earlier in Devarim. It may have originally been written to give hope following some tragic event.

In our Song of Moses, we find diverse metaphors to describe G_d. Andrea Weiss in Torah, A Women’s Commentary mentions G_d described as rock, eagle, father, warrior, and even a mother who gave birth and nursed Her child Israel.

The song itself is to speak to our wrongdoing, of how we turn from the good offered by Hashem and forget when we have become gloated by our prosperity and turn to other gods. Hashem hides himself from the Israelites but does not destroy them lest others misunderstand and assume their gods were more powerful. Rather Hashem will protect his people and they will atone. Then Hashem sends Moses to the Mountain of Transitions, Mt. Nebo where Moses may view the land before he dies.

Inspired in good part by a dvar offered by Rabbi Aviva Richman at Hadar, I want to focus on these verses:

Deuteronomy 32:2
May my discourse come down as rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
Like showers on young growth,
Like droplets on the grass.

Rabbi Richman offers that rabbinical teaching offers there is nothing automatic about Torah’s goodness. Torah’s impact depends on the work we do as we study, share, and interpret it. A midrash (Sifrei Devarim 306) begins speaking how Torah is synonymous with goodness, but it becomes clear that Torah can be damaging, at least not good for everyone all the time.

For instance, rain is not always a welcome thing. An inopportune rainfall for example can ruin stored wine or grain, especially in Biblical times. It would be easy to assume then Torah could be harmful for some. But the next verse offers the metaphor of dew. Dew is pretty much universally seen as a good thing. So Rabbi Richman offers that Torah is not functioning as Torah unless all are touched by Torah for the better. In short, if we are approaching Torah for a noble purpose, it will bring life. If not, it can be dangerous.

So, I ask myself, what does all this mean to me today. As a trans woman in a lesbian relationship, all I need to do is follow current events. All around me are people who extract individual quotes from Torah and their Christian Bibles to preach hate, division, and destruction. These are people who search Torah to find examples to justify their hate.

So why do bad things happen. G_d requites good with good, evil with evil. Many equate religion in our time as evil. I would offer that religion is not to blame, but those who use religion for evil purposes. Recently I saw an evangelical preacher telling his congregation that lgbtqia+ people should be taken out and shot in the back of the head. Hardly the message of their Jesus who like Jews preached to love the stranger and their neighbor as their self. But some within Judaism also bear the guilt as well. Some seek to divide us, and the corruption we are seeing play out in Eretz Israel by its leaders is notable. Some elements of the government there are trying to enforce their more orthodox views upon others and lgbtqia+ citizens are quite concerned.

My point is, there are ample examples where the very words we are called to wrestle with, debate, and reconcile with in our calling to heal the world, instead are being used to promulgate hate and division, people choosing the curse rather than the blessing. Within all the world’s religions, we find those who have chosen good, those who chose evil, and all of us wrestling with those inner impulses. May we choose good. May we choose love. May we choose life!!! Baruch Hashem!!!

Dvar Torah Parsha Nitzavim - Vayeilech 5783-2

Devarim 29:9 – 31:30

Two Questions: What about Converts? Moshe and Disappointment?

In our dual parsha reading, Moses speaks again to the people, reminding them of the covenant they were entering into with Hashem. Not just the men, everyone, those who are there and those who were not. He warns them against straying from that covenant and warns them that there is a blessing and a curse. If they are true to the covenant, all will be well, but if not, they will be dispersed from the land and Hashem will not be with them. But if they return to Hashem, then Hashem will seek out the exiles and gather them together. Hashem will circumcise their hearts and the hearts of their descendants. Choose life!

Vayeilech begins with Moshe telling the people that he is 120 years old that day and he will die. It is not his to cross over into the land. He assures them that Hashem is with them. He calls Joshua forward and assures him as well. The Teaching is then written down. He commanded them to read the Teaching at the end of seven years on Shavuot.

Then later they meet at the Tent of Meeting. Hashem tells him he will lie down beside his fathers, and the people will rise and stray His anger will be stirred, and they will fall prey to destruction and many evils. He then has him write down a song to be taught to the people. He then gives Joshua assurance going forward. This song will be the next parsha, Ha’azinu.

Often in writing a Dvar, I find one topic and singularly focus on it. However, in this dual parsha Dvar, I find my focus on more than a single concept. For instance, Nitzavim begins with Adonai speaking through Moshe of the covenant they have with Hashem. Here is what is said:

“You stand this day, all of you, before your G_d Adonai--- you tribal heads, you elders, and you officials, all the men of Israel, you children, you women, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer --- to enter into the covenant of our G_d Adonai, which your G_d Adonai is concluding with you this day with it’s sanctions; in order to establish you this day as G_d’s people…”. It goes on, “I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before our G_d Adonai, and those who are not with us here this day.”

That is, the covenant is not only for those who are there that day, but future generations as well. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory offers that according to the Talmud, we are all foresworn from Sinai (Yoma 73b, Nedarim 8a). He goes on to say that converts excepted, we do not choose to be Jews, rather it was our ancestors who passed us this obligation. It remains with us by our behavior to choose what is later referred to as the blessing and the curse, where Adonai calls us to “Choose life.”

I would like however in all of this to toss in another caveat with all due respect to Rabbi Sacks. As a Jew by choice, Kabbalah teaches that I was born with a Jewish soul, and I have returned to my people. I certainly can vouch for the fact that when I began Judaic studies, it felt like I had finally come home. So, I have the very same choice, the blessing, or the curse, and I most definitely choose the blessing. I choose life.

This leads me to Vayeilech. Here Moshe informs the people that on this day, he will die. What must have been going through his head that day. These were people he led out of Egypt 40 years later, all with the dream of the Promised Land at the fore of their dreams. But he has had to relinquish that dream for himself, even as he must prepare the people for what is to come. As I read his words telling his people what is to come, cautioning them again of the perils of straying from the covenant and then meeting with the leaders afterwards and learning indeed the people will indeed stray, but even then, there is hope of they do teshuvah as a people and return to Adonai. I can feel the tears he was folding back, the enormous weight of the disappointment wresting on his shoulders even as he was putting duty before self.

I am not 120 years old, but I am growing old. Growing old can be incredibly lonely sometimes, and sometimes I review the disappointments I have accrued over a lifetime. We all have them, I suspect. But we realize this life is short, and it is far more productive to balance those disappointments with the blessings we accrue in a lifetime. I wish I could have known at 18 how fast it all would pass, knowledge at 76 which is obvious. At 18, I heard the elders caution about just this, but I did not listen. But today, I choose life. Baruch Hashem.

Dvar Torah Parsha Ki Tavo 5783

Devarim 26:1 – 29:8

Tokhecha, Does Chastisement Work?

Our Parsha is Ki Tavo, or “When you enter”, a continuation of Moshe’s speech to the people before entering Canaan. He calls on the people to take their first fruits and deliver to the city that will be named where G_d’s name will reside. It’s important to note that in Devarim (Deuteronomy) Hashem does not dwell in any place on earth, but rather G_d’s name does. It goes on to call upon all to carry out the laws and social ordinances with full heart and soul. We are a holy people of G_d.

Upon entering the promised land, they are to make an altar of stones with the words of the teaching (Devarim). The priests then recite curses to offenders committing a variety of sins at which the people said Amen. Then a short portion on the blessings that will come, but then a longer portion on the curses the people will experience, many of which we have indeed endured over the centuries.

Honestly as I poured over these words, I could not help but reflect on my own childhood. I grew up in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, a very different time from today. It was the era of the “critical parent”, not of positive reinforcement but of a serious butt-whipping if you got it wrong. Endless lectures enforced with the business end of a belt if you crossed that line. I carried resentments for years before I could make peace with that childhood and with my parents. Albeit well after my father’s passing in ’67.

The tokhecha (reprimand or rebuke) passages appear twice in the Torah, first in parsha Bechukotai in Vayikra (Leviticus) and here. This sort of language was not uncommon in ancient and medieval times where fate in history was related to the power of gods. In our case, the belief that our disobedience caused our fate. Indeed, over the centuries following our expulsion from Israel, we simply assumed it was our fate following the pogroms, mass killings by Crusaders, for century after century. It’s important to note however that neither did we stop being Jews, living in foreign lands, mostly without the benefit of citizenship, where we would reside until this or that ruler would kick us out. Even after Napoleon, we would still live in many areas with only conditional status. We rather believed only supernatural action would allow us to return to Israel.

Rabbi Yitz Greenberg of Hadar suggests it was after the Shoah that we came to see that Jewish history was no longer under the sign of tokhecha. Rabbi Greenberg offers that in 1945 when Hungarian Jewry reached 10,000 killed every day, where Jewish children were dumped alive directly into the burning pits of Auschwitz, well in no way could that be considered in any form or fashion, a punishment for sin from a loving G_d. He offers that in the years following the destruction of the Temple, according to the Rabbis, renewed the covenant, inviting the people to take more responsibility. He offers that today we are in the third stage of the covenant, in which Hashem is totally hidden but totally present in Jewish and human fate. Oh, we still read the tokhecha passages, quickly and in a low voice.

I would offer this for consideration. In Torah, we read language of slaughtering every man, woman, and child. We read about slavery, and just today, I read in Talmud whether if a master should castrate his slave, were they entitled to freedom by manumission. Well, it depends. If they removed the testicles, no. But if they cut off the penis, well, yes. I know the Rabbis went off on some legal tangents, but really?

My point here is this. Our ancestors lived in very brutal times. Also, we know that passages calling for the destruction of every man, woman, and child did not actually happen, rather were flourishes of rhetoric to drive home certain points. But with each generation we have moved to become a people with laws regarding war crimes, a people where slavery was not needed etc. Even from the generation when I was growing up in a small town in East Texas, the concept of spoil the rod and spare the child has moved to a generation where more parents spend more time, energy towards their children, demonstrating moral behavior by imitation of the parents as opposed to reprimand and punish. I am of the opinion that leading by example is superior to punishment and derision. My parents have both passed away now. But I love them both. They were products of their time and those were the rules of their time. My prayer is this. That we as a people, we as Jews, continue to grow and progress. Baruch Hashem!

Dvar Torah Parsha Ki Teitzei 5783

Devarim 21:10 – 25:19

If Their Ass Falls, Together Lift It

Ki Teitzei translated “when you go out” contains a wide range of criminal, civil, and family laws. Unlike the last parsha that focused on the judges and those who administer the laws, this parsha is all about laws applicable to ordinary folks. These laws can range from rules if you marry a prisoner of war, giving her time first to mourn her parents to disloyal children (this one says they must be stoned). What to do if an ox or sheep goes astray, laws against cross dressing and you know I took this one on last year in this parsha.

Then there are rules not to move a fledgling or egg if the mother is present. I confess that as a child gathering eggs for my grandma, I violated this rule more than once. It talks about building a parapet around your roof less someone fall, and you incur bloodguilt. Then there are rules regarding marriage, premarital sex, rules around virginity. Adonai forbid if you marry an Ammonite or Moabite (later interpreted to be males since it was Ruth the Moabite who married into the tribe of Israel, and she was an ancestor to King David. There are rules to keep a military camp pure, such as leaving camp to defecate, protecting slaves who run from their foreign master and how we must not mistreat them. So many other rules as well, laws designed to govern day to day life in early Israel. Culminating with the reminder to always remember Amalek.

This dvar besides a blog entry is written for delivery in my Caring Committee. It has proven a bit of a challenge to share a message pertinent for this purpose. Always though up for a challenge, I decided to focus on this passage. Devarim 22:4 says “Do not see your kinsman’s donkey or his ox fallen on the road and ignore it. Help him lift it up.” Oxen or donkeys once were used to carry heavy loads, and occasionally one would slip and fall, unable to get back up because of the heavy weight they were carrying. In such case the animal would need to be unloaded, lifting it up and then reloading it. Of course, we no longer in our modern time need to deal with collapsed donkeys or oxen. But there is an underlying principle here. We are called to look out for each other.

In 2018, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his dvar shared a lovely story about this. He and his wife were being driven to the Catskills when their driver shared a story. One Friday afternoon, the driver was making his way to join his family in the Catskills. He saw a man wearing a kippah, bending over his car along the road. One of his tires was flat and he was about to replace his flat tire. The driver pulled over and helped him replace the tire and wished him “Good Shabbos.” The man thanked him, taking his kippah off and put it in his pocket. The driver apparently had a quizzical look, so the man explained, “Oh I’m not Jewish. It’s just that I know if I’m wearing one of these” gesturing towards the yarmulke, - “someone Jewish will stop and help me.”

The sages debated the reason for this command about fallen oxen or donkey. Some held it was for the welfare of the animal. Rambam felt that it was for the safety of the animal’s owner as the roads could be risky at the time. But more recent queries lead to what can be called an accumulation of what is referred to as social capital. The more we look out for each other, the more we find ourselves surrounded by people with our interests at heart, it translates to a necessary component of a good society. Per Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, it is a “wealth that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with the level of trust within a society.”

I reflect on my own experiences in this lifetime. It was August 10, 1997, when my partner Skip died as I held him in my arms. Only two weeks later, a dear friend collapsed and died in my arms. My community surrounded me and held me up when I could not do so myself. Or when just over a year ago, folks from Shir Tikvah sent cards after I was hospitalized. We lift each other up when one faces hardship or loss. That is what we do. Giving rides, sitting shiva, providing meals, visitations, all the things that move our relationships from loneliness to community. In these acts of chesed, loving kindness, we are all enriched. Together, we can make our world a better place.

Baruch Hashem!