Dvar Torah Parsha Behaalotecha 5783

Bamidbar 8:1 – 12:16

Coming Together

Out parsha begins with the lighting of the menorah, our most recognizable symbol of Judaism with the seven branches. Centuries later, Isaac Luria taught that the six branches represent the various scientific and academic disciplines, while the center stalk is the light of Torah. Each has its own concerns and addresses its own set of questions. They shed light on each other and together light up the world. The menorah itself was made from a single piece of hammered gold. It made the journey through the desert and remained in Israel until the destruction of the second temple when it was carried off by the Romans under Titus in 70 CE. Today the carving of that menorah can be found on the Arch of Titus in Rome. In addition, a large menorah can be found within Jerusalem on a plaza within a case.

The Levites were to be purified and water of purification was to be sprinkled upon them. They were to shave their entire body with a razor and wash their clothes. Then Aaron was to take one bull from the herd and with it a grain offering with oil mixed in, and a second bull of the herd was to be taken for a purification offering. After that, the Levites were called to assemble before the Tent of Meeting. Then the entire community were to assemble. The Levites were to step forward, and the people lay hands upon them. Aaron then brings them an elevation offering from the people. The Levites lay hands upon the bulls, one as a purification offering and the other as a burnt offering to make expiation for the Levites. In this way, the Levites are set apart and belong to Hashem.

In Chapter 9, the second Pesach is celebrated, beginning an annual tradition that extends to this very day. For any who were defiled, another Pesach was celebrated one month later. Over the Tent of Meeting was a cloud. When the cloud lifted, the people would move. When it settled, they would camp.

Chapter 10, they are instructed to make two silver trumpets with hammered work, that is, hammering the metal over a mold. They served to assemble the people when time to march. Different blasts meant different things. When both blown with long blasts, the community assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. If only one trumpet blows, only the chieftains assemble. Short blasts told which groups to march. Other sounds for war, fixed festivals, burnt offerings and sacrifices of well-being. In the second year of the twentieth day of the second month, they march towards the Wilderness of Paran, likely the northern Sinai between Midian in Transjordan and Egypt. The tribes are listed according to the order in which they marched, from Judah up front to Dan in the rear.

Moshe asks Hobab, son of Reuel, the Midianite (Moshe’s father-in-law) would he go with them to the land, serving as guide. He replies he is planning on returning to his home. Moshe pleads for him to stay, promising his full share in the land to where they are headed. Note: Reuel is also known as Yitro (Jethro).

Chapter 11: The people begin to complain and angers Hashem. A fire breaks out ravaging the outskirts of the camp. Moshe prays, and the fire dies down. The place is named Taberah for the fire Hashem sent. Then the riffraff (the name given to the mixed multitude who accompanied the Israelites out of Egypt. The complaints spread because there was not enough meat. Moshe, as frustrated as he has ever been with the people, turns to G_d. G_d tells Moshe to gather seventy of Israel’s elders and bring them to the Tent of Meeting. They will share the burden of leadership. Then Hashem says the people will have all the meat then can handle for a full month. Moshe is dubious, but Hashem says, “Do you doubt my power?” Hashem puts his spirit upon the men, and they spoke in ecstasy. Two men, Eldad and Medad had remained in the camp, yet they began to speak in ecstasy as well. A youth ran to tell Moshe what had happened. Joshua, son of Nun says Moshe should restrain them. But he does not, remarking if only all the people were prophets.

A wind blows up from the seaside, sweeping quail over the camp, in some cases two cubits deep. The meet was between their teeth, not yet chewed when a plague broke out. The place was named Kibroth-hattaavah because those with the craving were buried there. The people then set out for Hazeroth. There is much in this parsha to look at. I want to follow up on the command to create silver trumpets. Their purpose simply stated is to assemble the people or the leaders according to the blast. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory gave me a pointer to the work by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and his essay Kol Dodi Dofek on the Jewish approach to suffering. He suggests there are two ways in which people become a group, a community, society, or nation. The first is to face a common enemy, banding together for mutual protection. Such a group is a machaneh, a camp, a defensive formation.

There is a different form of association. People can come together because they share a vision, a set of ideals. This is called Edah, a congregation. It is a creative formation rather than defensive. Soloveitchik suggests these are two different ways of existing and relating to the world. A camp is brought together by what happens outside it, i.e., a common threat while the congregation exists from an internal decision. One is reactive while the other is proactive.

We came together in Egypt because of our status of shared suffering. Ever since, we have been the “other”. After the destruction of the second Temple, we were seen as different, regardless of where we spread to. And while Jews were treated differently in different parts of the diaspora, we were still “The Jews.” Our people were treated relatively well in certain Muslim nations even as we were attacked during the crusades in Europe or living fairly well in Poland while being kicked out of Spain, we were seen as “other” wherever we were, never having full citizenship until Napoleon, and even there, seen as different. Simultaneously, our common beliefs united us as a people wherever we were. Soloveitchik called this brit ye’ud, a covenant of destiny. We are defined not by what others do to us, but by what role we play in fulfilling our role in history.

Today we in the US are facing an unprecedented rise in antisemitic hate. We Jews now as throughout our history are united not only through our status as an ethno-religion, but also by our need to confront an ever-increasing hostile world. Then and now, we are camp and congregation. Let the trumpets sound and may we heed the call. Baruch Hashem.

Dvar Torah Parsha Naso 5783

Bamidbar 4:21 – 7:89

Blessing with Love

Each month, I write a Dvar Torah to present at my Caring Committee meeting for my synagogue. On those months, the focus of my Dvar will be centered around what we do. This Dvar is written pending our meeting Sunday morning.

Parsha Naso is the longest parsha in the five books of Torah. Most of the first half deals with circumstances when one’s place in the community is in question for unusual behavior while the second half deals with offerings brought by each tribe as the dedication of the sanctuary begins.

In this parsha, the census continues, counting the Merarites, Gershonites, Kohathites, all the Levites. Duties are assigned here as well as leadership for different tasks. The word Naso itself means “raise their heads” in other words to count them. It’s a verb though with many meanings including to lift, to carry, and to forgive. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory asks, why this verb, as there are other ways to say “count.” He suggests that if we are each in the image of G_d, then every one of us has infinite value. Even identical twins share only 50% of their attributes. This usage seems to support the perspective of each as individuals.

In Chapter 5, they are instructed to remove from camp any with an eruption, discharge, or any defiled by a corpse. We learn about retribution if someone commits a wrong to a person. We talk about the Sotah ritual. Talmud tells us it only worked in an age when people believed in its power, and it was no longer practiced by the second temple era per Mishnah Sota 9.9. My personal perspective is that it placed all on the shoulders of the women and for its departure, good riddance. Chapter 6 is all about the laws regarding the Nazirites. There has been lots of debate regarding the nature of the Nazir as well. Then in 6:22-27, we find the familiar priestly blessing.

Finally in Chapter 7, Moshe finished setting up the Tabernacle and the chieftains one per day, brought gifts to the Sanctuary. While each brought essentially the same gifts, each was named individually, not as a group but rather instead to recognize their individual humanity. The chieftains were chosen by Moshe as they were foremen in Egypt over each tribe who rather than implicate those under them, submitted to beatings by their Egyptian overlords themselves when a task was not completed on time. After the 12 days of gift giving, per midrash Numbers Rabba 12:6, on that day the Shekinah descended to dwell among us. Moshe entered the tent and heard the holy voice from above the cover that was on the top of the Arc of the Pact between the cherubim.

As I reflected on this parsha, two distinct topics came to mind. First was the reason for the Tabernacle to begin with. The other was the priestly blessing.

Looking back, the Tabernacle was envisioned for a reason. We had been a people in servitude for a very long time. Our experience had been of household idols and our lives were so completely regulated as slaves, that in many respects we were like children who needed to learn to be independent thinkers. It is no accident I think that Torah finds the generation of former slaves pass on before entering the new land, with a people who only knew freedom. So it was, in our relationship with Hashem, there needed to be a tangible location, and as important, a way that everyone could be involved in this new relationship. People gave of their wealth, labor, and time to build the tabernacle and then be active participants in achieving holiness. Indeed, we find remnants of that still today, in our synagogues and in our ritual life. We are individuals, yet work for our common good, our shared humanity. Like the tribes in ancient Israelite society, we have various functions working for our common good. Certainly, our Caring Committee and our many volunteers reflect that.

Then we have the Birkat Kohanim. No other blessing over a command specifies that it be done with love. It is not the priest blessing the people, rather Hashem through the priest offering the blessing. In conjunction with the Sotah ritual, Talmud argues whether one ritual can be done for two cases of suspected infidelity. The answer is a clear no. We do not bundle mitzvot, rather paying attention to each one individually, rather according to Rabbi Aviva Richman of Hadar, we focus not only to avoid bundling mitzvot, but also our attention should be directed to the individual person. She says, “Rather, love and care for each mitzvah can- and must be fully intertwined with bringing our attention more fully towards love and care of the individual people and their stories.”

When we reach out to help that person whether they be dealing with illness, death, any of a host of hardships of this humanity that we all share, how important it is to, just as with the Birkat Kohanim, reach out with love and compassion. The blessing comes from Hashem, but we each play our role, as we try to build that better world we are called to do. Blessings come not from only priests anymore. Through chesed, loving kindness, we can offer blessings daily, through our Caring Committee but also as individuals. Where do we access this chesed, this loving kindness? It comes from our own pain, our own loss, our own struggle. In its own strange way, a gift of our shared humanity.

An excerpt from a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye:

Kindness

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to gaze at bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere
like a shadow or a friend.

A final quote by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: “I believe that Birkat Kohanim contains a vital message for us today: a society whose members seek one another’s welfare is holy and blessed.” Baruch Hashem!

Dvar Torah Parsha Bamidbar 5783

Bamidbar 1:1 – 4:20

What About Those Who Were Not Counted?

We now move to the Book of Numbers, some places referred to as Sefer Ha-P’kudim, the Book of the Census. It’s Hebrew name however, named for the first pertinent words in the Parsha and Book is Bamidbar, “In the Wilderness of”. It describes a people wandering through a spiritual as well as geographic wilderness. In our Parsha, the focus of leadership switches from Moshe who deals with the grander issues, to Aaron who is involved with the people in the complexities of daily living. Etz Chaim observes that the Book of Numbers contrasts the people of Israel as they actually are as opposed to the ideal written of in Vayikra (Leviticus.) In the 38 years covered by this book, the generation of the wilderness die off, and a people who have never known slavery enter the land of Israel.

A short synopsis of our Parsha. In Chapter one, we see the census of Israelite males by groups. Every male age 20 and up able to bear arms are counted. Representatives, the leaders of each tribe assist in the counting. None from the Levites are to be enrolled. They oversee the Tabernacle and its furnishings. It is in Chapter one that the divine presence shifts from Sinai to the Tabernacle. The people never feel lost for they can focus on the Tabernacle in the center of the camp, seeing it as they leave and as they return.

Chapter two says the tribes are to camp at a distance from the sanctuary, in campsites in each direction as directed and with marching orders prescribed by Hashem.

Chapter three shares the lineage of Moshe and Aaron. The tribe of Levi is under Aaron’s responsibility. Guard duty for the camp rests with the Levites. The first born of all Israel are consecrated, with the Levites standing in their stead. This suggests a heightened status for first born before then. By being redeemed, this status falls to the Levites. There is a separate census for the Levites, by ancestral house and clan. Duties are assigned according to which side of the Tabernacle they camp. A census is taken of all the first born of Israel. The first born of cattle are also counted and they are to be brought for sacrifice. There is a redemption price for the 273 Israelite first born children over and above the number of Levites at 5 Shekels per head.

Finally in Chapter four, a separate census of the Kohathites among the Levites from age 30 to 50 is taken. For those over 50, less arduous tasks are given requiring more wisdom, such as singing psalms, opening and closing gates, mentoring younger Levites. They are responsible for transporting the Tabernacle. However, they must not see or touch the sacred items lest they die, so instructions are given to Aaron and his sons on dismantling the tabernacle, wrapping the sacred objects to protect the Kohathites who must transport them. Eleazar is responsible for the lighting oil, incense, the regular grain offering, anointing oil, and the entire Tabernacle. Aaron and his sons assign duties for the Kohathites and ensure they don’t see the dismantling lest they die.

My focus for this dvar is Bamidbar 1:2 – 1:3. It reads, “Take a census of the WHOLE Israelite community by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head. You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms.”

First, we seem to have contradictory messaging. The passage begins with instructions to take a census of the whole community, but then narrows it down to only those men, 20 and above, who could provide military service. But even if you narrow it to that, which of course they do not, for they also later count all the men among the Levites. Here’s the thing, who gets counted matters. Who was not counted? Women of course, the disabled, elderly, children. Over the centuries, this is repeated, not only in a census, but in a host of things. In a drash written by Rabbi Carole B. Balin, she breaks it down by numbers. She notes that 603,550 men are counted in a book of 36 chapters that acknowledges fewer than ten women, you realize that who does the recording matters, and these traditions get passed down through the generations. Moshe’s sister, the prophet Miriam nor his Midianite wife Zipporah or her father Yitro are counted.

Commentaries of the Jewish tradition found inherent value in those who were counted by G_d. Rashi believed G_d took a census of those who were dear to G-d. In Bamidbar Rabba 4:2, a midrash compares those who were counted to G_d’s precious pearls, suggesting that G_d cared deeply for them because they were the children to whom G_d had given birth. Seriously? Were the women, the disabled, the elderly not also dear to G_d? In a piece by Sivan Rothholz written for My Jewish Learning, he quotes the Kotzker Rebbe, “Give me ten emesdike yiddin (true Jews) and I will change the world.” All in a world where for many to this day, a minyan of ten male Jews is required for a prayer service. In 1986 Judith Plaskow confronted this head on in her work “Standing Again at Sinai.” Women’s invisibility stems from ancient traditions that exclude women from communal life.

We have since then moved towards a Jewish feminism where we are counted. There is still more to be done. In many places, queer people are increasingly counted, but it is not universal. Those of us with disabilities have our challenges at times for fully inclusive worship. I’m blest to belong to a community who works hard to ensure full inclusion. I have assistance when I need to be at the bimah, or sometimes it is brought down to me. I know though that it is still not fully universal, and there is more work to be done.

In conclusion, everybody must count. One thing I love about my spiritual path is that what was written in Torah has not nor should it remail static. We evolve over time, and wrestle with the given Torah to find our truths today. Miriam and Zipporah are counted today. Indeed, we have a wonderful resource, The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, devoted to writing women back into the Torah. We are a work in progress. Baruch Hashem!

Dvar Torah Parshayiot Behar and Bechukotai 5783

Vayikra 25:1- 26:2, Vayikra 26:3 – 27:34

The Long View

Another Week, another double parsha. This week we look at the Parsha Behar and Bechukotai. First, Behar, the only law code on the subject of land tenure in Ancient Israel preserved in the Torah. It includes the permanent rights of landowners and legalities regarding the sale and mortgaging of land. It also includes the laws about indebtedness and indenture, a system of paying through one’s labor, and a commandment regarding the jubilee year. Finally, a shabbat for the land, or shmita. At its heart is returning the land to the original owner at the end of a fifty-year cycle. Servants are freed and the system is designed to prevent polarization of a society into two classes, wealthy and servant.

There are within these laws, two religious assumptions according to Etz Chaim commentary: Since everything belongs to G_d, humans cannot possess either the land or the people in perpetuity. No human can be condemned to permanent servitude. The sabbatical year and jubilee enable an entire society to put aside economic competition and the practice of defining a person’s value in economic terms alone. It was given at Sinai before they entered the land, providing a vision of equality before entering. The parsha includes prohibitions against wronging another in transactions as well as adapting the cost of the land according to the number of years before the Shmita year when the land goes fallow. Talmud Bava Metzia 47B says overcharging is grounds for canceling an agreement. Midrash Leviticus Rabba 33 takes it a step further to mean even using harmful words. There are rules regarding redeeming land by a kinsman, what happens if indentured to another Israelite or a non-Israelite.

Parsha Bechukotai describes the blessings by obeying G_d’s ways followed by a list of curses if one fails to do so. Ibn Ezra insists that though the list of curses is longer, the blessings outweigh it in quality.

Two major principles of Biblical religion are found in 26:3 – 46: the concept of free will and the doctrine of reward and punishment. In our world today, what to make of these rewards and punishments? Perhaps a vision of what it would be like if our world truly followed the mitzvot? Or assurance that if we followed G_d’s law, as a community we would prosper? Or perhaps, a promise of what can be to a still not matured Hebrew people who could only grasp matters put in a simplified message of promises and threats. A special note to Vs 5: When will people begin to live securely? Only when there is food sufficient to where no one is hungry and driven to crime or violence.

In his Mishnah commentary, Intro to Sanhedrin 10, Maimonides recognizing that people who follow G_d’s ways are not always rewarded with peace and prosperity (vs 9) compares this passage to a teacher who bribes children to do their lessons with gifts of nuts and candy. He adds, “This is deplorable but unavoidable because of people’s limited insight. A good person should not ask ‘If I perform these commandments, what reward will I get?’”

Together vs 14-45 are Tokhecha or curses. Chapters 17-26 together constitute the Holiness Code, transmitted through Moshe at Mt. Sinai. Chapter 27 is all about funding the Sanctuary.

Our Parshayiot this week bring to mind one of my favorite aspects of being Jewish. We track time, both short and long term. Every week we work 6 days and relax on the seventh for Shabbat. Our year is marked with holy days as we annually make the journey out of Egypt to the promised land. We remember our history, marking the days throughout the year. Similarly, we mark our years. We work the land for six years, then celebrate a Shabbat for the land called the Shmita year. Our last Shmita year was last year, and though most of us no longer work the land, we still use that year to sit back and evaluate our lives, singularly and collectively before beginning a new year.

Each year on the second day of Passover, we begin counting the Omer, seven weeks or 49 days, and Shavuot begins on the fiftieth day, celebrating the giving of the Torah to our people. Similarly, we count seven Shmita or 49 years, and the fiftieth year is the Jubilee, or Yovel year. So it is, we pay attention to time, both short and long view. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of blessed memory makes an interesting perspective. When counting the Omer, for one calendar year, the Hebrew is plural. That is “u-sefartim lakhem.” The counting of the years, on the other hand, is worded in the singular, “sesafarta lekha.” Why is that he asks? In the case of the Omer, the counting is to be done by every person. In the case of the Jubilee, or Yovel, the counting is done by the Beit Din, specifically the Supreme Court or Sanhedrin acting on behalf of the Jewish people. Implicit is that while the people count the days, the leaders must count the years. Wise leaders must think in terms of what effect their decisions would make years from now. A reality sadly that seems to be lacking in current Israeli leadership.

While too many leaders remain caught in the moment rather than taking the long view, there is so much to be said for it. It also should be noted that the philosophy of the shmita offers a clear and apparent opportunity to bring true equality back. What if we treated the land as if it were G_d’s and we were just residing on it? If we left gleanings for the poor, and let the land lie waste for a year, a good agricultural practice by the way. If we conquered poverty and saw our brothers and sisters as true equals, would it not be a better world? I’m not saying it would end all the world’s problems. That would be far too utopian for this old cynic. But it would be a much better world than the one we live in now.

So we count the days, the years, looking long and remembering long, each doing our own part to repair the world. The blessings and the curses are still there. My prayer is for each of us using our time, both for work and for rest, to bring about greater blessings. Baruch Hashem!

Dvar Torah Parsha Emor 5783: Moving towards Accessibility

Vayikra 21:1 – 24:24

Our parsha this week is Emor, another parsha with much to wrestle. The first two chapters are directed to the priesthood. It has rules regarding defilement regarding proximity to the dead. He cannot be near the dead, even in his clan, save the loss of a mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or virgin sister. As public figures, they must be role models of dealing with grief and loss, balancing personal sorrow with their commitment to serve the people and the obligation to accept death as part of Hashem’s plan. Other rules apply over shaving practices, who they can or cannot marry, and punishment for a daughter who engages in harlotry. They must not bare their heads (an early grief expression) or rend their vestments. They must not go out of the sanctuary, even for the funerals of close relatives. No member of kohanim who has a defect can offer food to Hashem, including one who is blind, lame, a limb too short or too long, with broken arm or leg, a hunchback or dwarf, growth in the eye, a boil scar or scurvy, or crushed testes. A defective priest cannot officiate, but he is not denied his benefits by virtue of their priestly class. Finally, it defines who can eat of sacred donations, plus more on purity, accepting sacrifices and the associated criteria.

Chapter 23 then is the calendar of sacred festivals in Biblical times. It begins with Shabbat, then Passover, offering of first harvest, counting 49 days, then the fiftieth day beginning Shavuot. In the seventh month, what later became Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and then Sukkot. Rosh Hashanah is first mentioned by name in Ezekiel 40:1. Chapter 24 speaks of oil for the menorah, the bread of presentation for Shabbat. Midrash Leviticus Rabba pictures Hashem saying “As you shine your light on Me (teaching the world about Me), I will shine my light on you (making you special among nations.)” Finally, we finish regarding punishment for blasphemy and the proverbial eye for eye passage. Within the camp, one punishment for citizen and stranger alike.

Like Jews since the very beginning, I must wrestle with passages in Torah. Here there are two, one of which I will speak today. First, I find the eye for eye to be problematic, though it finds its expression over the centuries. But the one I want to talk about today is the concept of someone with a defect, i.e., disabled prohibited from being a temple functionary. As someone who wrestles life being in a wheelchair, these passages are disturbing to my sensibilities.

Oh I get it. Just as animals with defects or blemishes are disallowed for sacrifice, so those who present food to Hashem are directed to be the same. It’s folded into a pattern of what ritual purity is supposed to be. However, I find myself in disagreement with Hashem on this. The Rabbis of medieval times are of no help here, rather defining in rather bizarre ways how each disabling feature was to be explained. It all mirrors an attitude towards disability that both demeans and diminishes those who do not fit their image of what a full human can be.

But is there another way of looking at this? Robert Unger in a dvar came across something that offered another perspective. According to William Herlands for the Bronfman Fellowship, he suggests that in ancient Israel, people rarely entered within the Temple confines. The High Priests worked behind a veil of holiness, invisible to all but Hashem, interacting with pilgrims only on holidays when sacrifices were brought. Some Kohanim interacted with lay people in towns where they received regular tithes of fruit and bread, taught lessons, and educated children. By restricting the activities of the Kohanim B’aal mum, that is a priest with a disability, there was an expectation they would dwell in the heart of the community. In this way he suggests that meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities is intrinsic to communal life.

That being said, I do believe that this was included in Torah because of the beliefs of people at that time. Those who were blind or deaf or disabled often did not receive the education other Hebrew children did. Accessibility was just not a thing, and the written words bely that reality. Those with disabilities did have a function and that is a good thing. But the underlying theme of humans seeking perfection even though we are all imperfect is still very much a reality.

After the destruction of the second temple, sacrifices came to an end. In the Talmud Rabbi Eleazar asserts that “prayer is more efficacious than sacrifice…for from the day on which the Temple was destroyed the gates of prayer have been closed, but though the gates of prayer are closed, the gates of weeping are not closed.” More succinctly, prayer has replaced sacrifices, and prayer is a vehicle available to us all, of all abilities.

Our Torah is filled with problematic practices. We can identify them, not ignore rather look for the lesson we derive from them. Indeed, in Torah we find instances that contra-indicate a previous passage. We were given hearts to feel and brains to act upon that which is not just. If we continue to move towards greater acceptance of all of us, with our imperfections, understanding that together in community we are so much stronger. I’m blessed to be part of a synagogue (Shir Tikvah) that embraces my disability and indeed our beloved community embraces a most beautiful diversity in every sense of the word. Every one of us carries within us a spark of the divine. We are called to heal the world. Including the ever-present need for full accessibility for us all. May we all grow towards that better world. Baruch Hashem!