Kol Ramah

Parashat Hayyei Sarah [Genesis 23:1-25:18] features the longest chapter in Genesis, chapter 24, the story of the servant [often identified as Eliezer but unnamed in the story] finding a wife for Isaac. It is a well-formed literary unit with much to discuss, which is why we spent nearly the entire time on this chapter. The narratives of Genesis enchant year after year! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parashat Va-yera [Genesis 18-22] is a parashah we seem to know well because we read chapters 21 and 22 on the two days of Rosh Hashanah and chapter 18 contains the famous dialogue between God and Abraham over the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the beginning of the parashah, Avraham seems to shine, but as we follow his progress through chapters 20 [where he has Sarai present himself as his sister], 21 [where he abandons his first-born son, Ishmael], and chapter 22 [where he is prepared to sacrifice his covenantal heir, Isaac], we might wonder what kind of stuff Abraham is made of. The parashah is endlessly fascinating. The more one studies it, the more perplexing it becomes. Give a listen to our cocnversation and let us know what you think! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parashat Lekh Lekha [Genesis 12:1-17:27] seems to have something for everyone. There is God’s command to Avram [renamed Avraham later in the parashah] to leave his homeland for the land that God will show him, which will turn out to be Canaan, with the promise of becoming a great nation. There is the descent into Egypt because of a famine, with Sarai, at Avram’s request, posing as his sister rather than as his wife. There is the ascent into Canaan once again, with the rivalry between Avram’s shepherds and Lot’s shepherds necessitating a separation of the uncle and nephew. There is the war of the kings, the kidnaping of Lot, and his rescue by Avram and his 318 retainers. There is the Covenant of the Pieces with God’s strange announcement to Avram that he will die peacefully in bed but that his descendants will be slaves in Egypt for 4 generations [it is hard to see how this would comfort Avram in any way]. There is the introduction of Hagar the Egyptian who will give birth to Avram’s first child, his son Ishmael, which will lead to the bansihment of Hagar at Sarai’s request, when Hagar’s pregancy leads her to think more lightly of Sarai. And finally there is the renaming of Avram to Avraham and Sarai to Sarah and the command to circumcise all the males. Circumcision becomes the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham and some of his descendants. After Avraham, Ishmael, and all the males of the household are circumcised, the ritual will continue on the 8th day of a baby boy’s life. As you can see, there was a lot to talk about! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parashat Noah [Genesis 6:9-11:32], as the name suggests, primarily deals with the story of Noah and the Flood. For modern Bible critrics, this story is the conflation of two separate accounts into one which can, with patience, be disentangled to yield quite interesting results. Our conversation focused on the 1st sentence, which describes Noah as ish tzaddiq b-dorotav, as a righteous person in his generation, together with the classic rabbinic commentary found in Rashi, which wonders if this phrase is meant to credit or discredit Noah. From there, we moved to the end, and discussed the Tower of Babel, always interesting and always thought-provoking. Shabbat Shalom!

Parashat B’ereshit [Genesis 1:1-6:8], the first parashah in the Book of Genesis, begins our annual journey through the Torah. Those of you who have been with us from the beginning know that this is our 7th journey of meeting nearly weekly to discuss the Torah and what it might mean to us, and to you. That hour or so of meeting [we discuss amongst ourselves before we record] has long been one of the highlights of my week On the face of it, the parashah is disturbing. It is not unreasonable to think that the peak of the parashah is the 3 verses beginning in chapter 2 which describe the 1st Sabbath in verbs, suggesting that there is an active component to rest, at least from God’s point of view. But then things deteriorate so quickly that God wants a do-over by the end of the parashah. What began with such promise is now a source of regret, from no less than God. We recorded on the third anniversary of 10/07, and that informed our discussion. In terms of the parashah we discussed creation, the very beginning, and the comfort the birth of Noah heralded at the end. We discussed the different images of God and Adam in chapter 1 and chapter 2. We asked what kind of comfort we can provide today, and to whom. As always, we welcome your responses. Shabbat Shalom!

The parashah this week, Ve-zot Ha-b’rakhah [Deuteronomy 33-34] has the unusual distinction of not being read on Shabbat in the Diaspora. Because the observance of Simchat Torah is separated from Sh’mini Atzeret, Simchat Torah never falls on Shabbat in the Diaspora. The festival days of Sh’mini Atzert/Simchat Torah are associated with the end of Sukkot, and with the end of the weekly reading of the Torah, but also, since 2023, with 10/07, the war against Israel perpetrated by Hamas. The event itself and its commemoration resonates with Yom HaShoah and Tisha B’Av. We try to make sense of it all in our conversation. Let us know what you think. Shabbat Shalom v-Chag Same’ach!

There is no parashat ha-shavu’a this week since the beginning days of the holiday of Sukkot are on Shabbat and Sunday. As it turns out, the Torah reading on both days is the same, Leviticus 22:26-23:44, with the maftir from Numbers 29:12-16. We focused on the holiday as an expression of the attitude of gratitude, by discussing the rabbinic teaching from Talmud Menahot, which says that one is obigated to say 100 blessings each day. Is 100 meant literally or figuratively? What does it mean conceptually? The time passed very quickly though this turns out to be one of our longer shows. Shabbat Shalom! Hag Sa’me’ah!!

This year parashat Ha’azinu [Deuteronomy 32:1-52] coincides with Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Shuvah, which is the first word of the haftarah. There it appears as a verb, but in the phrase Shabbat Shuvah many translate it as a noun, the Sabbath of Repentance, which is the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Most of our conversation focuses on the idea of return and repentance, and is nearly exclusively focues on inynana d’yoman, the matter of the day, rather than the Torah reading.,

Parashat Nitzavim-Va-yelekh [Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30] is the last of the 7 shabbatot of comfort following Tisha B’Av [the 9th of Av, commemorating the destruction of the 2 temples, among other disasters to befall the Jewish people]. The Torah reading puts forth the claim that the covenant being concluded is not just with the people in the Plains of Moab, but also those who are not there [29:14], which was the spring board for the beginning of our discussion. We then moved on to the passage 30:11-20, which contains the verse made famous by the story of the Oven of Akhnai, לא בשמים היא [lo ba-shamayyim hee, “it is not in heaven”]. This led to a discussion of teshuvah [return to God or repentance] and tahanun [the penitential prayers recited after the amidah]. Finally, we considered some verses from Va-yelekh [31:7-8] regarding the appointment of Joshua as the successor to Moshe, with the command to חזק ואמץ [hazaq ve-amatz, “be strong and resolute’]. Since we will not be recording next week, when the first day of Rosh Hashanah coincides with Shabbat, I would like to take this opportunity not only to wish everyone a Shabbat Shalom but a Shanah Tovah!

Parashat Ki Tavo [Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8] features one of my favorite Torah passages, the ritual of the bringing of the first fruits. The Israelite farmer is instructed to bring his first fruits to the kohen [priest] and recite a sacred history, recounting how his ancestor was a wandering Aramean who descended to Egypt few in number, became a great and numerous nation, was treated badly, enslaved, and oppressed until God heard his outcry and saw his affliction and rescued him with signs and wonders and led him to the Promised Land. And now having settled on the land the farmer brings his first fruits as a sign of God’s redemptive power and as a fulfillment of the divine promise. The rabbis take this passage and make it the heart of the Passover seder in the wake of the destruction of the Temple. Redemption no longer takes place in the Land in historical time; it takes place through the telling of the story at a meal infused with symbolic meaning. Shabbat Shalom!