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Creating Meaning: Parashat Bechukotai

May 12, 2014 By punktorah

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At times, our Torah may appear alienating. After all, what resonance in our modern lives has a G-d of furious vengeance threatening to destroy us? Religious observance continues to shift as we evolve both as a Jewish people, and as one larger human family. Issues of equality, personal fulfillment, and obligation challenge us individually and collectively. A dedicated faith emerges as almost counter-culture and the tone of our Torah can seem far removed from our everyday lives.

Such may be the case with this week’s parsha, Bechukotai. In this final portion of Vayikra (Leviticus), we learn that should the Israelites “faithfully observe” the commandments, they will be blessed with abundance and peace. However, they are warned, “…if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments, if you reject My laws and spurn My rules, so that you do not observe all My commandments and you break my covenant, I in turn will do this to you: I will wreak misery upon you – consumption and fever, which cause the eyes to pine and the body to languish; you shall sow your seed to no purpose, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you…” (Leviticus 26:14 – 17).

What follows is an exhaustive list of terrors, each more ghastly than the one before, that will be visited upon those that fail in their commitment to the mitzvot. As 21st century Jewish women, we know such rhetoric has no literal application. Our lives move forward uninterrupted by our neglect of Shabbat, or our omission of proscribed prayers. We may enjoy challah from the grocery store, with little concern of its kashrut status. Today, affixing a mezuzah is optional.

We are inherently generative creatures. Our capacity for love and creation is nearly limitless. Artistic expression arises from within and is manifested in all manner of mediums – poetry, dance, digging in the earth, quilts under which to cuddle and lullabies for skies seared with lightning. We are architects of skyscrapers and builders of bridges. We mold meaning from our days and forge paths of enlightenment, for ourselves and others. We know blessings of peace and abundance when our hearts are open and our imaginations unleashed.

We also know what it is to feel our internal landscapes cursed. The detritus of depression suffocates our creative potential. Fear and anxiety shrink our capacity to love unconditionally. Anger disconnects us from community, and grief imprisons joy. We know what is to feel adrift, beset by our enemies, the shining face of providence no longer visible. Indeed, we have all felt misery wrecked upon and within us.

Emerging whole through such a dark sojourn can prove daunting. We cannot see our way clearly and we have no guideposts by which to measure progress. Perhaps what parsha Bechukotai can give us is a lamp to illuminate the shadows of our experience. Our mitzvot are always available for engagement. They are gateways to learning, personal growth, and connection with something greater than ourselves. The divine commandments of our Torah exist as opportunities, jewels to enrich our journey, and experiments in understanding. In those moments when we feel most alone, rudderless, without sight or heart-centered breath, perhaps we might begin to play with these elements of faith. What can the light of the Shabbos candles kindle within you? Awakening to confront another day, what solace may be found by thanking the divine for preservation of your soul? What may the binding of tefillin unwind within your own heart? Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “faith is not the clinging to a shrine but an endless pilgrimage of the heart.” We may view the mitzvot as steps along such a road. The curses and blessings of this week’s parsha, so vibrantly conveyed, may be understood as metaphors for passages on our individual voyages – the depth, breadth, and substance of which is entirely up to us to discover.

Akiva Yael is an enthusiastic participant in all that is holy, including Torah study, powerlifting, and the beauty of our world.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), LGBTQ & Women Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, parshah bechukotai, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, this week's torah portion

Parsha Vayakhel

February 17, 2014 By punktorah

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Parsha Vayakhel is one of those parshot that is easy to just gloss over. It seems, at first glance like one of the “listing” parshot.  You know the ones, lists of begats or lists of things that just seem endless.  I’m sure a true Torah sage can find great depth in them, but to me they are like certain passages in Jane Austen novels that you can read a few lines and then just skip on. There presence in no way diminishes the overall experience, but seem best glossed over.

But Vayakhel, is actually a parshat that my experience in Kohenet has helped me to find great depth in, but we’ll get to that part in a second.  In studying Vayakhel to prepare to write this drash, I found something new.  It may have been obvious to others but it was a new treasure for me.  The passage starts out with a reminder of the prohibition against working on the Sabbath.  The first time through this time, I glossed over that, but about half way through the passage I thought, ” hold on a minute!”

The majority of this passage is about the tribe’s excitement in the building of the tabernacle.  Who wouldn’t be excited?  Just think about how great it is just to build a community Sukkah.  Now imagine you’ve just escaped slavery and persecution — oh and the G!d(dess) who rescued you has said to help build the sanctuary!  AWESOME!

You would might get so excited that you think, “this isn’t work!”  That reiteration that we aren’t to work on the Sabbath was a reminder to the Israelites that even building the Mishkan counted as work.  For me it was a moment to rethink some choices I’ve been making about things I do and do not do on the Sabbath. I look at halakah as a reference point, not law, so halakah offers me a perspective what I should and should’t do, but then it’s up to me to do soul searching and set my direction.  This passage made me rethink things I had classified as “avodah,” or work of my heart, which I didn’t consider as “work.”  If the Israelites were supposed to cease work on the Mishkan on the Sabbath, then maybe I needed to refocus on the Sabbath being a liminal-space day of just being.  Especially in this day and age when so many of us feel that we don’t have enough hours in day to begin with, the Sabbath and the cessation from work is even more precious.

But how do I do this? I guess the answer is, “just stop.”   But is the kind of thing tzitzit and tefillin were supposed to help us with: And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.” Pretty much every Jew knows the words to the “v’ahavta,” which is really a part of the Shema prayer.  It was the first Hebrew prayer I remember learning to chant in Hebrew School. Fewer may be familiar with the “vayomer” section that includes this phrase: “And they shall be tzitzit for you, and when you look at them you will remember all of the Lord’s commandments and do them and not follow after your heart and after your eyes which lead you astray.” We tie these words around our hands and make signs between our eyes to keep us from just following our hearts or eyes. They help us from making bad choices in moments of spiritual weakness.

I have a brass cuff bracelet I wear every day inspired by this idea.  The choice of material was inspired by another section of Vayakhel, one that we studied in the Kohenet program.  Exodus 38:8 is one of those lines that you’d think there would be a TON of commentary about, but there doesn’t seem to be.  We studied it in Kohenet because part of what we do in the training is dive into the overlooked and buried parts of the women’s stories.  The Tzovah, the priestess path of Shekhinah of Kohenet spiritual framework appears in Exodus 38:8.  Generally, Tzovot, plural for Tzovah, has been translated as “working women” or “serving women.” Much of the traditional commentary that does exists seems to want to explain these women’s appearance away.

38:8. Mirrors of the serving women that did service at the door of the tent of meeting (JPS, 1917)

Modern translations and commentaries seem to acknowledge that these women, who gave their brass or copper mirrors to the cause of the Mishkan, probably had some ritual function.  In an incredibly thought-provoking book by Christian theologian Wilda Gafney, it is proposed that they were a core of women whose job it was to guard the entry to the Mishkan.  She also posits that the mirrors they sacrificed for the Mishkah were their signaling tools.  Wow, did that put this offering in a whole new perspective.   It even made me alter a line of a prayer in the Kohenet prayerbook, which is a regular part of my morning prayers to say, “I call to mind the Tzovah, at the threshold’s door — guarding the holy of holies forevermore.

More important to me though, than this line of a prayer, is my bracelet.  My brass cuff, which I bought for $5 at a festival, is a daily reminder of who I am, a Kohenet. Regardless of the situation I am in, when I see the cuff I think of the Tzovah and remember that one of my jobs in this world is to guard the thresholds of the sacred, and welcome people as the come, and help them as they exit.  Now, because of Vayakhel, I am exploring having special one made for Shabbat. So no matter else is going on in my life, I will have special reminder that the Sabbath is for ceasing.  It is a liminal time, where we are to just “be.”  What an incredible gift and challenge all at once.

Written by Kohenet Ketzirah. Ketzirah is a frequent service leader at OneShul and can be found on PeelAPom

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: bible, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, exodus, heart, kohenet, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, tabernacle, temple, torah portion, vayakhel

Parsha Ki Tisa: Right Belief by the Right Brigade (Ex. 30:11 – 34:35)

February 10, 2014 By punktorah

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Well. . . Our people are up to their old ways this week. Not only do the ancient Hebrews convince themselves that Hashem and Moses have abandoned them once again, they also plead with Aaron to smelt another golden calf. All this happens after the community is asked to pay half a sheckle in tithes while Bezalel and Oholiab start to craft the past few week’s commandments into physicality. Throw in a commandment to always honor Shabbat and you have a lot of invested effort making a walk away from Hashem highly unlikely.

On the surface so many things take place in Ki Tisa one can very easily come away feeling overwhelmed. If that is not enough to make you say “Woah” just beneath the surface the depths of meaning are endless. If you have yet to read this week’s portion , stop right here and go and do it! Fear not I will be right hear where you left me.

Choices, choices, choices…seriously where to begin? Better to choose just one lesson and run, right? Right! Ki Tisa shows us that being Jewish is easier than it seems. Judaism is simply choosing Hashem and His traditions. That latter part has really been expounded upon throughout the centuries but the former remains as is. The anger in this week’s portion exuded verbally by Hashem and Moses and physically by Levitical sword stems from a heart piercing betrayal by the ancient Hebrews. Once again they chose to turn their backs to Hashem and their faces towards a golden calf. Hardly a coincidence then that Moses sees the back of Hashem and then begins to cover his face with a vale.

Three thousand men are figuratively and literally cut from Judaism for two specific reasons. First, this is the second time their hearts yearned for an inanimate god and second the ancient Hebrew’s society was the first true state of Israel. The Hebrew Tribes were surrounded by non-nomadic people worshiping man made divinity, simply put nothing was stopping those slain from leaving the tribe for more “golden” pastures. They chose to stay, stray, and hope for the day when their agenda was the majority one.

Today drawing swords and cleaning the proverbial house is antiquated to say the least, but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn inwards and cut out those things that are foreign parasites feeding off our sparks. Judaism like ever other religion is not hyphenated you can not choose Hashem and attach a belief in other deities to your faith. If you feel called to another faith don’t be hindered by your upbringing or family name, if you allow that to happen your diminishing yourself and the Jewish faith. In essence go and be the best practitioner you can be.

Learning about and from others is crucial to a fearless and fulfilling life but at some point you have to be true to your spark. The many traditions within Judaism often times seem at odds with each other over Halakha but choosing Hashem and Hashem only is the lynchpin that keeps us who we are.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: Circle Pit The Bimah, circlepitbimah, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, golden calf, idolatry, ki tisa, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Parsha Mishpatim, Rapid Fire Jewish Banjo + Mitzvot (Torah Video Mashup)

January 20, 2014 By punktorah

Laws, laws and more laws. But it’s a heck of a lot less boring when they’re read over an eight year old boy playing banjo like a you-know-what!

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: banjo, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, jewish music, mishpatim, online conversion, parsha mishpatim, parshah mishpatim, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, torah video mashup

Parting the “Red Sea” with Heston, Spielberg and a High School Homecoming Game: Parsha Beshalach (Torah Video Mashup)

January 6, 2014 By punktorah

Just like it says: three ways to part the Red Sea aka Sea of Reeds. What’s your favorite miracle?

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: beshalach, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, exodus, Moses, online conversion, parshah bechalach, parting red sea, parting the sea, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sea of reeds, torah video mashup

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