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Bereishit Haftarah: Our Story, Told Again

October 5, 2015 by Patrick Beaulier

This week, we observe the holiday of Simchat Torah, which means “rejoice in the Torah” as we complete a cycle of Torah reading. During the year, the weekly parshot have taken us through the entire Torah. Amidst the spirited festivities of this holiday, we read through the last chapter of Deuteronomy and dive right into the first chapter of Genesis—reminding us that the Torah, like all learning and life itself, is a circle.

There is so much grace built into the Jewish calendar. So many opportunities to clear one’s mind and resolve again to do or be better. Rosh Hashanah marked our new year, Simchat Torah marks a new year with the Torah; even lesser celebrations like Rosh Chodesh give us new moons, no trivial fresh start if we consider the oft-cited suggestion that good habits take a month to form. So like any marking of a new year, new season, new [Read more…]

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: bereishit haftarah, casey mccarty, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Haazinu: Music In The Message (Deut 32:1 – 32:52)

September 21, 2015 by Jeremiah

In Parsha Haazinu Moses recites the song he scribed in the previous portion. He knows his life and his life’s work is at an end and as a parting song Moses recites words that act as an indictment of the ancient Hebrew’s sins, words that foretell punishment for future sins, and words that reassure them of Hashem’s love and redemption.

Why a song after writing down the Torah? Simple, literacy was not as prevalent then as it is today and lyrics have a way of burrowing themselves deep into the conscious mind. I often wake up humming a tune I heard the previous night or quietly sing to myself the same verse of a song over and over again throughout the day. Whether one finds having a song stuck on repeat in his/her head as annoying or not the fact he/she is conscious of those words and their meaning is important.

In Haazinu [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: Circle Pit The Bimah, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Deuteronomy, jeremiah, Moses, online conversion, Parsha Haazinu, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Every Day Is A Choice (Parsha Nitzavim and Vayeilech)

September 7, 2015 by Patrick Beaulier

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Silence and solitude mark my mornings. Slipping from beneath the sheets into a dark room, I turn the lights low and put the coffee maker to percolating. I measure out oatmeal and stir it slowly on the stove. I sit in community with my thoughts and ground myself in the quiet, solid force of my soul. It is a ritual I anticipate nightly and cherish each morning. It is what I need to ready myself for a new day of work and study, for navigating waves of harmony and discord, for continuing the search for peace and fulfillment. Mornings are the steady moments before I jump into the adventure of tikkun olam, my own miniscule part of repairing our world and my mission for the day ahead.

Across the earth, many of my fellow Jews awake with a prayer of gratitude spilling from their lips. It is a moment alone with divinity, before the full force of the day intrudes. Their eyes still bleary and throats perhaps a bit dry, they offer:

Modeh/Modah ani l’fanecha, melech chai v’kayam
shehechezarta bi nishmati b’chemlah; rabah emunatecha.

I give thanks to You, O God, eternal and living ruler,
Who in mercy has returned my soul to me; great is your faithfulness.

I was reminded of this simple prayer when I read a line from this week’s dual parshah, Nitzavim and Vaye’lekh. “See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity,” Moses tells his followers. “For I command you this day, to love your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His laws, and His rules, that you may thrive and increase, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter and possess” (Deuteronomy 30:15-16).

Our days are the raw material from which we create meaning. Each one equally offering potential bounty or devastation. Life and prosperity, death and adversity exist for us in moments. One 24 hour cycle may encompass them all. Each day that we arise with breath in our lungs and thoughts in our minds is a day that is truly set before us to invent from it what we will. That our tradition encourages us to give gratitude for HaShem’s faithfulness is a reminder of our immeasurable value. We have faith in God and God has faith in us.

Approaching the high holidays, we take stock of the people we’ve been over the past year. We reflect on our own behavior and intentions and consider those we have hurt or wronged in any way. It is a time to bridge the gap between our daily behavior and the ideal of who we want to be. It is a space for forgiveness and reconciliation – with others and with ourselves. It is the time to count our days.

This week’s parshah reminds us that every day matters. Every day is a new opportunity to walk a little closer in the ways of God, to foster peace instead of discord, to help repair a broken and chaotic world. Every day is a choice. We may step into divinity through cultivating attitudes of loving-kindness, performing acts of service, offering an empathetic ear or giving up the last chocolate chip cookie to someone we love. We may not succeed. Some days, we may fail terribly. But every day we have the power to change our world for the better. And each day we begin anew, buoyed with the knowledge that whether or not we have faith in divinity, HaShem has enormous faith in each of us.

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) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, online conversion, Parsha Nitzavim, parshah Vayeilech, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Vayeilech

Eat, Pray, Eat (Parshah Ki Tavo)

August 31, 2015 by Patrick Beaulier

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I’m psyched about Rosh Hashanah. I’m supposed to say that for spiritual reasons. But really, I like apples and honey.

This week’s Torah portion is about fruit. The first fruit, in fact. We’re supposed to give that up as a sacrifice to G-d. And, surprise, G-d will bless us. Kinda anti-climactic, but not every part of the Torah makes for good TV.

We’re always giving sacrifices to G-d. Animals, plants…heck, one time there was child sacrifice (luckily that worked out OK). It made sense back then to sacrifice animals and plants because we lived in a farm-based economy. Our whole lives were what we had to eat (and for most Jews, it still is!)

I don’t own a farm. I’m not sure I know what “threshing” means and half the Shabbat prohibitions don’t apply to me because I’m not into skinning animals and preparing hide. But I still have to give sacrifices.

The solution: prayer. Our economy now is time and people centered. Time, because time is money. And people centered, because our talent, our energy, our ideas, our creativity are the fuel for the economy…not vineyards and pastures. Prayer is a sacrifice because it takes away our time and it also takes away our ability to think about ourselves and all the things that we want at that moment. We’re giving it up for the Lord. And what are the “first fruits” of prayer? Well you guessed it: the Shacharit service! The morning prayer is the first fruit of the day; the first chance that we get to think about ourselves. Instead, we get to think about G-d.

The best part of Shacharit is breakfast (let’s be totally honest here). I just chugged the best cappuccino on the planet and had a nectarine so delicious that it would make Gordon Ramsey cry like a little girl. Now THAT’S the first fruit!

Rabbi Patrick is the executive director of PunkTorah and OneShul. His passion for food may be inappropriate at times. When he’s not waxing poetic on PunkTorah, Patrick enjoys collecting vinyl records, modern art and goofing off on Facebook.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, d'var, darshan yeshiva, eat, love, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, pray, punk torah, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, this week's torah portion, torah portion for the week

Sex Saturates Our Torah: Parshah Ki Tetzei

August 24, 2015 by Patrick Beaulier

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Sex saturates our Torah. So many of the stories central to our tradition thrive on sexuality, sensuality and straight eroticism. Entirely of her own volition, Sarah gives her handmaid, Hagar, to her husband for purposes of procreation. Lot’s daughters get their father drunk and seduce him. Onan resorts to the withdrawal method to avoid the risk of impregnating his late brother’s wife. Tamar disguises herself as a prostitute and tricks her former father-in-law into marrying her. Potiphar’s wife attempts to seduce Joseph and then accuses him of rape when he rebuffs her advances. And Shir HaShirim was clearly intended for languid recitation under the enticing glow of a Spring moon, the scent of jasmine in the air.

Of course, our holy text devotes considerable space to delineating the prohibited and the permissible within the realm of sexuality. This week’s parshah, Ki Tetzei, addresses adultery, virginity, rape, the problem of favoring one wife over another, cult prostitution, divorce and family honor. Included in the mix is a rather fascinating step-by-step guide to taking captive a woman from a people a soldier has only just vanquished on the battlefield; as well as the parental responsibility to provide proof of a daughter’s virginity and the punishment of stoning.

The drama of human experience is clearly balanced by a strict framework of rules and regulations. What proved relevant for our people in ancient times, however, does not always resonate as well today. “But if the charge proves true, the girl was found not to have been a virgin, then the girl shall be brought out to the entrance of her father’s house, and the men of her town shall stone her to death; for she did a shameful thing in Israel, committing fornication while under her father’s authority. Thus you will sweep away evil from your midst” (Deuteronomy 22:20-21).

I’m grateful we’ve left the days of murdering women who’ve had premarital sex behind, but the portrayal of sex in 21st century American culture doesn’t make me feel much better. We’ve retained a relentless emphasis on virginity, placing a remarkably high social value on both having it and “losing” it. For heterosexual men, there seems to be a concurrent value based around “taking” virginity. Movies and television depict consensual sex as passionate and effortless – completely devoid of anxiety, awkwardness, and very real negotiations around contraception and sexually transmitted infections. We’re generally treated to a story about romance blossoming, or an encounter that is in some way new between two (or more) people. Typically, we are not offered a portrayal of mutual fulfillment within the context of a sustaining and committed relationship. Yet, many of us have chosen partnerships or are actively pursuing partnership. The chasm between sex in the Torah and sex in Hollywood is enormous and most of us seem settled somewhere in between.

For centuries, our sages have devoted tremendous attention to sex. Their philosophical musings, judgements and advice have created a concept of sex in Judaism that is both inherently positive and profoundly spiritual. Of course, Jewish law frames all such sex within the confines of marriage. But as the right to marry has yet to be extended to all American citizens, and because marriage for many of us is a state-sanctioned category rather than a religious one, I prefer to replace the “sex within marriage” ideal with the concept of sex within a committed relationship.

In Judaism, procreation is only one, and not the primary, purpose of sex. Indeed, sex is a means for two people to truly know one another in a way no one else can. In fact, the Hebrew word for sex between husband and wife in our Torah comes from the root “to know.” Sex can prove a portal to deep and enduring intimacy, both physically and emotionally. It is essential for establishing a strong and sustainable bond between people working to build a life together.

When we think of ourselves as sparks of divinity, we must think of sex as the uniting of one divine spark with another. The resultant blaze is completely unique, unreplicable with anyone else. And if we are all drops in the ocean of infinity, uniting with another moves us slightly closer to God. In our tradition, sex is holy and within the context of mutual love, respect and commitment, it’s considered a mitzvah.

Unfortunately, from our Puritan heritage and perhaps other religious traditions, Americans have inherited negative and unhealthy attitudes towards sex. In Judaism, sex is not shameful. Neither is it a casual game or a weapon. The pleasure of both partners is paramount and God is thought to be present with those united in love. It’s as far from stoning adulterers as it is from summer blockbusters.

This week’s parshah is a great opportunity to think about our own sexuality and attitudes towards sex. Write a sexual identity manifesto, explore yourself or explore a partner. Contrast the experience of feeling connected to a partner and the sense of divine connection. Consider finding divinity solo. And always know that where there is love, respect and pleasure, so too there is God.

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) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, judaism sexuality, Ki Tetzei, online conversion, Parshah Ki Tetzei, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, sexuality bible, sexuality religion

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