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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

Re’eh: Out Of Step With The World (Deut 11:26 – 16:17)

July 29, 2013 by Jeremiah

Parsha Re’eh stresses the importance of never turning away from Hashem and turning towards a god or who has never lived. We are also reminded which animals are kosher. Laws regarding farming and having servants are covered and we are once again told to observe Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot. We Jews are assured if we continue to do these things and if our children continue to do these things then only blessings will be reaped. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

While Re’eh may seem repetitive it is important to note the ancient Hebrews turned away from Hashem at the foot of Sinai, and when your food source is daily manna and quail its really easy to keep a palate kosher. Same with holidays when everyone around you is celebrating the same thing the same way it is easy not to slip up in observance, but the times well the [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, hinju, jeremiah, jewish hindu, minor threat, online conversion, out of step, Parsha Re'eh, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Promised Land, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Parsha Eikev: Cut-Fil-A: The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants (Deut 7:12 – 11:25)

July 24, 2013 by Jeremiah

Editor’s note: this is a repost from last year.

Moses continues his sermon in Parsha Eikev reminding us all on the importance of honoring our covenant with Hashem. To emphasis this he promises blessings, warns of curses, and tells us to circumcise our hearts.

The human heart is an extremely fragile yet efficient organ so how can anyone survive cutting a piece off? This is not a command for a physical invasive procedure but a spiritual and personality act. One of the major pro-circumcision arguments for men is it leaves that area cleaner and thus less susceptible to disease. Real talk, as a dude I don’t want to smell or get sick down there, just saying. Circumcision of the heart follows the same principle in this case cleanliness and health is a just and orderly society made up of people who are not stiff necked and hard to get along with.

Eikev could not have come at a better time this year.

If you live in the United States you know exactly what I’m talking about. Several weeks ago, a portion of the majority felt the need to protest what they claim is a suppression of their freedom of speech and religious belief in regards to sexuality. I’m not going to go too deep into why I think everything played out the way it did but I will say this as someone of a different faith their protest really turned me off to their religion. On one hand like them I fall into the majority of peoples sexual orientation but as a Jew I do not fall into the religious majority. Simple put I’m a Jewish dude who has never made out with another dude.

We as Jews face the same problem. This past year stories of the Ultra-Orthodox protesting modernity and spitting on secular women have sprinkled themselves throughout the media. As hard as it is to deal with those views and actions internally the damage to Judaism externally is much much worse. Circumcising your heart is just that — cutting away the stench of filth that will make others think less of the people you represent.

Moses tells us in Eikev to circumcise our hearts because the uncircumcised individual will forever stand on the shores of the Jordon yearning for the Promised Land just out of reach, but the circumcised heart of a people will receive Hashem’s promises of peace and happiness.

Jeremiah@punktorah.org Twitter: @circlepitbimah

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Rants Tagged With: chic-fil-a, Circle Pit The Bimah, circumcision, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, Deuteronomy, jeremiah, lgbt jew, Moses, online conversion, Parsha Eikev, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Social Action

V‘zot HaBerachah: Well “They“ Killed Moses (Deut 33:1 – 34:12)

October 4, 2012 by Jeremiah

The life cycle that was and is the Torah cycle of 5772 is at an end, what began with a beginning for everything is now ending with the death and burial of just one man…Moses.

I often wonder what exactly did Moses see as he gazed into the Promised Land from a far. Did he see Israel as it was at that time? Was he seeing the rule of King David? The establishment of Modern Israel or the Messianic Age? I really do not think what he saw matters because whatever reflected through his pupils is the last thing he experienced. The point I am meandering around is maybe Moses’ death blow was delivered by Hashem via Eretz Israel.

A close friend of mine married the grand daughter of a South Vietnamese hotel tycoon, when it became apparent that Vietnam was to unite under a communist system he suffered a massive heart attack [Read more…]

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

CPTB Split EP Vol. 6 (Nitzavim and Vayelech)

September 14, 2012 by Jeremiah

This week’s Torah portion is a double portion and continuing in the format used for other double portions the Dvar for this week will follow the split 7 inch record format where each chapter gets its own track. So here you have it folks Circle Pit The Bimah Split EP Vol. 6.

Parsha Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 23:9 – 30:20)

1. Cousin Moishe

Parsha Nitzavim begins with Moses addressing all within the ancient Hebrew camps. This included men, women, children, and the hewers of wood and drawers of water. A lot of research has went into defining just who exactly the hewers and drawers were and why they are mentioned specifically. In the grand scheme of things its just easier to think of them as cousins, still family just not of our specific household. Even today the Jewish people have cousins some are close like Noahides and Samaritans (they are a good people and yes they [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, joshua, Moses, online conversion, Parsha Nitzavim, Parsha Vayelech, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

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