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Parsha Devarim: Instrumental (Deut 1:1 – 3:22)

July 24, 2012 by Jeremiah

Devarim, or more commonly referred to as Deuteronomy here in the west, is the first portion of the final book in the Torah. Just under forty years have passed since Moses implored Pharaoh to let his people go and during that time miracles were witnessed, battles were fought and won, the Torah was birthed on Sinai, and excluding Moses everyone old enough to remember slavery in Egypt is . . . .well. . .dead. It should not come as a surprise that this week’s Parsha consists of Moses recounting the history of a forty year old nation to the next generation of Jews.

Moses knows his time is almost up and Devarim the parsha and the book exemplify this. Moses knows the importance of history and law and Hashem allows him another opportunity to dictate Halakah. Want a short version or just the gist of the core of Judaism? Read Devarim from [Read more…]

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

CPTB Split EP Vol. 5 (Matot and Masei)

July 19, 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. 5…

Parsha Matot (Numbers 30:2 – 32:42)

1. The Oath That Keeps Me Free

Parsha Matot begins with a discussion on everything to do with oaths. Each and every one of us has at some point taken an oath and kept it but we have all deliberately and accidentally broken well intentioned promises. Oaths, when made, form an emotional bond with the taker and any witnesses admitting later that you broke something that important can really take a mental toll. Torah a lot of times gets a bad rap from detractors with claims of sexism, racism, and calls to violence but what is [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: Bambidar, Circle Pit The Bimah, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, jeremiah, numbers, online conversion, Parsha Masei, Parsha Matot, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Spiritual Zionism, zionism

Parsha Pinchas: The Spear, A Dead Man, And The Sisters (Num.25:10 – 30:1)

July 12, 2012 by Jeremiah

Parsha Pinchas: The Spear, A Dead Man, And The Sisters (Num.25:10 – 30:1)

It’s easy to read Pinchas and think that with a just argument Hashem is open to reevaluate some Halacha, and I agree with that. It is also easy to look towards Pinchas for legitimizing righteous rage, and I would also agree with that. When I re-read Pinchas a few days ago I realized that this week’s portion is also about how often Hashem, Torah, Judaism, and religion as a whole is misrepresented.

Part of the human condition are conscience acts carried out in hopes of receiving a positive return. Pinchas and the five daughters of Zelophehad (Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah) are perfect examples of this trait. The circumstances surrounding Pinchas and the five sisters are very different but they both are the direct result of others misrepresenting what Jews and Judaism is.

Our portion begins with its namesake, Pinchas [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: batman meme, Circle Pit The Bimah, darshan yeshiva, Hoglah, jeremiah, Mahlah, Milcah, noah, numbers, Parsha Pinchas, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Phinehas, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Tirzah, Zelophehad

Parsha Balak: Not Just A Jew Thing (Num.22:2 – 25:9)

July 5, 2012 by Jeremiah

Worried that the Hebrew tribes are an unstoppable military force, Moab’s king Balak commissions the non-Jewish prophet Balaam to curse the Hebrews before they can turn their attention to Moab. Balaam then sets out on his donkey to do what he does best and that’s curse the enemies of Moab. While on his way to rain down curses Balaam’s donkey seeing an Angel of the L~rd refuses to continue. Incensed, Balaam begins to beat his ride when Hashem opens the mouth of the donkey who pleads to know why Balaam is blind towards the angel. Parsha Balak is such an important portion not only because it’s a crowd pleaser (like you never giggle when the “A” word is dropped in Shul) but because it reiterates that Hashem is not just a “Jew” thing: He is a “for everybody” thing.

Sometimes its easy to see the world as an Us versus Them place [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs Tagged With: balaam, Circle Pit The Bimah, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, hashem, jeremiah, numbers, online conversion, Parsha Balak, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Parsha Chukat: An Anthology Of What Is Wrong With Me (Num.19:1 – 22:1)

June 26, 2012 by Jeremiah

If Chukat is about faith in Hashem’s covenant to provide a home and good health to those who choose to follow him why has this week’s Torah portion done nothing but distract me during my meditation since early childhood? Why does it feed my naturally ingrown neurosis and “Jewish” flavored guilt? If I knew the answer to that then I would be a fully realized Jew and unfortunately for me I am light years away from being a fully realized anything.

For me personally, there is just way too much going on in Chukat that I can link directly to my life. First, Miriam dies in Zin meaning she never sets foot in the promised land. When I was young I used to have this recurring dream that I was at my Aunt and Uncle’s house, their last name is Zinn, in these dreams I am [Read more…]

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

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