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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

Joshua Ford: Mrs. Goldberg’s Take on Flawed Omnipotence

December 15, 2011 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljcEQ0shEQg

DC JCC’s Chief Program Officer, Josh Ford, talks about God, his professional life, and Mrs. Goldberg. Filmed at Washington, DC JCC. Visit us at www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: "DC JCC", "Joshua Ford", "Washington DC", DC, glow, god in judaism, god project, Jewish, jewish god, Josh, joshua, punktorah, the god project, theg-dproject, Washington" D.C.

Parshah Pinchas: Transition and Trust

June 30, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeL_NU-XyWM

This week’s Torah portion is about accepting change. And I’m not talking about loose change.

A guy named Zelophehad dies…and unlucky for him, Zelophehad had no sons, no one to pass his inheritance to. But he did have daughters. And these daughters were angry that their father’s lot would not be given to them. So they protest to Moses and Moses talks to G-d. The result: G-d agrees that sexism is unfair, and the law of inheritance is passed so that women would be included.

Another change happens: Moses knows that his time is running out on this Earth. The Hebrews are about to enter the Promised Land and Moses does not get to go with them. So G-d tells Moses that Joshua will be the new leader. Moses is commanded to lay his hands upon Joshua in front of the Hebrews showing his status as the future Jewish Commander In Chief.

Change is tough: it forces people to confront their boundaries and limits. It’s easier to keep life as static and simple as possible, so you’ll never experience growing paints. But change is a part of life. Get over it. Move on.

So Moses hands the keys to the kingdom over to Joshua. Here’s this guy, hand picked by G-d out of all of the Israelites, to be the new leader. Even with how Moses must have felt about turning things over to “the new guy”, there had to be some sense of trust there. I mean, G-d chose Joshua!

G-d told Moses who would be the next leader. I know that if I were retiring from a company that I started if G-d told me who would be my successor I would trust His judgment. So in this there is some comfort to Moses, that the guy taking his place was at least good enough to be selected by the Divine. And that is important.

G-d knew Joshua wasn’t Moses, and he never would be. G-d knew the time for Moses was over, it was time for a fresh perspective, some new leadership. Was Joshua going to screw up? Of course! Obviously even Moses messed up. But that’s okay.

What that says to me is that Hashem knows that things change (He made them that way!) so sometimes new leadership is necessary. And even Moses had to learn that, to trust in the way that things were going and that G-d wouldn’t let things get out of hand.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: bible, Counterculture, Jewish, Jews, joshua, Judaism, Moses, Parsha, parshah, parshat, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, pinchas, Punk, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, rebel, Religion, Torah

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