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Parsha Vayechi: Bought the single for the A-side but ended up loving the B-side more. (Gen 47:28 – 50:26)

January 2, 2015 by Jeremiah

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Vayechi is the final Parsha of Genesis and the Parsha where two very charismatic patriarchs cross the threshold of the world to come. Growing up when this part of the Torah cycled through Joseph was nothing more to me than a kid with a coat who ends up in Egypt nothing more nothing less. When I decided to start Circle Pit the Bimah I wanted to try and approach each portion like it is the first time and not the thirty-third. I have really worked hard to try and forget, for lack of a better term, what I have learned from others in the past. This means no commentator quotes, no socio-political agenda, and no current news or popular culture references. So far this approach has really worked and for the first time in my life I see Joseph for who he was not for what he wore or where he lived.

As in life dualism places an integral role within Judaism, and at no other time is the clash between religious observance and secular life more evident than as it is with Joseph. Joseph is the patriarch who represents a secular life accompanied by belief in fact our holiday of Hanukkah which is observed during Joseph’s Torah portions is a holiday founded around that clashing of the religious and secular worlds. Very fitting, why is all of this important? Vayechi continues this tradition, Israel blesses Joseph’s sons out of order defying the normal process, Joseph returns Israel’s body to the land of his forefathers for a religious burial, and Joseph stays in Egypt and when he dies is interred under Egyptian customs.

Even today it seems most of the time the secular minded of us are attacking the fundamental foundations of the more religious Jew’s life by trying to impose a different set of day to day values than what they are used to. Depending on where you live the orthodox do the same to us, and unfortunately this will never change. Sometimes a marriage will occur between both worlds other times it may seem we are more cruel to each other than our enemies are to us. We will never be without the other. Eden is the only place within creation where there are only two mitzvot the first is just live and the other is do not eat the fruits of this one tree. If we were all Rabbinic Torah masters what need would we have for the Torah and Jewish fellowship the same is true if we are all righteous secular Jews.

The world we live in demands a Torah and that will never change, what we can change is how we approach the other side. The reasoning which might sway me probably will not work on my polar opposite and it is arrogant to think the same is true when the situation is reversed. I will always need a Rabbi because I am not a Rabbi, just as a Rabbi will always need a student so that he can be a Rabbi.

Where do you think a person should draw a line, if any, between religious and secular pursuits? Have you ever felt singled out for attack by the other side of the same family? We want to hear from you. Comment below or send me a message jeremiah@punktorah.org Twitter: @circlepitbimah.

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, genesis, jeremiah, Joseph, online conversion, orthodox, Parsha Vayechi, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Secular

Lili Kalish Gersch: Traditionally Jewish vs. Being Affiliated

July 25, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6l6_3SNjS8

Lili Kalish Gersch, Director of Literary, Music, and Dance Programming at Washington DC JCC, talks about how she identifies as a Jew and what Jewish affiliations mean to her.

Visit us at www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: affliated, belief, creation, faith, god project, hashem, Jewish, jewish culture, jewish god, jewish identity, jewish learning, Judaism, Lili Kalish Gersch, orthodox, punk torah, punktorah, spirituality, the g-d project, the god project, theg-dproject, traditional, Washington DC JCC

Ginny Adams on “What is G-d?” part 2

May 10, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

Filmed at Georgia State Hillel, Ginny continues her thoughts on What is G-d and how she questioned when she was young but came to realize G-d’s presence when driving through Zion National Park and seeing the mountains, the canyons, the road and everything. Of how that presence helped her through a mourning process.

Watch more videos at www.theg-dproject.org

Brought to you by PunkTorah.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: belief, faith, Georgia State Hillel, Ginny Adams, God, hashem, Jewish, jewish god, Judaism, orthodox, orthodox judaism, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punk torah, punktorah, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, spirituality, the god project, theg-dproject

I Don’t Rock On Shabbos: Advice For Jewish Musicians

April 13, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

In my life as a musician, many nights I’ll find myself loading my gear in the car and catching a quick
bite with my wife before we head off to my band’s rehearsal space or a venue for our next show. It’s
a routine that takes a little bit of getting used to, but it’s already assumed when we show up that my
wife grabs my bass guitar case and I grab my amplifier out of the trunk. We meet up with my band
mates and discuss what’s going down, either with the show or the rehearsal, and get to setting up. Being
a bassist and pragmatist, my effects-free setup only includes setting up my amplifier, tuning up any
basses I’m using that night, and then helping the drummer setup. After that, we play till sometimes 2
o’clock in the morning. This routine can, at times, fill up many nights of my week. However, there is
one evening of the week when not a single bit of this is guaranteed and the rest of my band knows this;
Shabbat.

Being a Torah-observant musician in a secular music scene can be pretty rough, but it doesn’t have to
be. In fact, sometimes the two worlds almost parallel one another. Just like my routine for getting into
playing music, my Friday night routine takes some husband-wife masterminding. It’s understood that I
pick up the wine and that she helps her mother with dinner. She sets the table and I…eat what’s on the
table! In many ways it can be similar to a gig night, which both can end in throwing around gut-busting
stories from the past that get even more funny after a couple drinks. Even the dim glow of the Shabbat
tables as they burn down can reflect the dim lighting of a music venue. In both places, music surrounds
the room; just at venues, it’s a rhythm section and at the Shabbat table, it can be anything from Havenu
Shalom Aleichem to Hine Ma Tov.

With the similarities out of the way, I know many of the aspects that are different between Erev
Shabbat and gig night are difficult to come to terms with. Here are some tips for musicians as well as
other night-time workers who also make kiddush.

1. Change “I don’t play Friday nights” to “I can’t play Friday nights.” This simple wording trick
stresses much more importance on your Torah observance. People, especially in the secular
world, aren’t going to take you seriously until you take yourself seriously.

2. “I can’t afford to take Shabbat off.” You can’t afford NOT to take Shabbat off. I’ll admit, this
one is especially for those who are trying to get into the gist of Shabbat and could go for any
night-time or potential Saturday professionals. As B’nai Yisrael, your time to recharge is
Shabbat. That’s how we’re designed. Without that, it’s extremely to difficult to align your soul to
the Holy One the rest of the week or even to focus properly on other weekly tasks.

3. “My band will be upset with me if I can’t play Friday nights.” In that case, it’s probably time to
find a new band. If keeping Shabbat is going to be that much of a hang-up and your band mates
aren’t willing to respect that, there will probably be other things about you that they don’t quite
fully respect. Without that solid bond with your bandmates, the sound will end up suffering in
the long run as well as your friendships with them.

4. “Friday night is the hottest night of the week to play music.” In my musical experiences before
keeping Shabbat and what I’ve heard from gentile musician friends, Friday night might draw the
biggest crowds, but bigger is not always better. As human beings, we’re simply programmed
to let loose on Friday nights at sundown. Whether that means sitting down at a Shabbat table
with friends and family for wine and meal to sing songs, tell stories, and just enjoy each other’s
company to going out on the town and getting hammered because it’s finally the weekend.
Many times, even people that work the next day still feel this need to unwind on Friday nights.

So, do you really want to play when all the crazies are out? Wait till Saturday night when
everyone has gotten all the crazy out of their system from Friday night. The energy of the gig
will be much better.

5. “I’ll lose cred as a musician if I don’t play on Friday nights.” Negatory. If anything, you’ll gain
cred as a human being for standing your ground. In my experiences as a musician and just
as a person. I’ve witnessed some people who will do just about anything for a gig, money,
and the spotlight. Many times when I tell a promoter or band manager that I can’t play Friday
nights because I keep the Sabbath, instead of a scoff I usually get a “hmmm” followed by an
assortment of questions and finally a “Hey, that’s cool, man. I respect that.” Give people a
chance to turn you down for something before you just turn yourself down.

Keeping Shabbat isn’t impossible for a musician or any worker in an industry that conducts a large
chunk of their business on Friday nights and Saturdays, but it does mean that you are going to have to
put yourself that much more out there and work harder while you can work. For me as a musician, that
has meant I have really had to up my game and be a better player than the next guy in order to be worth
a band canceling all their Friday night shows for. After all, if you’re a mediocre player who can’t play
Fridays, why shouldn’t they find a better player who can?

Keeping Shabbat is never meant to be a burden, but instead a delight. How many of your non-Jewish
friends can you say have a certain day when they have absolutely nothing to worry about and just juice
up their batteries for the next week? If you keep the Sabbath, the Sabbath will keep you; I guarantee it.

Ken Lane is a freelance writer, musician and SEO maven.

Filed Under: Jewish Media Reviews, Judaism & Belief, Random (Feelin' Lucky?) Tagged With: convert to judaism, darshan yeshiva, jewish music, jewish punk, ken lane, orthodox, orthodox jewish musician, orthodox musician, orthodox punk, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, shabbos, shomer, shomer Shabbat, shomer shabbos

Lili Kalish Gersch: Having Children Shows the Absence of God, Too

March 26, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLNHZW0gK-A

Lili Kalish Gersch, Director of Literary, Music, and Dance Programming at Washington DC JCC, talks about the various ways that having a child can give you the feeling of both the presence and the absence of God…and finding God in the small moments in between.

Visit us at www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: affliated, belief, faith, god project, hashem, Jewish, jewish culture, jewish god, jewish identity, jewish learning, Judaism, Lili Kalish Gersch, orthodox, parenthood, punk torah, punktorah, spirituality, the g-d project, the god project, theg-dproject, traditional, Washington DC JCC

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