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Eat, Pray, Eat (Parshah Ki Tavo)

August 31, 2015 by Patrick Beaulier

assets

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

Veiling My Wife (Parshat Vayetzei)

November 5, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

wedding-flowers (11)

This week’s Torah portion comes from our friend Joshua Kuritzky. Want to post a d’var Torah on PunkTorah? Email questions@punktorah.org

At the outset of Parashat Vayetzei, Yaakov, weary from traveling, lies down to rest, using a rock as a pillow. Let’s let him sleep for now—he’s tired and has earned his rest—and talk about another Yaakov: Yaakov ben Pesach Kuritzky, otherwise known as Joshua Kuritzky. (Yes, yes, I know: Why isn’t my Hebrew name Yehoshua? Just as valid and strong a biblical namesake, but, alas, not the name my parents chose.)

On the 14th of Elul, 5768, I married my sweetheart, Bayla Rivkah (English name: Beth). We had a traditional Jewish wedding service, which included the Badeken ceremony, in which the groom veils his bride. It is said that this custom originated because of events in this Parasha. Because of Laban’s deception, Yaakov inadvertently married Leah instead of Rachel. (We’ll leave all conniving in-law-related exegesis for a later date.) So now, as part of the Jewish wedding ceremony, the groom is given the opportunity to verify that his bride is indeed the woman he wants to marry. But in an age where we’ve already modified the wedding ceremony to fit modern culture and custom—the modern Jewish wedding ceremony condenses the official engagement and wedding into one ceremony, whereas historically these two separate events occurred months apart—why keep a custom that seems, at least on its surface, to be superfluous? Given all the trappings of a modern wedding, it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a devious father-in-law to swap out daughters without a photographer, videographer, wedding planner, dress fitter, hair and/or makeup stylist, etc. noticing that something isn’t, well, kosher.

If the purpose of the Badeken today is not exclusively a means for bridal inspection, what other purpose does it serve? For me, the Badeken remains the first thing I think about when recalling my wedding day. As is tradition, I fasted the entire day and have little recollection of the Kabbalat Panim (the separate pre-wedding receptions for bride and groom) besides a feeling of lightheadedness, anxiety, and an intense desire to see my best friend, partner, and confidant: my bride. As the singing turned into dancing and I was escorted to the Badeken, all I wanted to do was to see her. We’d been separated for a week, each left to deal with our separate versions of wedding stress and jitters. But this was it! A day months in planning and years in dreaming—it was finally here. In the next room, surrounded by the women in her life, sat my bride upon her bridal throne, waiting for me to be danced in, to see her and to veil her. What I remember most is that before veiling her, time slowed and what takes barely a minute in our wedding video felt almost dreamlike: I stared into Beth’s eyes and knew that I was glimpsing my past, present, and future all at once. I was no longer alone. I had someone to travel through life with. As I veiled her, the “deal” was unspoken: we would walk together—where she would walk, I would walk; where I would walk, she would walk. As we noted under our Chuppah, the letters in the word Elul match a line from the Song of Songs: Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Li—“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” This line has always defined us as a couple.

What followed, from the Chuppah to the reception, all felt like a confirmation of what happened in the Badeken. We may not have been married until later in the day, but for me, that ritual—the verification not just that this was whom I wanted to marry and spend my life with, but that this was the life I wanted to share—made it final and made it real.

Now let’s return to Yaakov our forefather, who is sleeping fitfully and dreaming the most biblical of dreams. What does he dream? He sees, depending on the translation, a stairway or ladder that reaches to the heavens with angels moving back and forth. Whatever it is, it is a conveyance—a connection to the divine. As a dream it is beautiful—symbolic and spiritual, fraught with meaning. And then, in the dream, Hashems peaks to Yaakov, promising him and his descendants, who will be like the “dust of the earth”, the land on which he lies. Hashem promises to protect Yaakov. Where Yaakov goes, so will Hashem. And Yaakov awakens convinced of the dream’s meaning, recognizing the importance of his journey and what his life will bring. And in a strange, surprisingly confident, voice, Yaakov makes a promise in return: If Hashem watches over and protects Yaakov, then Hashem will be G-d to Yaakov.

What can we make of this dream in light of what comes later in the Parasha? Perhaps we can see Yaakov’s dream as a Badeken in its own right. The veil has been lifted, however briefly, to show Yaakov and, by extension, us, that we are connected not just to each other through our friendships and marriages, but to the divine, each and every day. The twin promises between Yaakov and Hashem are echoed when we marry: We promise to protect each other, support each other, and journey through life together. As Yaakov’s story becomes our story, we see, again and again, our connection to Hashem, who can also be seen as the subject of the Song of Songs. We are Hashem’s and Hashem is ours.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Judaism & Belief Tagged With: Badeken, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, jewish wedding, online conversion, Parshat Vayetzei, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punk torah, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, this week's torah portion, torah portion of the week, Veiling My Wife

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

Julie Meredith: Passing on Belief in God

June 27, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ms7BkTo_b0

Julie Meredith talks about her interfaith marriage and how she and her husband will bring God into the lives of their children.

Visit us at www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: belief, children and judaism, faith, god project, hashem, interfaith marriage, Jewish, jewish children, jewish culture, jewish god, jewish identity, jewish learning, Judaism, Julie Meredith, punk torah, punktorah, raising interfaith children, spirituality, the g-d project, the god project, theg-dproject, Washington DC JCC

Julie Meredith: Coming Together Interfaith

May 30, 2012 by Patrick Beaulier

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lll7Kr67MxE

Julie Meredith talks about her interfaith marriage, and that fact that if two people believe strongly in God, it brings them together.

Visit us at www.theg-dproject.org

Filed Under: Judaism & Belief, Podcasts & Videos, The G-d Project Videos Tagged With: belief, faith, god project, hashem, interfaith marriage, Jewish, jewish culture, jewish god, jewish identity, jewish learning, Judaism, Julie Meredith, punk torah, punktorah, spirituality, the g-d project, the god project, theg-dproject, Washington DC JCC

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