Parasha of the Week

  The Lord tells Aaron to bless the people in His name (Chapter 6).     What follow is the most famous blessing in the entire Torah.     Do you recognize it?     When is it recited and by whom?   1.It appears in the daily morning service.  The blessing is recited at the public repetition of the Amidah. 2. The blessing is said where the Kohanim still duchan – that is when they are invited onto the bima, place a tallit over their head and then bless the congregation.  In Israel, Kohanim duchan every Shabbat.  In America duchanning is usually reserved for the High Holy Days. 3. That same blessing is pronounced by parents over the heads of their children on Shabbat and festivals.   Rashi declares that this blessing must be given with kavanah, and a full understanding of what it means.  He further instructs that the words must not be said too quickly but with great care and deliberation.   The first p...

  So much of Torah speaks to the heart and so much of it does not resonate with us.  The practices which we no longer follow feel archaic and meaningless.  Here, read what the midrash makes of one of these passages: "He also said, "From the rising of the sun until the setting of the sun, My Name is great among the nations; and in every place offerings are presented in My Name, even pure sacrifices." [The above section is quoted and seems to say that even in the diaspora the Jewish people are faithful with their offerings.  But, we know this is not so: the sacrifices were  only  offered in the holy city of Jerusalem.] "Now are there sacrifices and the giving of handfuls of flour along with sacrifices rising in the smoke of Babylonia?  [Of course not.]  What then is being referred to? "The Mishna.  The Holy One, blessed be He, said, 'When I see My children engaged in the study of Mishna, it is as if you were offering up to Me sacrifices." ...

  “Rashi relates that the donkey who rebuked Bilaam died immediately afterwards, so that people would not point to the donkey and (say), “This is the donkey that rebuked Bilaam and left him speechless.” The humiliation of Bilaam by the donkey remaining alive would not have been in keeping with the dictates of k'vod habriyot , human dignity, and so the donkey died. Had the donkey remained alive, it might have been an opportunity to glorify God’s miraculous powers. People everywhere would have pointed at the donkey as testimony to God’s wonders.  Midrash says that this talking donkey was one of the things created before the creation of the world, ready for just this moment. Yet, so as not to embarrass a man, even a man of such low character as Bilaam, the donkey was not allowed to remain alive.” The rabbis place a priority value on human dignity, on honoring each individual as a spark of the divine.   

Our Torah portion deals with two dramatic instances of individual passion and initiative. One, the initiative of Pinhas, was recounted in last week’s portion. Pinhas’ act is a violent reaction at a moment of crisis. It averts a national disaster. The beginning of this week’s reading gives God’s reaction to Pinhas’ act.  The second act of initiative is that of the daughters of a man called Tzlof’had . Their story is begun this week and continues into next week’s reading.  In both of these cases an individual or a small group of individuals does something unbidden by the rules of their society at that moment. The repercussion of Pinhas’ initiative is that Pinhas is given special recognition and a special mission, to be the bearer of God’s “Covenant of Peace.” But, in truth, since Pinhas was already in direct priestly line from Aaron, his new status had little effect on the community or on the future of the Jewish people.    The case of the daughters of Tzlof’had ...

  We do not know what we do not know. Sometimes we even do not know what we do know. Man was endowed with  sechel .  It is our gift of understanding.  From the time when God took the  golem-form  from the earth and breathed into it the Breath of Life to the moment of overwhelming desire to have open eyes and peer the universe we became people in search of ourselves. We fervently desire to understand what life means.  We want to know why we live.  What is our purpose?   That is why stories such as the one told here in parshat  Shmini are so vexing. Here, Nadav and Avihu, sons of Aaron, die.  Near the holy altar of God they are enveloped by a conflagration that excoriated their inner being while leaving their body/husk intact.  The father has watched horrified to see his sons die.  What does this passage mean? Some scholars tell that Nadav and Abihu were drunk.  Int...

  B’khor Shor comments on the verse, “Make sacral vestments,”  to be used in the holy place; not to come dressed in everyday clothing because this is not ‛way of honor.’ They should wear clothing “of dignity and of adornment.”  “Next you will instruct all who are skillful,” that is to say, just as I commanded those who are skillful to make the Tabernacle, so do I command them to make the clothing. People should not say: Aaron will reward those who make his clothing and so too,  “they will receive the gold,” just as I wanted them to take offerings for the Tabernacle, so too should they take gold and offerings for the clothing.   B’khor Shor remarks that “sacral vestments” mean the priests are not to attend to their duties in “everyday clothing.” Second, he spells out the parallelism between the Tabernacle and the clothes. Third, the clothing will not be fashioned by one talented tailor but rather by the whole community. Truly, clothi...