Monday, September 30, 2013

Rosh Chodesh/Parshat Noach

Bereshit 6:9-11:32

Rosh Chodesh/Parshat Noach, Bereshit 6:9-11:32
by Rabbi Howard Cohen, reprinted from Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Symbolism of Rainbows



In this week's parasha our attention is focused on Noah and his family's experience in the ark. The flood has subsided and the doors of the ark have opened. God has commanded Noah to exit the ark and to release the animals back into the world. (Genesis 8.15-19) God next declares that such a wholesale disaster will never be caused by God again. A covenant is established and God seals it by placing a rainbow in the sky: "This is the sign that I set for the covenant between Me and you, and every living creature with you, for all ages to come. I have set My bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth" (9.12 -13).

One of the cornerstones of Reconstructionist theology is the evolving nature of the meaning or value of Jewish practice and symbolism. This practice appears to date back to our earliest ancestors. Consider, for example, the meaning of the rainbow as a symbol in the ancient Near Eastern world. According to the esteemed biblical scholar Nahum Sarna, the rainbow in the ancient world was a fairly common "symbol of divine bellicosity and hostility" (JPS Torah Commentary, p. 63). Regardless of your position on authorship of the Bible, what we witness in parashat Noah is the remarkable transvaluing (evolving meaning or value) of a common symbol of belligerency and violence into a symbol of peace and reconciliation! (The warlike value of the word for rainbow ['keshet'] in Hebrew is retained in its other meaning as in bow and arrow).

The violent, warlike, symbolism of the rainbow undoubtedly arises from the timing of the appearance of the rainbow in the sky after violent storms. Yet, how a people, presumably the ancestors of Abraham, elicited another aspect of the meaning of the rainbow is a mystery. Perhaps they associated the life-renewing element of rain with the concepts of mercy and compassion and sustainability If so, it is not hard to see how believers in an all-powerful God might have embraced the rainbow as sign of God's covenantal relationship with humanity. This is just one small example of the innovative, even revolutionary, nature of Torah.



Monday, September 23, 2013

Bereishit

Genesis 1:1-6:8

by Mel Scult for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Kaplan on Creation: An Explanation of Jewish Mission


The account in Genesis is perplexing to the modern person. We inevitably get bogged down with the first chapter of the Bible because it seems to conflict with our knowledge that comes from the scientific study of the natural world. Mordecai Kaplan being the modern man par-excellence accepted the scientific view of the universe but realized, of course, that the Torah has a different perspective in telling us about the origin of things. In this selection he focuses on the connection between the creation of the world and God's attention to Israel. Though Kaplan did not believe in the concept of the chosen people, he did see a special task and destiny for the Jewish people.

While only a few may be chosen, every person and every group may have a special destiny depending on their ability and their character and their history. Kaplan explains here that insofar as the rabbis are concerned, God created the world that it might be perfect and turned to the Jewish people as the special agents in that perfecting process.

In Kaplan's Own Words [ From his notes]

"To the average person, the opening chapter of the Bible is an obstruction to an appreciation of the Bible as a whole. Finding that the account of creation is at variance with the scientific view of the origin of the world, he concludes that it can hold out to him very little of spiritual value. The various interpretations whereby apologists attempt to reconcile the Biblical account of creation with science are far fetched. To explain seven days as denoting seven aeons, ... does not add to an actual understanding of what the story of creation is intended to convey.

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Monday, September 16, 2013

Chol Hamoed Sukkot

Exodus 33:12–34:26 and Numbers 29:17–22

Sukkot: Yom Kippur's Counterbalance


by Rabbi Michael Cohen for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Imagine Yom Kippur, the synagogue packed for the holiest day of the year. The anticipation of the day is upon everyone as they take their seats. But suppose something different occurs: Mahzorim for Sukkot are handed out along with hundreds of pairs of lulav and etrogom. This is one of my rabbinic fantasies -- to switch Yom Kippur with the first day of Sukkot. We often bemoan the fact that our synagogues are never so full as they are on Yom Kippur. Part of the problem with the rest of the year has to do with what happens on Yom Kippur! Known as the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur is the day that we go to shul. That long day in synagogue reinforces the idea that Judaism is heavy and serious, and that we should spend our time inside the synagogue in prayer or study. The problem with this picture is that it does not present a balanced view of what Judaism that takes us beyond the walls of the synagogue.

The worshiper also needs Sukkot which counterbalances Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur takes place inside; Sukkot takes place outside. On Yom Kippur we fast; while on Sukkot we feast. On Yom Kippur we pray and study with our minds; for Sukkot we build with our might. On Yom Kippur we hold a book in our hands; on Sukkot with the lulav and etrog we hold nature. On Yom Kippur we are serious and introspective; on Sukkot we are told to be joyful.

One of the giants of Kabbalah, Isaac Luria (16th century), instructed his disciples that the cultivation of joy is one of the prerequisites for attaining mystical illumination. Having gone through the necessary ten days of teshuvah (return) from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur we are ready to begin our engagement with the new year. That engagement can only take place with joy as one of its elements, the joy of Sukkot sets our bearings on the right course.

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Monday, September 9, 2013

Eleh Ezkarah -- Sacrifice and Martyrdom

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is never an easy day. Fasting, however, is not the real problem. Rather, the day's challenge comes from its demand that we confront deep spiritual, theological, and philosophical issues we would often wish to avoid. We are asked to consider, for example: the tension between sin and forgiveness, the relationship between suffering and redemption, and the emergence of hope out of tragedy. The prayers and readings of Yom Kippur demand that we meditate on these themes as personal challenges, but present them to us in grand images on a mythic scale. The entire day is challenging but, the most challenging hour on Yom Kippur is the one dedicated to the Mussaf service.

It is early afternoon on the Day of Atonement and Mussaf is half over. The hazzan has just completed reading the lengthy poetic retelling of the worship service in the Beit HaMiqdash, the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. In our sacred imagination we left our synagogue and joined our ancestors in that most holy place as we participated spiritually in the worship service conducted by the Cohen Gadol, the High Priest, that carried our prayers for forgiveness and our hopes for a year of blessing to God.

We trembled with awe as the High Priest sent the scapegoat out into the wilderness symbolically carrying away our sins. Reverently we bowed low as the High Priest proclaimed the Holy Name of God as he beseeched the Eternal three times for forgiveness. The ancient sacrifices no longer seemed strange and off putting because we were in another place in another time.

Then our liturgy drew us back into our time and space. It jolted us, once again to face the great spiritual mystery that lies at the heart of the Yom Kippur experience: the tension between our propensity to sin and God's ceaseless offer of forgiveness, our experience of exile and God's promise of redemption. Although our transgressions destroyed the Holy Temple and brought its rituals to an end, the path to open our souls to God's gift of forgiveness and restoration remains unimpeded, particularly on Yom Kippur, the day set aside for prayer and reflection.

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Monday, September 2, 2013

Ha'azinu

Deuteronomy 32:1-32:52
by Ellen Dannin for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

The Torah constantly puts us between a rock and a hard place . . . literally.

Take Ha'azinu, for example. A few years ago I first noticed something interesting about rocks while reading Ha'azinu, Moses' farewell poem. It is a poignant piece of literature, because it is impossible to read it without knowing that it is given in the shadow of his death. Even worse than his death, Moses is to be left behind as the children of Israel - the same people who have plagued his life through forty years in the desert - get to enter the Promised Land. Ha'azinu's gracious song of praise to God is a remarkable act under the circumstances.

Those circumstances become even more ironic, for hidden within that song, Moses seems to be twitting God. Moses refers to God as the "Rock." The parsha begins with Moses extolling God, saying, "The Rock! - His deeds are perfect, Yea, all His ways are just." (Deuteronomy 32:4) Again, this seems bittersweet, but when in context it seems mostly bitter.

Recall that the reason Moses could not enter the Promised Land was because of a rock. When the people cried for water at Kadesh, God told Moses to take his rod and before the eyes of the community order the rock to give water. So Moses took the rod as he was commanded, went to the rock in front of the community and struck it to bring forth water. God immediately told Moses that because he had not trusted enough to affirm God's sanctity, Moses cannot enter the Promised Land. (Numbers 20:6-13). Fair enough. God had said to order the rock and did not say to hit the rock. Moses did not follow orders. Others who had not followed orders precisely were struck dead immediately. This is a relatively mild punishment.

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