Monday, June 29, 2015

Balak

Numbers 22:2−25:9

By Rabbi Ellen Dannin for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

A Curse Turned Blessing


I - maybe we - tend to think of Our Story as encapsulated in the exodus from Mitzrayim and the entry
into the Promised Land. But our story is more than leaving and arriving. Most of it is the story of living in the desert, of journeying, and of being on the way. And that certainly captures most of my life - and maybe our lives. Just as we want to skip over all those endless details of sacrifices, priestly vestments, sanctuaries, red heifers, and bizarre diseases, so too do we want to skip over or regard as of less interest the minutiae of each day. Between the high points, there is a lot of desert. Yet, can it be that what makes up the bulk of our lives is not worth paying attention to?


This week's parsha has one of the best stories of being on the way - the story of King Balak and Baalam. In fact, we remember this story in each service when we sing "Ma Tovu." This is a story of curses turned into blessings. And, surely, there is nothing more important for us than blessing in living through our personal "desert days."

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Monday, June 22, 2015

Chukat

Numbers 19:1−22:1

By Rabbi Ellen Dannin for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

The Red Heifer


Nehama Leibowitz says this is one of the most mystifying parts of the Torah, "one of the matters which even the wisdom of the wisest of men failed to fathom." Certainly, you can spend a lot of time just trying to sort out how it works and then even more on what its purpose is. Uncleanliness accompanies the making of the red heifer, its administration and the purpose for its administration, but this uncleanliness is obviously more in the nature of uncanniness -- a sense of confrontation with divine and fundamental mysteries. They system seems almost like a game of tag but with touchbacks allowed. Left unchecked everyone would become unclean -- and today with no red heifer we are all unclean with no chance of ever achieving ritual cleanliness.

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Monday, June 15, 2015

Korach

Numbers 16:1−18:32

Leadership

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

This week's parasha is Korah. It takes it's name from that of Moses' fellow from the tribe of Levi,

Korah, who attempted to lead a rebellion against Moses. Korah led the rebellion because he believed that Moses and Aaron were claiming to be holier than the rest of the community. Korah believed that all of the people were holy and that they should share in the special relationship with God. In short, he wanted to be a priest as well. At first it might seem like this is the first socialist revolt, the first time when the proletariat tried to wrestle power from the elite leadership of the community. Yet if one looks at the true nature of the revolt one will find that this is not the case.

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Monday, June 8, 2015

Shelach

Numbers 13:1−15:41

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

The Reminder of Tzitzit


The parasha this week is Shelah-Lekha. In this parasha Moses, at God's command, chooses one leader from each of the twelve tribes to serve as spies. Their mission is to enter the land of Canaan, the Promised Land, and to bring back a report to the people. "See what kind of country it is..... [investigate its cities, people, soil, and forests and] bring back some of the fruit of the land." They do bring back grapes and other fruits, but ten of the twelve spies also bring back a report that, though the land is flowing "with milk and honey," it is filled with "giants," large fortified cities and other dangerous inhabitants. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, bring back a positive report reminding the people that God is with them and so they can overcome any obstacle or enemy. Unfortunately, the people are carried away by the report of the majority and wonder why Moses brought them this far out of Egypt in order to die in the desert. As punishment for following the negative report of the ten spies God declares that the Israelites will wander in the desert for forty years until this generation dies. Joshua and Caleb will be the only ones of that generation allowed to enter the land.

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Monday, June 1, 2015

B’ha’alotkha

 Numbers 8:1-12:16

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Miriam


This week's parasha is Beha'aloteha One of the most fascinating, but often forgotten, parts of this narrative involves Moses and his siblings Aaron and Miriam.

We read in Chapter 12, verse 1 that "Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for he had married a Cushite woman." Before we find out who this Cushite woman was (Cush refers
today to Ethiopia, but his wife Tzipporah was a Midianite. Does this refer to Tzipporah or did Moses have a second wife?) the text then tells us that Aaron and Miriam complain "Has Adonai spoken only through Moses? Has God not spoken through us as well?" And so it would seem that the siblings have two complaints against Moses, the first having to do with his wife (whoever she might be) and the second with their roles as prophets in Israel.

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