Monday, October 26, 2015

Vayera

Genesis 18:1–22:24

by Steve Masters for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Akeidat Yitzchak/Akeidat Uri


Parashat Vayera includes what for me is one of the most disturbing stories in the Torah - Akeidat Yitzhak - the binding of Isaac.

The parasha closes with God presenting Avraham with a test. God calls out Avraham's name one time and Avraham answers immediately "hineni" - Here I am. God's directive is laid out in chilling detail in the text:

    Take, now, your child, your only child, your beloved Yitzhak, and go forth to the land of Moriah, and offer him up there as a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains I shall indicate to you.

We do not find any mention of hesitation or questioning on the part of Avraham. Instead we read that Avraham wasted no time, that he "arose early the next morning" and set off with Yitzhak and some servants to the land of Moriah.

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Monday, October 19, 2015

Lech L'cha

Genesis 12:1−17:27

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

"Be a Blessing"


The parashah begins with God's call to Avram (his name won't be changed to Avraham until later) to "Go forth from your land, from your kindred, from your father's house, to the land that I will let you see. I will make a great nation of you and will give you blessing and will make your name great. Be a blessing!"

What does it mean to be a blessing? Even for us, those who are accustomed to the concept of berakha/blessing have difficulty wrapping our minds around this. How much more difficult must it have been for Avraham, who was raised in a polytheistic, idolatrous and superstitious culture, and who is having his first encounter with the Divine, to understand what he was being commanded to do.

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Monday, October 12, 2015

Noach

Genesis 6:9−11:32

Rabbi Howard Cohen for 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).

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Monday, October 5, 2015

Bereyshit

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]

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