Vayeytzei

Genesis 28:10−32:3

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Connecting with the Divine

This week's parashat is Va'yetze includes the well-known story of Jacob's dream. After fleeing from his brother Esau, Jacob finds a place to rest and while sleeping he has a dream. In this dream he sees a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. On this ladder angels are ascending and descending; God is "standing" on the ladder. God promises Jacob that he will indeed become a great nation and that his descendants will be blessed. Upon awakening Jacob proclaims that had he realized the awesomeness of the place he would not have gone to sleep for "God was in this place and I did not know it." He then names the place Bet El, the house of God.

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Toldot

Genesis 25:19−28:9

Rabbi Ellen Dannin for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities

Isaac - Digger of Wells

In Toldot, we come at last to Isaac's story. And this year we read it
as we enter the secular -- or at least non-Jewish -- equivalent to the
period that begins with Rosh HaShanah -- New Year's Day -- and
continues on through late summer/early autumn to Simchat Torah. Food
is, of course, associated with both observances, most notably, the
absence of food on Yom Kippur. The Jewish New Year observances begin
as summer, warmth, and growth give way to decline. For those of us in
the United States, this secular period begins as autumn is about to
give way to winter. It is a time of more dark than light with
Thanksgiving -- the ultimate day of gluttony -- and ends with New Year's
Day and the challenge of making and keeping resolutions to change.

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Hayey Sarah / The Life of Sarah

Genesis 23:1−25:18

Rabbi Steven Pik-Nathan for Jewish Reconstructionist Communities 

This past March I had the wonderful opportunity to co-lead an interfaith Jewish / Roman Catholic tour of Israel sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Southern New Jersey and the Catholic Diocese of Camden. It was a special time in the land of Israel. The Pope was just about to make his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The hope for a true and lasting peace - a hope now dimmed by the present conflict - seemed real. There was a sense of optimism that filled the air.

As our small group of Jews and Christians traveled through Israel, we were immediately confronted by the vast number of sites in that small country that are invested with holiness by one or more of the three faith traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. While some sites, like the graves of saints, martyrs and sages, only attract the spiritual attention of one of the three traditions, there are many sites that claim the affection of all three religions. As Americans on a very special journey of spiritual discovery, it was easy for us to admire and respect our fellow pilgrims' religious concerns. But, we also became aware of the bitter feelings many of these sites can evoke as people in our group recalled the centuries of strife between the various faith traditions - the struggles between the Christian churches, the conflicts between Christianity and Islam and the oppression and exclusion of the Jews by both of those more powerful religious communities.

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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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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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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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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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