Parashot

Genesis 9:8-11  "Noach" There is only one first: first pitch, first born, first steps , first kiss . This chapter is God's first Promise. The setting is where Noah learns that the flood is about to end and God makes the very first promise / ברית / "brit", or "covenant" with humans (and your dog will be happy to know, God says this is a covenant with animals as well per Gen 9:9). This may also be the first Ark that saves the world, b ut it is NOT the last Ark that saves mankind. Do you know where the second one is? (no, not the "Ark" of the Covenant (sorry "Raiders of the Lost Ark" fans, that's a different word, so hold that thought...) Early in my career I was working on an historically certified large addition to the 1880's Pew estate, a massive “banker bucolic” style stone home, clad in our area's signature gray Wissahickon Schist.   Since it was historically certified, the stone facade of the new work had t...

(and all the Sukkot verses) This is the Parashah that wasn't. Rabbi David was sick, and I was asked to prepare to read from the Torah if he didn't make it for this Sukkot Shabbat 👼. He got better, which is good, and this story (or the short form) went un-told. Easy to fix that.

  Considering Rosh Hashanah is a “high” holiday, there is certainly very little said about it in the scriptures.  The command for the day is only a couple lines long and tells us in Leviticus 23.24-25. ACTUALLY - it the directions for Rosh Hashanah are only 4 words long.   שבתון - Have a complete rest.   (no formal gathering is spoken of) תרועה - Make a blowing / blasting / teruah   of (something).  Shofars aren’t actually mentioned. זיכרון - Have a Zi karon - a remembrance. אשה - An offering by fire .  (Would an eight pound brisket be OK?) “Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet Nehemiah 8:10" ... so we did!  Rosh Hashanah is only mentioned once more:  When the people return from captivity and read the scriptures for the first time in at least a generation.  They wept at what lousy Jews they were. But they were told to rejoice and feast instead because “the JOY of the Lord is your strength”.   Nehemiah 8.10 (would four diffe...

Ki Teitzeh … Dvarim (Deuteronomy) 24:17-19   There is a single word, a conditional word, in this chapter that changed my life.   It gave me a career, a family, and a certainty that there was wisdom for life in the path I had chosen.    It sits quietly at the end of this portion, waiting to see if anyone will notice.     17 לא תטה משפט גר יתום ולא תחבל בגד אלמנה  You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow’s garment in pawn.  וזכרת כי עבד היית במצרים ויפדך יהוה אלהיך משם על־כן אנכי מצוך לעשות את־הדבר הזה   Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that your God יהוה redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment.  כי תקצר קצירך בשדך ושכחת עמר בשדה לא תשוב לקחתו לגר ליתום ולאלמנה יהיה למען יברכך יהוה אלהיך בכל מעשה ידיך When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the...

    July 30, 2021 Deuteronomy 6:4 Deuteronomy 7:6-8  The parashah portion this week is titled ואתחנן “va'etchanan”... “And I pleaded” ...Moses pleaded with God to enter the promised land. What follows is God's answer to Moses, a resounding "no".   Not just “no” but God answered him “Enough! Never speak to Me about this again” Dt 3:23.     Do you know a little bit about prayers that are “unanswered”?   I do.   Today is the “shloshim”, thirty days since my wife, Linda’s, passing.    Moses said to God, “it would be so easy for you to answer this prayer of mine” Dt 3:23 (paraphrased).   Moses prayed to enter the land for the better part of forty years.    I, and many of you, prayed long and hard for Linda to be healed.   Moses did not take “no” very well. His first reaction was not bitterness, and lashing out. He told the people of Israel that “it’s because of you that I can’t enter the land” Dt. 3:26. ...