Many of you know that I moved a few short weeks ago. Anyone, who has moved, knows that relocation from one place to another isn’t easy. There are so many things to consider. What needs to be put into the packing cases, what needs to be left, to be sold, given away, or maybe stored. Before we can move, we need to write lists, we plan, make arrangements, and try and get organised.Whenever I looked around my apartment before the move, I was shocked to see how much ….. stuff had found its way onto my shelves. There a book, I once bought because I had always wanted to read it. Here, a gift from a good friend that I had never quite found the right spot for. And so many papers on my desk, papers that needed checking and sorting. There are many little keepsakes and souvenirs all over my shelves, reminders of the many wonderful moments in my life. (more…)
Category: Drasha
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Ki Tavo – An eternal flame
KiTavo, our Parasha for this week starts with the words:
VE HAJA, KI TAVO ET HA’ARETZ ASHER ADONAI ELOHEICHA NOTEN LECHA –When you enter the land that the Eternal, Your God is giving you.
What follows are instructions to the Israelites regarding what they have to do, after they have entered the Promised Land. This is not the only time in the Torah, that some commandments are strongly linked to “the land”. Remember that all the Mitzwot, dealing with the Sabbatical Year for agriculture are commandments linked to the land.According to the traditional interpretation of the Halachah, these Mitzwot are still bound to the land of Israel, or more precisely, only within the border of the biblical land of Israel and Judah. This means, that our friends on the progressive Jewish Kibbutz Lotan in the South of Israel are not obliged to follow the regulations of the Sabbatical Year. The Arava and Negev Desert don’t belong to ancient Israel.Reading the bible very literally, one could argue these commandments are not relevant to us in South Africa. We are neither going to enter the land of Israel, nor are we living there already. One may even be tempted to say that even a lot of Israelis are not really observing the laws that are presented in our Torah portion.But, I wouldn’t be raising this topic, if I agreed with this point of view. There is another way of looking at it, that – in my opinion – makes more sense. I would argue and say that Mitzwot, connected exclusively to “the land”, bear an absolute relevance for us all, even though we are not living in the land of Israel.The laws we find in our Torah portion, and in other places as well, are loaded with ethical values that are vital to every society. These include the sharing of a tenth of our harvest or income with the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and the appreciation of the land, and our natural recourses, by keeping the idea of a sabbatical year. I truly believe that the intention of the Torah by telling us this is – as mentioned in Verse 26.18 of our parashah – to create a “Holy Nation”, a nation that is struggling for a better world in the path, God has designated for us.Actually, I think that all these Mitzwot, which on a superficial level are connected to the land, have a broader, and deeper meaning – that of connecting us to each other and the Eternal through the ethics they represent.Therefore, the connection of the Mitzwot with “the land” can be understood as being of great help and greater importance. The land of Israel may be seen metaphorically as an eternal flame, reminding us not to forget to thank the Eternal for what we have achieved, and that every one of us has had a moment, a time in their lives where they are brought out of a “very personal” Mitzrayim. Every one of us overcomes challenges in life. It could be leaving home, entering into a partnership, discovering one has a serious illness. The list is endless. Israel, in this sense, is a symbol of the well-being of the Jewish people because it reflects our relationship with God.I would like to very briefly raise another point relating to the issue of “the land”. I can understand that a lot of people are troubled by the politics, and realities connected to the modern State of Israel. I, too, am very often troubled, and I would consider this to be a normal reaction. We need to be concerned, but I think our Torah portion also teaches us, that we, as Jews living outside of the land of Israel, are in a relationship with Israel. Like the other Mitzwot I referred to, Israel has a relevance for us all.I believe, Israel reflects our eternal relationship with God. If we think, that things in the State of Israel are not going well, then our relationship with God also needs some improvements. Guided by shared values – like gender equality in public spaces, the “western wall” as a place of worship for all Jewish streams, and a human treatment of all people, irrespective of their background, – we should seek to find ways, in which we can change the current situation. Israel is too important for us as Jews to be left alone and on its own. Ignoring it, or even boycotting it, won’t change anything. After all, Israel is our Jewish homeland.As progressive Jews, we have a responsibility for Israel in the same way as every other Jew has – whether they are living in Israel or not. In our Torah portion Moses repeats that the land of Israel is part of our heritage. Not only OUR heritage today, but the heritage of EVERY generation of Jews. Those who have gone before us, our generation today, and for the generations that will come after us. I think, it is worth taking on this responsibility.Shabbat Shalom
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Ki Tetze: In remembrance lies the secret of redemption
Parashat Ki Tetze continues to present a rich and varied collection of directives that serve as a partial blueprint for behaviours and norms to create a just society. It contains a mixture of seventy-two commandments, dealing with such diverse subjects as the treatment of captives, defiant children, animal welfare, property, sexual relationships, interaction with non-Israelites, loans, vows, and divorce, and laws of commerce pertaining to loans, fair wages, and proper weights and measures. The parashah concludes with the commandment to remember for all time Amalek’s killing of the old, weak, and infirm after the Israelites left Egypt. (more…)
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Shoftim: A glimpse of a society of a different order
Parshat Shoftim is concerned with the structures of governance of biblical society and their just operation: the government and its military, the courts and the religious authorities.Having emerged from the foreign slavery of Egypt and now attempting to maintain the freedom achieved in the Exodus, the parshah is concerned with ensuring the fair functioning of these three institutions. That is, the Torah explicitly limits exploitative possibilities by separating the centres of power and placing constraints that keep these institutions functioning appropriately. (more…)
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Shabbat Ekev
A key passage in our Parshah (Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25) is the second chapter of the Shema, which repeats the fundamental mitzvot enumerated in the Shema’s first chapter, and describes the rewards of fulfilling God’s commandments and the adverse results (famine and exile) of their neglect.IMHO the both extreme positions, presented in this short passage, are reflecting the both worlds we know in Judaism. The not perfect one, the one with not enough rain, excile and injustices, represents the Olam HaZe -the perfect world is a just world, a world where everyone has a fair share in everything, the Olam HaBa, the messianic time.The recitation of the Shema reminds everyone of us to be engaged in Tikkun Olam, and bring forth the messianic time.Shabbat Shalom
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Mein Tisha b’Av
Entsprechend unserer jüdischen Zeitrechnung fällt in die kommende Woche wieder der 9. Av – Tischa b’Av. Es ist der Tag, so lehren es unsere Weisen, an dem sowohl der erste, als auch der zweite Tempel in Jerusalem zerstört wurden und der beispielhaft für all das Leid und das Schrecken steht, welches uns, dem jüdischen Volk, im Laufe der Zeit widerfahren ist.Wie vielen progressiven Jüdinnen und Juden fällt es mir jedoch schwer, Zugang zu diesem Datum zu finden, steht doch im Zentrum des Gedenkens der zerstörte Tempel mit seinem Opferkult. Als progressive Juden glauben wir schon lange nicht mehr an die Notwendigkeit eines “zentralen Heiligtums” mit seinen Kulten und Tieropfern. Um genauer zu sein, die meisten Bezüge zum Tempel und seinem Kult sind schon lange aus unseren Gottesdiensten und Gebeten verschwunden. Wir beten nicht länger für die Wiedererrichtung des Tempels und die Abschnitte zu den Tieropfern sind ebenfalls schon längst in unseren Gebetbüchern durch die prophetischen Visionen ersetzt worden, die davon sprechen, dass Gott Gebete dem Tieropfer vorzieht. (more…)
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Dewarim: Gerechtigkeit entsteht niemals aus Vorurteilen
Unser Wochenabschnitt für diese Woche heißt „Dewarim“ – „Worte“. Er ist der erste Wochenabschnitt aus dem fünften und letzten Buch unserer Tora. Das ganze Buch enthält eine Serie von Reden, die Moses an die Israeliten richtet, kurz bevor sie in das versprochene Land einziehen werden, und ihre Wüstenwanderung beenden können.Moses zeichnet nicht nur noch einmal die lange Reise seit dem Auszug aus Ägypten nach, sondern wiederholt die ethischen Werte und Errungenschaften, die das junge Volk in den vergangenen 40 Jahren erhalten haben. Wir lernen von den Schwierigkeiten, die jede Gesellschaft in Angriff nehmen muss, und wie die Leitlinien der Tora helfen können, diese Schwierigkeiten zu bewältigen. Moses berichtet auch, wie er und auch Gott große Zweifel hatten, ob die Kinder Israels die Erwartungen, die beide an sie hatten, auch erfüllen könnten. Die Erzählungen sind voll von Verzweiflung, Mahnungen und am Ende doch immer wieder auch voll von Hoffnung. Moses und Gott geben die Kinder Israels nicht auf. (more…)
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Massei: Even within the Torah itself lawmaking is always in progress
In this week’s reading, Massei (מַסְעֵי — Hebrew for “journeys”, Moses reviews the forty years of Israelite journeys through the desert. The Torah discusses the boundaries of Israel, its division amongst the tribes, the cities which the Levites would receive, and the cities of refuge. God makes a precise distinction between murder and manslaughter. (more…)
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Mattot: The other is a human being as well
In war, truth is the first casualty. (Aeschylus)Reading our parashah Mattot ((Numbers 30:2–32:42)) while seeing the pictures from Israel and Gaza in the news is difficult for me. During the last weeks it has become harder and harder for me to read all the feeds on Facebook and to watch the news. I feel my heart bleeding because of all the people who are suffering, and I get the impression that no one is paying respect to the fact that the victims are human beings. The victims are just becoming objects in a propaganda war. German journalists (and I guess the same is true for the whole world) love to show pictures of bleeding children, dead bodies, or even only parts of it. The propaganda machine is presenting them like objects in an exhibition, trying to sell us a truth. (more…)
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Pinchas: Any act of zealotry contains the danger of a great sin
Parashat Pinchas. Torah reading is Num. 25.10-30.1 / Haftarah reading is Kings 18:46-19:21.Summary: Aaron’s grandson Pinchas is „rewarded“ for his act of zealotry: God grants him a covenant of peace and the priesthood. By this, he and his children are serving as messengers between God and his people, fixed in a very tight framework of rituals and obligations, deprived of his/their own actions and his/their own potentialities.A census of the people counts 601,730 men between the ages of twenty and sixty. Moses is instructed on how the land is to be divided among the tribes and families of Israel. The five daughters of Zelophechad petition Moses that they be granted the portion of the land belonging to their father, who died without sons; God approves their claim and incorporates it into the Torah’s laws of inheritance. (more…)
