Tag: Torah sparks by Rabbi Schell
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Let us not allow “collective forgetting”
One of the most haunting and alarming verses in the Torah comes at the beginning of this week’s portion of Sh’mot: “A new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph”(Ex 1:8). The Torah imagines that despite Joseph’s insight and intelligence which saved Egypt from ruin, Egypt forgot that story so completely, that the…
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Parashat Miketz: Jew by choice should feel pride and be viewed as courageous
In this week’s portion, Miketz, Joseph moves from being falsely imprisoned to becoming second in command in Egypt. As Joseph settles into his new life, he is given a new name by Pharaoh: Zaphenath-paneah. This name reflects Josephs new status in life and the journey on which he has embarked. We, as a congregation, as the Jewish…
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Parashat Vayishlach: “Encountering God”
In our Torah portion for this week, we are told of Jacob’s fears, and of his wrestling with a man-angel who changes Jacob’s name to Israel. Following that struggle “Jacob therefore named that place Peni’el–‘For I have seen God face-to-face(פנים-אל-פנים / Panim-El-Panim), yet my life has been spared” (Genesis 32:31).In Jacob’s struggling with an angel,…
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Shabbat Vayeitzei: If – Then – Else
A joke is told about the New York man driving around desperately seeking a parking place. He can’t find one, and so in desperation, he says, “Oh God I pray that you give me a parking space, if you give me a parking space then I promise to go to synagogue every Shabbat, I promise…
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Parashat Toldot: Living For Tomorrow
One day, Jacob was making a stew when his brother Esau came in from a long day of being in the field and… “Esau said to Jacob, ‘Pour … me … some of that red stuff for I am exhausted.’ Jacob said, ‘Sell … your birthright to me.’ ….Esau said, ‘…I am going to die,…
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Two Cities—two lessons—one people
This Shabbat we learn of two cities and two lessons. Each of these cities offers us a value and a cautionary note. We relearn these values and we recall their accompanying cautionary notes.The first city is from the Torah portion. It is Hebron. In this week’s Torah portion Sarah dies at the age of 127…
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Noach—a righteous man?!
Noach, the central figure of this week’s parshah, is a bit of a conundrum. On one hand, he is described as ‘a righteous man, blameless in his generation’ (Gen. 6: 9), but on the other hand, when told by God that every living thing on earth is about to be wiped out in a huge…
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A holy chutzpah – reflections on Yom Kippur and Sukkot
According to the Jewish tradition, the period of repentance continues after Yom Kippur until the end of Sukkot. These days may continue to be an opportunity for reflection, but these final days of the holidays are days of celebration. Though none of us know what our fates hold for us, we act as if the…
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Take the choices into our one hands
The Torah declares: “Surely, this instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, ‘Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we…
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Parashat Ki Tavo: Past, present and future
In Ki Tavo the Israelites are commanded to bring their first fruits as an offering: “When you come into the land that the Eternal your God is giving you for an inheritance and have taken possession of it and live in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the…
