Community Blog
01/10/2020 11:28:41 AM
Welcome! Check out Rabbi Lizz's divrei Torah and other community updates here.
Crisis: Climate or Otherwise
07/10/2020 12:23:07 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Pinchas, in which we read briefly of God’s praise over Pinchas the priest killing an Israelite man and a Midianite woman for coupling. The Torah then segues on to another census, and the story of five daughters claiming their father’s portion of land since he left no son to inherit his estate....Read more...
Read more... Leadership, Love, and Life
06/26/2020 01:47:21 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Korach, the story of a man who gathered supporters and challenged Moses’s authority. We had a very interesting conversation about this in our Torah study this week, and in the end I think I came around to understanding the traditional commentaries on this parasha and God’s extreme reactions. However, I still want to...Read more...
Juneteenth, Jews, and Joshua
06/19/2020 03:46:42 PM
Shabbat Shalom. Today is Juneteenth, the celebration of word reaching the last outpost of slavery that the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed. Although it is widely celebrated in Black communities, I and many white people were only vaguely aware of it until this year. Thanks to a combination of factors and the admirable work of Black leaders, there is a lot of talk about this day and what it means, what freedom means in this county,...Read more...
Climate Change, Racism, and Judaism
06/12/2020 05:24:41 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat B’ha’alot’cha, which opens with the mounting of the menorah in the Mishkan. As it goes on, we hear about the whining of the people who were bored of their matzah and wanted meat. The Torah tells us:
Read more...
Summer Series!
06/09/2020 02:59:49 PM
Blessings, Knees, and Justice
06/05/2020 01:10:23 PM
Shabbat Shalom. This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Naso, part two in the Reform world. It includes the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26):
יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ (ס)
The LORD will bless you and protect you!
יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ (ס)Read more...
Counting, Community, Census
05/22/2020 03:44:23 PM
Shabbat Shalom! It is time to count the Omer!
Today is 44 days, which is six weeks and two days of the Omer. The kabbalistic realm of this Shabbat is strength in majesty.
This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Bamidbar, tells us of the census of the Israelite people in the...Read more...
Blessings, Curses, and Hitting the Reset Button
05/15/2020 12:53:16 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
היום שבעה ושלשים יום שהם חמשה שבועות ושני ימים לעומר
Today is 37 days, which is five weeks and two days of the Omer. The kabbalistic realm of this Shabbat is loving-kindness in foundation. Rabbi Amber Powers writes the following kavannah for this day:...Read more...
Parashat Emor
05/08/2020 02:33:57 PM
Shabbat Shalom!
Today is 30 days, which is four weeks and two days of the Omer. The kabbalistic realm of this Shabbat strength within majesty or humility.
In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Emor, we see some more rules laid out for the Kohanim, including the rule that a...Read more...
Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
05/01/2020 01:15:51 PM
Shabbat Shalom! Today is 23 days, which is three weeks and two days of the Omer. The kabbalistic realm of this Shabbat strength within eternity or endurance. A prayer by Rabbi Yael Levy found on Ritualwell.org for this night of the Omer resonated with me:
We ask for the strength to act for...Read more...
Parashat Tazria-Metzora
04/24/2020 03:13:37 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This Shabbat is sixteen days, which is two weeks and two days of the Omer. The kabbalistic realm of today’s omer is strength within harmony and compassion.
This week’s double Torah portion, Parashat Tazria-Metzora is all about quarantine. It describes various forms of tza’arat - often translated as leprous afflictions -...Read more...
Parashat Shemini
04/17/2020 12:23:11 PM
Shabbat Shalom! It is time to count the Omer!
BA-RUCH A-TAH ADO-NAI E-LO-HE-NU ME-LECH HA-OLAM ASHER KID-E-SHA-NU BE-MITZ-VO-TAV VETZI-VA-NU AL SEFI-RAT HA-OMER.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and...Read more...
Shabbat Pesach
04/10/2020 02:12:42 PM
Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom! This week our regular Parashat HaShavua goes on hold to read Pesach/Festival Torah portions. This Shabbat we read two Torah readings for our Chol HaMoed Pesach readings, one section from Exodus chapter 33, and the other from Numbers 28.
The latter reading reminds us that a...Read more...
Parashat Tzav
04/03/2020 12:00:50 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Tzav, in which Moses anoints the Tabernacle and the priests. The parasha also goes into how the priests facilitate the sacrifices, but it still requires active participation on the part of the Israelite making the sacrifice. Though the priests, as well as Moses, are there to help and serve in some ways as the conduit between...Read more...
Parashat Vayikra
03/27/2020 11:27:07 AM
Shabbat Shalom. This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayikra, the start of the Book of Leviticus and its numerous laws about sacrifices. There are different types of sacrifices named in the parasha - wheat meal, various types of animals, sacrifices to expiate for...Read more...
Parashat Vayek'hel-Pekudei, or, Love in the Time of Corona
03/20/2020 06:15:25 PM
Shabbat Shalom. This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayikehel-Pekudei, in which we see more of the descriptions and directions of the Mishkan unfold. Betzalel and Ohaliav, master architect and artisan, are appointed to oversee the building and decorating of this holy space. The double parasha ends back on talking some more about...Read more...
Parashat Ki Tisa
03/13/2020 01:05:08 PM
Shabbat Shalom. This week's Torah portion is Parashat Ki Tisa which contains one of the most famous stories in the Torah: the building of the Golden Calf. It also opens with some of the instructions regarding the building of the Mishkan and ends with a classic...Read more...
Parashat Tetzaveh (and Purim!)
03/06/2020 01:19:56 PM
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Purim Sameach! Though tonight we are kicking off our festive celebrations for Purim, let’s not lose track of our...Read more...
Parashat Terumah
02/28/2020 01:35:42 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Terumah, in which the people are asked to start bringing forth gifts to help build the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary that gives God a place to dwell among the Israelites as they wander through the desert. In the Torah, the gifts in question are material goods – gold, silver, cloth, skins, and so on, to physically...Read more...
Parashat Mishpatim
02/21/2020 05:42:26 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Mishpatim, which contains many rules and ordinances for the Israelites to follow. Mishpatim, in fact, means “rules”. There’s not necessarily a great rhyme or reason to how the rules are ordered in this section, it’s largely a hodgepodge of rules for ethical living that God sort of just info dumps...Read more...
Parashat Beshallach
02/07/2020 04:04:37 PM
What is the song that you sing for liberation? No, really, I’m asking you. Take a moment to think about it and answer honestly. If you were facing a huge and positive transition in your life, what would be the song you would want to burst into spontaneously?
For me, I like to listen to and sing along with showtunes...Read more...
Parashat Bo
01/31/2020 03:32:45 PM
Shabbat Shalom. This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Bo, in which we read the three final, terrible plagues of Egypt. This parasha is not for the faint hearted, as we read about locust destruction so thorough even the kosher critters couldn’t feed Egypt after they consumed all the crops; a darkness so intense the...Read more...
Parashat Va'era
01/24/2020 05:59:02 PM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Va’era, which includes the first three plagues of Egypt. At the start of the portion, Moses is arguing again with God about his trepidation for the task which God has assigned him. He insists that his speech is no good, he reminds God that...Read more...
Parashat Vayechi
01/10/2020 11:26:17 AM
Shabbat Shalom! This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Vayechi. In this portion, Jacob bestows his living will and testament and his ethical will upon his sons along with blessings for them as he prepares to die. This is the end of the Book of Genesis, but really just the beginning of our great narrative of the Jewish people. This is where we start to see the tribes take...Read more...
