From the Rabbi’s Desk

Shemini

Tzav

Vayikra or Postcard from the Wilderness

Pekudei – Rock, Paper, Scissors

Vayakhel

Ki Tisa

Tetzaveh

Terumah

Mishpatim: Civics and Angels

Yitro

March 27, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk

Sung in Eichah trop

“Aaron was silent” (Lev. 10:3).

My sons. I cannot breathe, I cannot speak their names, my heart has no words, just No, I say no, this cannot be; when all that is left of my boys is ashes.

Their names folded into that fire- air, flames that sucked breath from their souls.

God, you chose me, You dressed me, you have me set aside portions of korbanot to taste, yet all I taste today is ashes. You chose me – and through me You chose my sons – for this, for this, you chose me?

March 19, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk

Shalom Aleichem.

Tzav – command! The word is a sticky, fricative syllable that in one iteration or another crosses our lips daily as we perform a mitzvah.

Reflecting again, back to the final readings in Exodus, the Book of Shemot, we read about the construction of the Sanctuary, the Mishkan– and we read about fire. Fire is an element that follows us throughout Torah: God appeared to Moses in a burning bush; the Golden Calf “appeared” to Aaron and the Israelites out of fire; fire was carefully modulated to create the golden Chrubim, Keruvim and other elements of the Mishkan, and now we read about fires consuming sacrifices. In Hebrew the word for sacrifice is korban, plural, korbanot, and implies a coming closer, nearer to God. We are also taught to not make fire on Shabbat and on Festivals. Fire, then, is both a negative and positive element as are our mitzvot, and fire follows us from Shemot into Leviticus, Vayikra, and this week, into Tzav.

March 11, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk Tags: vayikra •

vayikra Many of our teachings in Torah were and are revolutionary – in every way from economic to social. In the book of Exodus, of Shemot we were called to remember and keep Shabbat. Let’s try and think for a few minutes about how utterly revolutionary that command was and still is: Stop working. Do not engage in any manner of creative work.

Millennia ago, we were a people who knew nothing but enforced work. And then God demanded we cease and desist from any manner of work that in any way replicated the 39 melachot, the 39 acts of work used to create the Sanctuary, the Mishkan. These activities are symbolic of God’s own creating, but where humans create and alter elements. Be it by plowing or winnowing, sifting or smoothing, shearing or spinning (or any modern-day variations of these kinds of work), we are enjoined by God to rest on Shabbat. Instead of ceaseless melachah, God wanted us to know joy and rest, menuchah, Shabbat.

March 5, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk

pekudei We open up Pekudei and read:

אֵ֣לֶּה פְקוּדֵ֤י הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ מִשְׁכַּ֣ן הָעֵדֻ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר פֻּקַּ֖ד עַל־פִּ֣י מֹשֶׁ֑ה עֲבֹדַת֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם בְּיַד֙ אִֽיתָמָ֔ר בֶּֽן־אַהֲרֹ֖ן הַכֹּהֵֽן׃

“These are the “accounts”, the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, which were drawn up at Moses’ bidding—the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.”

We begin with a financial accounting. Pekudei is the final of the five last Torah parashiot in Exodus, detailing every aspect of construction of the Ark, the Mishkan. All costs and every gift must be carefully recorded.

February 25, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk

Shalom Aleichem

In this week’s Torah portion, we again meet Bezalel, the Leonardo da Vinci of the Mishkan world. We learn in Exodus 35:30-34:

“And Moses said to the Israelites: ‘See, the Lord has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft and has inspired him to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper, to cut stones for setting to carve wood — to work in every kind of designer’s craft – and to give directions.’”

We first met Bezalel last week, so not only do we meet him a second time, we are now given his full name and a description of his extraordinary and multiple talents. (In a fascinating aside, we also see that Bezalel was Ben Hur, son of Hur, a name that became famous with Charlton Heston)!

February 19, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk

Shalom Aleichem.

ki tisa, golden calf Life has many blessings, and many pitfalls. So too does Ki Tisa. This is another one of those parshiot filled with verbs – remember, provoked, ascended, descended, smashing, carved – as if to remind us that every action we take, even the act of intention, holds tremendous import.

Ki Tisa is about our relationships – with each other and with God. One of the primary ingredients necessary in any relationship – as any long-married couple will tell us – is patience. Not just endurance, which implies a certain thin-lipped fortitude, but generous-hearted patience.

Who holds patience for us? In Ki Tisa we read how God gave Moses a precious gift, two tablets of stone inscribed by the very “finger” of God. But then God noted to Moshe the corruption of the people at the base of the mountain, dancing in front of flames and, heaven forfend, a golden calf. God wanted to annihilate the people, but agreed to reconsider such an action after Moshe’s fervent pleading for God to, “Relent from your flaming anger and reconsider…”

February 11, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk Tags: tetzaveh •

Shalom aleichem

We read very early in Tetzaveh the exquisitely detailed instructions God gives to Moses with regard to the “garments of sanctity” – his be’gdei kodesh, garments that will be made by wise-hearted people to dress the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol.

The Chevra Kadisha continues to use these garments today – by the same name – michnasyim, k’tonet, avnet, and kittle. These are the garments worn by the dead to transform them into their sanctity for their journey ahead. The garments in Tetzaveh, described so beautifully, are more elaborate than the simple white linen or cotton garments worn by the dead today. Yet, it is always a special moment after gently washing a meitah, after pouring nine kavim of water over her, when we then begin to dress her. First we put on her mitznefet, her bonnet, then almost at the same time her michnasayim, trousers, and k’tonet, a long under shirt. We tie bands just under her knees and then we gently pull her kittel over her headdress, tie her avnet and finally tie her apron to the avnet. If it has been her custom to da’aven with a tallit we then wrap the tallit around her, cover her face in lace (a local minhag we learned from the women in Nova Scotia), and then we lift her gently into the aron, wrap a white sheet around her, the sovev, and close the lid.

February 4, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk Tags: Temurah •

Shalom Aleichem,

This week in my Rabbinics class we were asked to write about Pastoral care. This is my submission, in part.

Who amongst us has not lost a beloved one, be they a parent, a spouse, a sibling, or God forbid, a child. This week our Jewish community lost a teacher of many years, a woman who guided so many children into their adulthood, a woman who valued her Judaism with all her might and all her soul. The same week, the mother of one of our beloved members of Kolot Mayim died. Last Sunday was a day of Remembrance for all those souls who perished in the Shoah. As we look at photographs of these souls, men, women, children, we can only begin to imagine what our world has lost as each one person perished. The literature, the scientific discoveries, the music, the theatre, the Torah learning – those souls gone up in flames, or buried in mud.More

January 30, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk Tags: angels, civics, mishpatim •

Shalom Aleichem

I alluded last week to my maniacal preparations for my own ceremony of Bat Mitzvah as a grown woman, and as someone who chose to enter the covenant. Mishpatim is that sidra that caused me to pause and consider my need to allow others to help me prepare for that day.

Mishpatim includes many of our civil laws – the Covenant, our legal code, laws which have to do with our interactions with each other – a conjunction which seems entirely fitting for someone choosing to join this community. We have just heard the big picture at Sinai – but now we come down to the pragmatic details. We learn that our conduct amongst ourselves is equal to any theology. We are to live out our relationship with God in real time with real people.

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January 23, 2019 by Rabbi Lynn Greenhough • From the Rabbi's Desk

Shalom Aleichem,

Yitro is the חוֹתֵן, the father-in-law of Moshe, a relationship that is reiterated and reinforced many times in the first section of this sidra. The name Yitro means abundance or riches – and truly this is what Yitro gave to Moshe. Not riches of kind, but of counsel regarding sustainability, practical counsel that would yield abundance for generations to come.

Yitro was that voice against hubris. His was the voice that continues to be heard by would-be-superwomen/supermen everywhere: “You can’t do it all; you need to get help; you need to delegate, and distribute the load. Share your power.” I am not sure we could not call Moshe, Rabbeinu, our teacher, if he hadn’t learned this lesson from Yitro.

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