This week’s Parasha Vayakhel opens with Moses convening a special meeting of the entire Israelite congregation. Those of us with experience in congregational life might imagine him standing up in front with a roll of blueprints under his arm, congregational officers sitting on the dais along with representatives from the architectural firm as well as the general contractors, and delivering an inspirational speech to kick off the fund raising campaign.
11 March 2010 / 25 Adar 5770 Five years have passed since I helped the newly formed English-speaking ex-pat congregation in Brussels find its way. The first, somewhat primitive, synagogue was set up, the bimah and the Ark had been made, the first prayer books were printed, and my congregation in Amsterdam had loaned them […]
Recent Issues By: Rabbi Jack Luxemburg, Temple Beth Ami , Rockville, Maryland, USA In this week’s Torah portion, the spiritual relationship between a leader and his/her people is explored through the events surrounding the episode of Egel HaZahav – the Golden Calf. Our ancestors experienced Moses’ long stay on Mt. Sinai as abandonment and loss. […]
Recent Issues By: Rabbi Michel Schlesinger is the Rabbi of Congregacao Israelita Paulista (CIP) in Sao Paulo and the representative of the Brazilian Jewish Confederation (CONIB) for interreligious dialogue. The sin of the golden calf is committed in this week’s parasha , Ki Tisa. Ironically, in the same portion of the Torah where this artistic […]
By Rabbi Ruven Bar Ephraim, Or Chadasch Congregation, Zurich, Switzerland, and Rabbinic Advisor to the EUPJ One comes into the world, usually with two parents, perhaps siblings, aunts, uncles, Grandparents and other relatives. The family situation changes when you have a spouse. He / she brings her / his family clan into the marriage. As […]
by Rabbi Lawrence A. Englander, Rabbi of Solel Congregation , Mississauga, Ontario Canada, and President-Elect of Arzenu My new understanding of this week’s Parasha began with a visit to the British Museum in London. There, in the Assyrian gallery, I saw the huge bronze Nimrud gates. Moulded onto these gates were two fierce creatures ( click […]
by Rabbi Mark H. Levin , DHL, Congregation Beth Torah, Overland Park , KS Many people would say, as Rabbi Jacob Milgrom demonstrates in his JPS Commentary to The Book of Numbers, that this is the most important Torah portion. Parts of it are read four times in the annual Torah reading cycle: this week’s […]
This week’s Parasha, Ki Tisa, illustrates, among other lessons, how ordinary, mundane administrative matters of life – like the taking of a census and fiscal upkeep of a community – interface with grand and dramatic episodes of life: the revelation of cosmic truths translated into human terms.
by Rabbi Dr. Shaul (Paul) R Feinberg, Associate Dean Emeritus, Hebrew Union College , Jerusalem This week’s Parasha opens with an administrative injunction: a call for a census of males of military age. For a number of reasons the census was to be carried out by counting a one-half shekel contribution to the Temple. As […]
By Rabbi Gabor Lengyel 4 March 2010 / 18 Adar 5770 וידבר יהוה אל משה לאמור: כי תשא את ראש בני ישראל לפקדיהם ונתנו איש כפר נפשו ליהוה (Exodus 30: 11-12) “The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: When you take a census of the Israelite men according to their army enrollment, each shall pay […]