WUPJ Library

The congregation where I grew up was the oldest congregation in the State of Illinois – yet steeped in 1960’s style social justice activism. I learned then that commandments to help the poor and the stranger were expressive of Judaism’s age-old, unchanging commitment to the most vulnerable members of society.

This coming Shabbat we read a double portion: Achrei Mot-Kedoshim. The last parsha is also called ‘The Holiness Codex’. It starts by commanding us to be holy. Or does it? God says to Moses: “Instruct the community of Israel: kedoshim t’yehiyu, be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy” (Vayikra 19:2). How can we human beings be holy like God, Him/Herself? We are created in God’s image as stated in the first book of the Torah, but we are not God!

It is easy to consider the sidra Metzora as somehow ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘unpleasant’. A taboo subject. I have even experienced distraught Bar Mitzvah families asking if their sons could instead read something ‘more relevant’ – as though their children were not about to enter a phase in their lives when dermatology would be more important than theology, when spots and pimples and greasy skin and dandruff and pustules and scab tissue were not going constantly to occupy their thoughts.

We often think that e-mails or text messages are like oral conversation; that once the words are pronounced they disappear, but it is not the case. They stay in the minds of people that have been hurt, and the pain is difficult to erase. A little click can cause a great shock: let us take our time, zeman nakat, let us hurry slowly so that we be motsi shem tov – uttering good words, words of good.

Vayikra, the third book of the Torah, is known in the tradition as “Torat Cohanim”, dealing as it does with many laws concerning the priests and their role in leading the people in service to God… The Lubavich Rabbi commented that, “Being the most difficult to understand, the Book of Vayikra demands more effort from its reader, which in turn lifts the reader to new heights of understanding and spiritual achievement.” Of all the books in the Torah, Vayikra challenges us to think about what it means to live by the Torah’s precepts and what it means to be in service to God.

My brother-in-law has many talents. In addition to playing the banjo, he’s a builder and carpenter; attorney specializing in environmental issues; and all around good guy. But his passion is olive farming. This year, with the help of volunteers from around the world as well as extended friends and family from our home at Kibbutz Gezer, he harvested two tons of olives. In many ways he embodies A.D. Gordon’s “Religion of Labor” and the philosophy of Labor Zionism.

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Naamah Kelman, the Dean of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem Recently I participated on a panel discussing Intermarriage. This was for an Israeli audience and for many of them; the very issue of Intermarriage is just another indication of the decline of Jewry outside of Israel. It was […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Danny Burkeman, Rabbi at the Community Synagogue in Port Washington, New York, USA. He is a former Board member of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) Empowering the People When I think back to my time in RSY-Netzer (the Reform Jewish Youth movement in Britain) I find it hard to […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Senior Rabbi, Temple Emanu-El , Tucson, Arizona, USA The Song to the Violent God “ God (YHVH) is a man of war! YHVH is His Name! ” — Exodus 15:3 The Torah portion of B’Shalach is justly famous for two reasons. First, it tells the great tale of […]

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Meir Azari, Senior Rabbi of the Daniel Centers for Progressive Judaism , Tel Aviv, and Israel The Exodus from Egypt through Moses’s Eyes In the heart of Parashat Bo lies the story of the people of Israel’s exodus from Egypt. Over the years, so much has been written about this journey […]

hen reading this week’s Parasha, Parashat Bo, we learn not only about the additional plagues that were not mentioned in last week’s portion, and not only about the preparations for the very first Passover, but we discover when, why, and who went out of Egypt and were delivered by God. The chapter does not specify names of Jewish families or a list of those who came out of Egypt, but does answer some questions such as “when did the Exodus start?” and perhaps even gives a hint on how to make this important Jewish event a success.

Recent Issues By: Rabbi Stephen Lewis Fuchs, former President of World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Beth Israel , West Hartford, Connecticut, USA. “Why didn’t God Just Soften Pharaoh’s Heart? “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart … (and he) will not listen to you.” (Exodus 7:3-4) I vividly remember the first […]