WUPJ Library

Why does the Haggadah enjoin us not just to remember but to put ourselves in that place, in that moment in time, and believe ourselves to have been part of it? Doing so can connect us across dimensions of time and space, tying Jewish peoplehood together in this foundational narrative.

This Shabbat finds much of the Jewish people simultaneously preparing to greet Shabbat, and making plans and arrangements to clean chametz (specific grains forbidden during Passover) from our homes.

When the request was sent out to WUPJ Rabbis to undertake a commentary on a weekly sidra, within a couple of hours every sidra but one had been taken – This one. I mention this because it is revealing of areas where many Progressive Jews seem to feel uncomfortable or feel perhaps that a specific text has little to say to us of an instructive moral nature.

Jewish history is replete with such inflection points. How do we confront an uncertain future: with fear or with faith?

This week’s Torah portion Tzav צו (Leviticus 6:1-8:36) contains a verse that reads like a crime scene! (…) I can easily imagine Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Cagney & Lacey, Elvis Cole, even Frank and Joe Hardy, approaching this spectacle with surprise and shock. I can hear them consulting with officers on the scene, “you mean, blood is to be found only on the right ears, thumbs, and big toes of the victims?”

In the Jewish world of sacred reflectional reading, this week marks a major transitional period, as we progress onward and forward through the holy pathways of Torah.

After 400 years in bondage, the Israelites move from slavery to freedom, breaking a cycle of oppression that has lasted for generations. With this radical rupture, the Exodus introduces a theological paradigm grounded in hope.

The recognition of the value of volunteers is underscored in this week’s parsha, Parshat Vayakhel. The text continues the description of the construction of the Mishkan, the sacred space where God will dwell amongst God’s people.

In their earliest months as a free people, the Israelites are wandering a vast, unmarked wilderness that is both physical and metaphorical. It is disorienting to be released into the vastness of a midbar from the constriction of Mitzrayim (“the narrows”).

This week in Parshat Tetzaveh, Aaron and his sons are given instructions for kindling the Golden Menorah in the ancient Tabernacle. Hidden in the details, yet in plain view, is an important concept: bring your best for God.

An essential purpose of Torah is to demonstrate to us that God is present everywhere; God is all-powerful and omnipresent.

The idea of creating a holy society by caring for others is repeated several times in this Torah portion.  Each time reiterating the concept, that we are not supposed to ignore the suffering or hardship of our neighbors, instead we are instructed to help each other seeing the humanity in one another.