Family Trees, Branches, and Identity
The Book of Genesis involves a patchwork of stories. These are held together by an overarching framework that I refer to as "the ideological overlay."How are we to understand this structure? Picture eggs in an eggcrate.
Border Crossings
We are at Rosh Hanikra, just meters from the Israel-Lebanon border. We go down to where the Mediterranean crashes through the caves it has carved out of the mountainside.
On Hearing and Listening
FOCAL POINT |
Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; / Let the earth hear the words I utter! (Deuteronomy 32:1)
Emor for Teens: Shabbat Sha-raps
Letting Abraham's Example Guide Us, During Election Season and Beyond
The Making of a Covenant with Men and Women
Almost 25 years after God calls Abram to leave his home in Mesopotamia and go to the land of Canaan, God formally establishes a covenant with him (Genesis 17:4ff.). Like that established with Noah, his descendants, and all living beings (9:8ff.), it is unconditional, everlasting, includes blessings and promises, and carries with it a sign decided upon by God. However, unlike the rainbow, placed in the clouds and passively received by humanity, the sign of God's covenant with Abraham — male circumcision — is something with which Abram and his descendants, not God, are entrusted. They are to circumcise their sons and other male children in their household on the eighth day after birth as a physical sign of the covenant. The punishment for failing to do so is severe. "An uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin," says God, " … shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant" (17:14).
The Standing Jew Plan
Atem nitzavim hayom, "You are standing this day…." (Deuteronomy 29:9) In this week's parashah, Nitzavim, all Israel stands as a sign of respect, just as we do during the Amidah, the worship service's central prayer.
Shabbat Shuvah! "Be Strong and Resolute"
In Vayeilech, the shortest portion in the Torah, Moses tells the people that he will not be leading them into the Land of Israel, per God's instruction; instead, Joshua will lead them (Deuteronomy 31:1-3).
Covenantal Models of Protest and Submission
Vayeira is an especially challenging and memorable Torah portion for it provides us with two very different models of what it means to live in covenantal relationship with God.