Receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai

Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

May 4-5, 2018 / 20 Iyar 5778

Omer Day 35

Shabbat Emor

Torah: Leviticus 21:1-24:23 / Haftarah: Ezekiel 44:15-31

“Receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai”

Dear Friends,

How did the festival of Shavu’ot, which we will celebrate in two weeks, become the holiday of receiving the Torah?  In this week’s Torah portion, we learn about the big three festivals of the biblical world, Passover, Shavu’ot, and Sukkot.  These are three main agricultural festivals, which coincide with the three main harvests of the year.  Passover celebrated the barley harvest. Shavu’ot recognized the wheat harvest and other spring crops. Sukkot was a celebration of the summer harvest.

Nowhere in the Torah text is any association of Shavu’ot with the Exodus from Egypt or the receiving of the Torah.  Yet, that is what most believe about this holiday.  There are many explanations for the development of the festival to its current meaning.  Some maintain that since the Torah says that the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai on the ‘third new moon’ after leaving Egypt, that must coincide with the fifty days from Passover to Shavuot. Others hold that since Shavu’ot celebrated the springtime harvest in biblical Israel, we need to celebrate the springtime harvest in our time.  Since most of us are no longer farmers, then the harvest we celebrate is the Torah itself.

I hope that you will join your Shir Hadash community at our Saturday evening Shavuot study session on May 19th.  On Sunday morning May 20, we will hold a Shavu’ot service for the religious school community.  All are invited to celebrate Shavu’ot with all its meanings and associations.

Zay a Mentsch – Be a good person.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Love Your Neighbor

Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

April 27-28, 2018/ 13 Iyar 5778

Omer Day 28

Shabbat Aharei Mot - Kedoshim

Torah: Leviticus 16:1 - 20:27

Haftarah: Amos 9:7 - 9:15

 “Love Your Neighbor”

Dear Friends,

What does it mean to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’? Sounds rather simple, but in reality it is a real challenge.  This week’s Torah portion includes the Holiness Code – a long list of ethical and moral dos and don’ts that begin with the proclamation, “You shall be holy, for I the Eternal your God am holy.”  Some of the rules include: don’t eat rotten food, revere your mother and father, don’t curse the deaf or cause the blind to stumble, and reprove your fellow if you see him about to commit a sin.  The long list ends with the commandment to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The simple part of this commandment comes when the people around you are very similar to yourself. It’s easy to love those with whom you have so much in common. What about loving those who are not as kind or considerate as you are or hope to be? The Torah commentator Pinchas Peli summed it up this way. “It does not take much effort to love good people, nice people. The test of the fulfillment of the commandment is in loving those who are not as good and lovable in one’s eyes. ‘Love your fellow human -- as yourself,’ as you accept yourself with all your faults and shortcomings, accept others the same way.”

Zay a Mentsch – Be a good person.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Cause and Effect

Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

April 20-21, 2018 / 6 Iyar 5778

Omer Day 21

Shabbat Tazria-Metzora

Torah: Leviticus 12:1 - 15:33       Haftarah: II Kings 7:3 - 7:20

“Cause and Effect”

Dear Friends,

What is the cause of disease?  For our ancestors in biblical times, disease was the punishment one received for doing evil.  And what was the sin that brought about the skin diseases described in this week’s Torah portion? Slander and gossip were the culprits.  After all, Moses suffered from a skin disease after he complained to God that the Children of Israel would not listen to him.  Miriam became leprous after she gossiped about Moses’ wife Tzipora.

Of course we know that gossip does not cause disease.  Yet is does cause “dis-ease” – a discomfort in our community leading to embarrassment and upset.  Are you having trouble controlling the urge to gossip? Here are some quotes to keep you focused on kindness and compassion:

Have you heard something about someone? Let it die with you. Be of good courage, it will not harm you if it ends with you. (Ben Sirah 19:10)

Your friend has a friend, and your friend’s friend has a friend. So be careful of what you say. (Talmud – Ketubot 109b)

For lack of wood, a fire goes out. And without a querulous man, contention is stilled. (Proverbs 26:20)

Because of gossip, if you want to know what is happening in your own home, ask your neighbors. (Yiddish folk saying)

Gossip is nature’s telephone. (Shalom Aleichem)

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Why Keep Kosher

Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

April 13-14, 2018 / 29 Nisan 5778

Shabbat Shemini

Torah: Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47

Haftarah: I Samuel 20:18 - 20:42 | Shabbat Machar Chodesh

Omer: Day 14

“Why Keep Kosher?”

Dear Friends,

Why keep kosher?  This week’s Torah portion goes into the rules and regulations of the Jewish dietary laws.  But it does not explain why.  Over the centuries, many rabbis have tried to explain the reason for this Jewish tradition.  Some said that we should keep kosher simply because God said so.  Other argued that keeping kosher is all about eating healthy and avoiding diseases that might be carried in the flesh of predators and carnivorous animals.  Still others advocated for the spiritual elevation that eating brings when we observe God’s commandments.

Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism, taught that the reason Jews keep kashrut is to make “the people of Israel aware of its dedication to God as a priestly or holy people.”  Thus, eating in a Jewish way has “contributed to the perpetuation of the Jewish people and the retention of its way of life.”  So, according to Kaplan, kashrut is a key way of preserving Jewish identity.

Kaplan adds that keeping kosher “is particularly effective in lending Jewish atmosphere to the home, which, in the Diaspora, is our last-ditch-defense against the inroads of assimilation.”  So, for Kaplan, keeping kosher is a powerful folkway – an age-old Jewish tradition that is not necessarily about health or holiness or spirituality.  Rather, it is all about Jewish consciousness, identity, and community. It is all about magnifying how we live a Jewish life.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

Into the Desert

Shabbat Shalom from Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow

April 6-7, 2018 / 22 Nisan 5778

Shabbat Pesach Day 8

Omer: Day 7

“Into the Desert”

Dear Friends,

What did our ancestors, the Children of Israel, really face in leaving Egypt?  As we conclude our week-long Passover celebration and the telling of our ancestors’ miraculous deliverance from bondage, reality starts to set in.  The new normal becomes apparent.

With the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, our ancestors confronted a whole new existence – desert dwelling.  Remember that they were village and city people.  They were farmers and craftsmen living in one of the most fertile regions of the world, the Nile River delta.  What did they know of deserts?  What did they know of camping?  What did they know of the nomadic life? Nothing.  This was a whole new existence – exhilarating and frightening, exciting and challenging in ways no one could possibly imagine.  Soon our ancestors would receive the Torah at Mount Sinai and then they would move on to the Promised Land.  Through forty years of wandering they would emerge as free men and women.

The Talmud asks why it was necessary for the Israelites to endure such a difficult experience.  One answer describes how a crucible of ore must endure the blast furnace in order to produce pure gold.

As we leave Passover behind and set off for the Promised Land, remember that the way of growth is hard and that change is never easy. Remember that the path to maturity, identity, confidence, and pride is rarely smooth, but it is worth it in every way.  Our Jewish tradition teaches that we must go into the desert in order to reach the Promised Land.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Eitan Weiner-Kaplow