My Torah Talks (Divrei Torah)

5 January 2009
I am an active member of Shalhevet Hamaccabim, an egalitarian Masorti congregation that was formed some 20 years ago, soon after the town of Maccabim was established. Our membership comprises about forty families from Maccabim, Reut, Modiin and the surrounding area, and includes new and veteran immigrants from the USA and other English-speaking countries, South Americans, as well as native Israelis. We are a self-led congregation with many talented members, whose skills, knowledge and energy keep our congregation vibrant and enriched, both spiritually and socially. Every Friday evening the congregation meets for a kabbalat shabbat service, which includes a dvar torah (short sermon on the weekly Bible portion) delivered by one of the congregants. For the past two years I have prepared and delivered a number of divrei torah. I prepare my text in English, but speak in Hebrew. The Torah Talk…

Dvar Torah: Miketz and Chanukah

12 December 2007

It is Chanukah. We are celebrating a miracle. What is the miracle?

In a few minutes we will continue with arvit service. During Chanukah, we include the Al Hanissim prayer when we recite the amidah prayers. This addition serves to give thanks to God for the miracles that occurred at this time to people of Israel.

Traditionally, Hanukkah celebrates two distinct events: the victory of the Maccabees and the restoration of the Temple after its desecration.

The Al Hanissim prayer stresses the military victory over the Greeks. It also states that the cleansing of the Temple was commemorated by the lighting of candles. It makes no mention of the miracle of the oil.

In the Talmud, however, there is a passage concerning Chanukah (Shabbat 21b) that emphasizes the rededication and the related miracle of the oil.

According to Al Hanissim, the miracle of Chanukah was that the many were delivered into the hand of few, and the strong into the hand of the weak.

What is the connection between this week’s portion, the story of Joseph, and Chanukah?

Dvar Torah: Noah – The Tower of Babel

12 October 2007

This week’s portion is mostly the story about the great flood, Noah and his sons. But I am going to speak about the the last nine verses of the portion, which tell the story of Migdal Babel, the tower of Babylon.

We must first recall that God commanded Noah and his sons to scatter across the earth: [Bereshit 9:1] And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. [9:7] And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; swarm in the earth, and multiply therein.’

Keep this in mind. We’ll come back to this. Let’s now look at this week’s story:

[Bereshit (11:1-4)] And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.  And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another: ‘Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said: ‘Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’

After the flood, the descendants of Noah (who all spoke one language) moved eastward and settled in the plain of Shinar, or Babylonia. The settlement of Shinar could be construed as a partial fulfillment of the command to “increase in number and fill the earth”. Yet they decided to all stay in one place and ignore or defy God’s commandment to scatter over the earth. They believed they would have power in numbers. They believed that if they combined their strength they could “make a name for themselves” by building a tower to the sky.

What’s the problem? What was wrong with banding together to collaborate an a great building project? Think about how children naturally work together to build towers from their blocks, or about colleagues working together to construct and sail a raft during a leadership or team-building workshop.

Dvar Torah: Rosh Hashanah

23 September 2006

For the Jews, the shofar is one of our most profound symbols.
Why do we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashana?

What are the 3 different kinds of sounds, and what do they mean?

  • Tekiah — one long, straight blast
  • Shevarim — three medium, wailing sounds
  • Teruah — nine quick blasts in short succession

What should we be thinking about when we hear the sound of the shofar sounded one hundred times on Rosh Hashana?

I have found many explanations and ideas that help focus our attention on the significance of the shofar while listening to its blasts on Rosh Hashana:

Dvar Torah: Re’eh

18 August 2006

In Parshas Re’eh, God tells the Jewish people, “See, I put before you today blessing and curse.” The blessing will go to those who keep the Torah and its mitzvot. The curse will affect those who do not heed the Torah.

In the Torah we usually hear appeals to the Israelites in the form of “listen” (שמע). We might have expected God to say, “Listen, I will explain to you how to achieve blessing and avoid curse. ”

But the parasha this week begins with the the exhortation to “see” (ראה). Already we know something different is going on here.

Why does God say, “Re’eh–See”?

One explanation:

Our Rabbis said that when a person hears something, he does not always believe it. Perhaps he didn’t hear clearly or the message was not passed to him accurately. He can challenge that which he heard. But unlike hearing, seeing is absolute. A person who sees something accepts it as fact. He sees it with his own eyes and can not deny it. If you tell him it isn’t true, he will insist that it is.

Another explanation:

Dvar Torah: Pinchas – in memory of St. Sgt. Yaniv Bar-On

14 July 2006

In mid-July 2006, Congregation Shalhevet Hamaccabim was planning to hold its annual special kabbalat shabbat service honoring our recent high school graduates, soon-to-be army inductees. Like Carleen and Asher Bar-on, I have a daughter who was about to begin her army service. In honor of the occasion I volunteered to deliver the d’var torah — something I had never done before. I chose a theme that was appropriate for our soon-to-be soldiers, and had already prepared my text when we learned that the Bar-on’s middle child, Yaniv, had been killed on the Lebanese border. By Friday I had rewritten the ending, and my d’var torah became a message to a kehila in mourning. I delivered the d’var torah again (in English) at an evening service during Yaniv’s shiva.

D’var Torah, in memory of St. Sgt. Yaniv Bar-On, of blessed memory

This week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, relates an important event in the history of the people of Israel – the chosing of Yehoshua to succeed Moshe as the people’s new leader.

The Israelites are encamped at Shittim. They are soon going to enter into the promised land. But as we know, Moshe will not be leading the people. The time has come for a new leader.

ַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, עֲלֵה אֶל-הַר הָעֲבָרִים הַזֶּה; וּרְאֵה, אֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר נָתַתִּי, לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. וְרָאִיתָה אֹתָהּ, וְנֶאֱסַפְתָּ אֶל-עַמֶּיךָ גַּם-אָתָּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר נֶאֱסַף, אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ.

God tells Moshe to go up the mountain and look upon the land, which He is giving to the people of Israel. God reminds Moshe that he will die, like his brother Aharon, before he enters the land.

וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה, אֶל-יְהוָה לֵאמֹר.
יִפְקֹד יְהוָה, אֱלֹהֵי הָרוּחֹת לְכָל-בָּשָׂר, אִישׁ, עַל-הָעֵדָה

Moshe, a true and great leader, does not argue with God. He does not focus on his own fate. Instead his concern is to make sure that the Jews will still have someone to lead them after he is gone. He asks God to select a worthy leader for the people, one who will lead them like a shepherd.

And who does God select?

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, קַח-לְךָ אֶת-יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן-נוּן–אִישׁ, אֲשֶׁר-רוּחַ בּוֹ; וְסָמַכְתָּ אֶת-יָדְךָ, עָלָיו.

Why is Yehoshua selected? Because “he is a man in whom there is spirit.”

That sounds like a very small requirement for someone who is about to assume such an important role as leader of the Jewish people.