Author: cristovao

February 20, 2018 Parashah Commentary Post a Comment

Parashat Tetzaveh

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashah Tetzaveh, Erev Shabbat 23rd February 2018

Week of 18th – 24th February 2018

Torah portion: Exodus 27:20 – 30:10 Haftarah 1Sam. 15:1-34

 

Download

 

Parashah Tetzaveh (and you shall further instruct…) continues from Parashat Trumah, with Moshe receiving more commands from God on furnishing the tabernacle including the preparation of vestments and ordination of the ministering priests in it.

 

The parashah opens with the Israelites being commanded to continuously bring crushed or beaten, clear olive oil for kindling the light of the lamps, in the Tabernacle, which Aaron and his sons are to keep burning from evening to morning.

 

It is fascinating to note that keeping a constant light burning in the tabernacle becomes the first instruction that God asks of Moshe to command the people. It seems to resonate with “Let there be light” (Gen 1:3). Moshe and the people seemingly are invited into participating in the Divine mission of creating God’s sanctuary in the midst of them: Moshe delivering the instructions through God’s guidance, God’s people themselves contributing by bringing continuously that which is essential in making light come into existence, and the priests participating by attentively keeping the light burning throughout. All coming and working together for one purpose.

 

A whole section follows with detailed instructions on making vestments of finest materials, stones and gems, prepared by the skilful, translated as “wise of heart”, (Etz, p.505) for Aaron and his lineage serving as priests for God in the Tabernacle. Again another parallel is seen between the creation of the world and fashioning of the tabernacle. (Etz, p.504)

 

It is delightful to read how in fashioning vestments of priests that calls forth holiness, for the priest, somehow involves the gathering of the people who have been gifted by God with wisdom to create balance and harmony with the best of what the created world can offer, making everything come together as one and whole.

 

Central though it seems to the instructions given in the whole parashah is found in reading Ex 29:42-45. God’s instructions lead to simply preparing a place where the Divine Presence can rest in the midst of the chosen people. God prepares God’s own for a deepening of a relationship where one is found abiding with the other.

 

As the parashah closes, instructions for an altar for regular incense offering to God throughout the ages is given. The aroma of a burning incense cannot be contained, it spreads farther than where it is burnt. Could it be, then, a witnessing to the rest of the world of the uncontainable growing relationship between God and God’s own?

 

Reflection and Discussion: 1. How have you created a place for God in your life? 2. How have you grown daily in becoming attuned to God’s presence in and around you? 3. How has your growing relationship become a witnessing to all who come to know you?

 

Bibliography: Lieber ed. Etz Hayim Torah and Commentary, Travel ed. (JPS New York 2004).

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

Sr. Weeyaa Villanueva, RNDM. Senegal, West Africa, Bat Kol Alumna 2010.

Email: weeyaavillanueva@gmail.com

[Copyright © 2018]

 

……………………………………………………………………………

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

………………………………………………………………….

 

1983-2018

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

Website: www.batkol.info; Commentary admin: gill@batkol.info

February 12, 2018 Sunday Commentary Post a Comment

First Sunday of Lent

First Sunday of Lent Year B (18 February 2018)

Gen. 9:8-15; Ps. 24:4-9; 1 Pet. 3:18-22; Mark 1:12-15.

Theme: The Spirit drives Jesus into the Wilderness

 

 

Download

 

That the Spirit immediately drove Jesus into the wilderness [Mark 1:12] connects his stay there with the story of his baptism that has immediately preceded it. This connection is vital to understanding Jesus. The baptism story emphasizes his special father-son relationship with God while the wilderness story emphasizes his real humanity, his identification with us.

 

Nearly all English versions use the past tense ‘drove’, but the Greek word ekballei is present tense, so ‘drives’ is closer to the original. Perhaps Mark is saying that being in the wilderness is a permanent condition, both for Jesus and for us. It certainly must have seemed so to his first audience, persecuted and oppressed as they were by the power of imperial Rome.

 

The extent to which the wilderness impressed itself on the Jewish religious imagination is illustrated by the fact that words like ‘wilderness’ and ‘desert’ appear more than 300 times in the Hebrew Bible and about 450 times in the Talmud [e.g. Mas. Sanh. 99a (11) “just as they were afflicted forty years in the wilderness, so shall they rejoice forty years under the kingship of the Messiah”]. Primarily the wilderness is a place of testing, as in the Exodus story, “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you…testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments” [Deut 8:2], but it is also the privileged place of meeting with God, e.g. Moses on Mt Sinai [Ex 19:20-24], also Elijah [1Kg 19:9-14]; it is the place where God will speak to the heart of his beloved Israel [Ho 2:14]. For Jesus, too, it was a place both of testing and of reassurance.

 

The number ‘forty’, whether days or years, is also a symbolic term. It represents a lifetime, and was possibly the average life expectancy in biblical times. Even today in poorer countries in Africa it is only in the 50’s. Which raises the question as to how long Jesus was tempted – tempted to use possessions, wield status and exercise power in ways that were not in accordance with his Father’s will [see Mt 4:1-10]. The answer has to be for his whole lifetime! This is the position taken by the Letter to the Hebrews, “we have one (Jesus) who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin”. The Vatican II document The Church in the Modern World says likewise when it says of Jesus that he was “like to us in all things, except sin” [#22].

 

Jesus was not alone in the wilderness. He was “with the wild beasts” and “the angels waited on him”. Mary Healy suggests that the presence of the wild beasts that do no harm evokes Isaiah’s picture of harmony in creation at the coming of the Messiah [Is 11:1-9], though Robert Stein disagrees, seeing the wild beasts as part of an evil environment. The angels ministered to Jesus just as they had done to Israel during the exodus [Ex 14:19], and to Elijah before his forty-day journey to meet YHWH at Horeb [1 Kg 19:5-7]. In the Elijah story ‘angel’ and ‘the angel of the Lord’ are used interchangeably, and in the annunciation to Gideon in Judges 6:22-23 ‘the angel of the Lord’ is synonymous with ‘the Lord’. So the God of Jesus is with him through all the trials of his life, ministering to him and caring for him.

 

For Reflection and Discussion: 1. What do you find (a) challenging, and (b) reassuring, about this passage from Mark? 2. How do you respond to Mark’s picture of Jesus being tempted all through his life? 3. In what ways might this story of Jesus in the wilderness shape your approach to Lent this year?

 

Bibliography: Healy, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids MI, 2008); Robinson, Change of Mind and Heart (Revesby NSW, 1994); Stein, Mark (Grand Rapids MI, 2008).

 

This week’s Sunday Gospel Commentary was prepared by

Br Kevin McDonnell cfc, PhD., Australia, Bat Kol Alumnus, 2003, 2004, 2005.

Email address: klmcdonnell@edmundrice.org

[Copyright © 2018]

 

…………………………………………………………

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

…………………………………………………………

 

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

1983-2018

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.

gill@batkol.info Website: www.batkol.info

Parashah Commentary Post a Comment

Parashat Terumah

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashah Terumah Erev Shabbat, 17th February 2018

Week of 10th -18th February

Torah portion: Exodus 25:1-27:19 Haftarah: 1Kgs 5:26-6:13

 

Download

 

I was reminded of Harambee days in Kenya as I read the Torah portion for this week. Harambee means “all pulling together” in Swahili and it encompasses two activities; donations – both animals and money, channeled towards a building project. The energy generated by the act of freely given donations and the purpose wherein those were used on behalf of the community, was very palpable. A glimpse of the energy released to build a visible structure to house the Divine presence can be glimpsed in the fact that a halt had to be put on the flow of gifts that flowed so generously from the people. “The people are bringing more than is needed for the work G-d has ordered to be done” (Ex.36:5). Donations, sanctuary and tabernacle (mishkan) – are at the heart of parashah Terumah. “The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts, you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart is so moved….and let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them’ (Ex 25:1, 8). The stress is on G-d’s dwelling among the people not on the building. The Terumah Commentary 177, reads not “I will dwell in it”, but rather, “I will dwell in them”. Terumah can be translated as ‘a contribution’ but Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out that it has a subtly different meaning for which there is no English equivalent. It means ‘something you lift up’ by dedicating it to a sacred cause. I glimpsed a moment like that at a Harambee day for building a church, when a young boy came up with his contribution, which was one copper coin. He lifted it up in front of the crowd and announced that this was for God. His statement met with awed silence by those present.

 

The description of the building of Solomon’s Temple in the Haftarah brings out the contrast between what is freely given from the heart and what is coerced. “King Solomon raised a levy throughout Israel for forced labor: the levy numbered thirty thousand men. He sent these to Lebanon in relays, ten thousand a month; they spent one month in Lebanon and two months at home”(1Kgs 5:27-28). In an unnerving way the building smacks something of the tyranny of the building programs of Egypt during the exile there.

 

The gifts necessary for the building are named beginning with gold, silver and copper. It is interesting that the copper is given the name “snake metal” from the Hebrew nachash. It “is a substance that recalls the stubborn impudence of the primordial snake’s denial of God.” (181) Is there a hint there that what we resist in our contributions can through integration into the fabric and structure of the sanctuary be open to transformation, not by exclusion but by inclusion into the whole?

 

Reflection: “The very act of giving flows from, or leads to, the understanding that what we give is part of what we were given. It is a way of giving thanks, an act of gratitude” (Rabbi Sacks). How is gratitude built into our lives? How do we ‘each build a tabernacle in our own hearts for G-d to dwell in’? (Malbim in Plaut, 557)

 

Bibliography: Commentary on Terumah, www.chabad.org.media; Fox, The Five Books of Moses (New York, 1995); Plaut (ed), The Torah, A Modern Commentary (New York, 1981); http://rabbisacks.org/parsha/Terumah – The Gift of Giving (Terumah 5776) 8th Feb 2016.

 

~~~~~~~~~

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

Moya Hegarty osu; moyaosu@eircom.net, Sligo, Ireland.

Bat Kol Alum, 2007/2015

[Copyright 2018]

 

…………………………………………..…………………

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

………………………………………………………………

 

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

1983-2018

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

Website: www.batkol.info; Parashah Admin: gill@batkol.info

 

February 5, 2018 Sunday Commentary Post a Comment

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (11 February 2018)

Lev. 13:1-2, 44-46; Ps. 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 Cor. 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45.

Theme: Jesus touched him.

 

Download

 

Jesus has scarcely begun his tour of the villages of Galilee to announce the new Reign of God when he is confronted by the leper in today’s Gospel story. What happens next spells out for the reader one of the defining features of that Reign.

 

‘Leprosy’ in the Bible covers a range of skin diseases and need not be equated with Hansen’s disease. In NT times there was a connection between ‘leprosy’ and poverty. In his study of poverty in Roman Palestine Gildas Hamel quotes the Greek physician Galen (2nd century CE) who says that in times of food shortage, during the winter or in times of famine, country people were reduced to eating twigs of trees and bushes, wild herbs and even grass. As a result they suffered vitamin deficiencies that caused a variety of ulcerating skin diseases.

 

The leper in the story begs Jesus not for a cure but for cleansing, “…you can make me clean”. His greatest trial was not the physical ailment but expulsion from his community [Lv 13:45-56] and ritual uncleanness that would have excluded him from Temple worship.

 

Jesus’ response is often translated “Moved with pity”, sometimes “with compassion”. The Greek splagchnitzomai however is much stronger, and less polite. It is related to the word for intestines or guts, which suggests that Jesus was moved to the depths of his being. Perhaps he had this gut-wrenching feeling that “Things should not be like this!” and out of that deeply felt compassion he acted. Nicholas King in his commentary on Pope Francis’ proclamation of the Year of Mercy in 2015 says Jesus felt ‘gutted’ when the leper came to him.

 

Some ancient manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel have a different Greek word instead of splagchnitzomai. It is a word that means ‘anger’. If this was the original reading, some scholars suggest that it might have been prompted by Jesus’ “very stern warning” in 1:43, or that Jesus was angry because of the apparent doubt of the man that Jesus could cure him. It seems to me much more likely that if Jesus was angry it would have been at the system that further punished a man who was already a victim of poverty and disease. The weight of opinion however is that splagchnitzomai was most probably the original wording.

 

Jesus’ world-view was no doubt shaped by his familiarity with the Hebrew scriptures. Compassion is one of the attributes of God highlighted particularly in the Wisdom literature and the Prophets: Psalm 145:9 for example, “The Lord is good to all and has compassion over all that he has made”, and Isaiah 54:10 “…my steadfast love shall not depart from you…says the Lord, who has compassion on you”. Here the compassion of God towards Israel is an expression of his hesed, steadfast love. In both cases the Hebrew word translated ‘compassion’ is related to rehem = womb, another word that evokes the deeply felt nature of compassion.

 

In the closing verse of the story Jesus, who has touched the leper, is now the one who is marginalized. As Mary Healy observes: “He has healed the man with leprosy at a cost to himself—just as later in the Gospel he will take on Barabbas’ status as a condemned criminal, while Barabbas goes free (15:15)”. Jesus models the self-giving love of a compassionate God.

 

For Reflection and Discussion: 1. Have you experienced a deeply moving reaction to some situation of distress? How did it affect you? 2. In what way(s) does your own society marginalize some people? 3. Recount examples of selfless compassion that you know about.

 

Bibliography: Hamel, Poverty and Charity in Roman Palestine (Oakland CA, 1990); Healy, The Gospel of Mark (Grand Rapids MI, 2008); King, ‘From the Beginning’, The Tablet 269, 2130, 10-11 (2015).

 

This week’s Sunday Gospel Commentary was prepared by

Br Kevin McDonnell cfc, PhD., Australia, Bat Kol Alumnus, 2003, 2004, 2005.
Email address: klmcdonnell@edmundrice.org

[Copyright © 2018]

 

………………………………………………………………….

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

…………………………………………………………………

 

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

1983-2018

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

gill@batkol.info Website: www.batkol.info

Parashah Commentary Post a Comment

Parashat Mishpatim

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashah Mishpatim  Erev Shabbat, 9th of February, 2018

Week of 4th- 10th February

Torah portion:  Ex.21:1-24:18 Haftarah: 2 Kings 11:17-12:1

 

Download

 

God instructed Moses to inform the Israelites, “These are the laws you are to set before them.” (21:1) This is the first body of legislation in the Torah dealing in great detail with the civil, moral and religious laws with the intention of establishing a just society. When Moses had explained all of this to the people they answered in one voice saying, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do!” (24:3) Such a confident and total commitment showed the great love of the people for God and of their trust in his servant, Moses.

 

Slavery which dates back to ancient times had become a way of life. Wherever there are wealthy and powerful while others are poor, the wealthy will hire the poor to do labor and will in effect control them. This servitude can easily evolve into slavery. In the Torah, we find great concern for the treatment of slaves. The question arises as to why the Torah allowed slavery when the basic premise is that all human beings are created in God’s image and therefore need to be treated with dignity and respect. The Torah did not resolve this issue but saw it as an institution that needed healing. Legislated laws were needed to protect the person from abuse and mistreatment. Initially, it probably began as an arrangement to repay stolen items and to provide a home situation for the destitute and the homeless.

 

The Israelites were always reminded not to oppress the stranger for they were once strangers in Egypt. (23:9) According to Nahmanides the stranger is powerless, they are not surrounded by family, friends, neighbors nor a community ready to come to their defense. Therefore, the Torah warns against any ill treatment of the slaves because God has made Himself their protector.” (Sacks 182)

 

There are other issues dealt within this parashah that are part of everyday living and are frequently misunderstood. First of all that of gossip, the spreading of falsehood by one’s speech (23:1). For the sages gossip meant killing three – the teller, the listener and the subject. A midrash prohibits both the listening and the spreading of these rumors because he/she has already participated in the gossip just by listening and receiving it. (Etz Hayim 470)

 

Secondly, “The penalty shall be life for life, eye for eye,” (21:24) This expression of course cannot be taken literally. Rather it was considered as a guiding principle for lawgivers and judges. The original meaning was that one paid to the injured party the value of that eye in monetary compensation. In this graphic manner it was stressed that the punishment must fit the crime and circumstances ensuring that the punishment was not either too lenient or too harsh.

 

Thirdly, the whole understanding of keeping kosher (meaning suitable, proper, pure) stems from the statement which prohibits preparing, serving or eating meat and dairy products together. (23:19) The Torah does not specify a reason for these laws but their observance shows the person’s belief and obedience to God.

 

Fourthly, that of offering a blessing over food before eating. The Israelites were called to be a holy people (19:6) and thus prayer was an integral part of everyday life. When a blessing was said, it served as a reminder of God’s presence and their relationship with God. The sages condemned a person who while enjoying the goods of God’s creation yet failed to acknowledge and thank God. Such a person was seen as a thief. (Etz Hayim 475)

 

For Reflection and Discussion: [1.] If in our daily practices there is no conscious intention, what value is there in doing them? [2.] God’s command to Abraham to be a blessing seems to conclude that a conscious and intentional effort is necessary.

 

Bibliography: Jonathan Sacks, Covenant & Conversation, (London, 2010), Etz Hayim, Torah and Commentary (New York, 2001);

 

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

Rita Kammermayer, nds, BA, B.Ed, Masters of Pastoral Studies, Jerusalem, Bat Kol alumni 2001

ritakammermayer@netscape.net

[Copyright © 2018]

 

……………………………………………………….

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

………………………………………………………

 

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

~~1983-2018~~

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

Website: www.batkol.info; Parashat Admin: gill@batkol.info

January 30, 2018 Sunday Commentary Post a Comment

The 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

The 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time (04 February 2018)

Job 7:1-4,6-7; Ps 147:1-6; 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; Mk 1:29-39

Theme: Our צבא

 

Download

 

Who among us would like to suffer or struggle in this life? I suppose no one. Today’s readings point to this human reality of צבא (tzaba): warfare, struggle, battle, hardship or service. Almost the entire book of Job deals with understanding human suffering, and many of us can identify with him. His struggle is so intense that the way he described is triply-troubled, “days of emptiness, and nights of misery.” By the sound of it, he is tired, in pain, wasted and sees an “end without hope.” Just like him, we long wait for a צל(tzel: shadow), a sort of relief from the struggles we encounter. In the 1st letter of Paul to Corinth, he told them that he accepts his weakness, his pain, because it is through it that he can be one with those who go through hardships. Similarly, Jesus, in the beginning of the gospel of Mark, never had second thoughts of being with people who are inflicted with bodily sufferings. We might have that orthodox belief that Jesus provided a צל (tzel), a relief by curing or solving their daily “battles”. If we remain with this notion, there is a possibility that Jesus might become irrelevant today, because in reality, not all illnesses, deformity and other “battles” we face can be cured or simply solved. Perhaps, we could look at Jesus in a different angle in the gospel, in order to make him relevant to the reality that besets Job, and us.

 

Recently, biblical scholarship took notice on disability, deformities and bodily concerns in the scripture. Many of the scholars present alternate interpretations on the healing narratives in the gospels. One of them is Dr. Jin Young Choi, who used a postcolonial reading in the gospel of Mark. She suggests that when Jesus touched the people, it is possible that he is likewise touched by the one being touched. She calls this a “somatic engagement”, that is, bodies encounter each other, inside and out. Metanoia is possible in bodily encounters, and Jesus is not immune to metanoia as well. Never forget his humanity. In Jesus daily bodily encounters, especially to those infirm, he could have been touched by their stories, their lives, and their struggles, and so on. He learned not only bodily frailty, but more so, life’s limits. In his “somatic engagements” with peoples, he saw and sensed, inside and out what צבא (tzaba) is. Touching them, he too was touched by them.

 

Let us give the gospel a concrete context. Have you met someone who is diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, or PLHIV (Person Living with HIV)? Up to this date these people are stigmatized by society, and this makes them צבא (tzaba), suffer all the more. There is no automatic cure for HIV just as yet, but we can lessen their “night of misery”, sense of “emptiness”, compounded troubles when we allow ourselves to encounter them. Let us remove our (homo)phobic tendencies, and listen to these people. Just like Jesus, let us not be afraid to be touched by the people who this society excludes and stigmatizes. Many people suffer not merely because of bodily frailty, but because we stigmatize their condition. We blatantly isolate them, making them alone in their sufferings. Abandoning them is an ultimate pain – it’s rejection.

 

Perhaps, Jesus’ compassion grew through his constant bodily engagement with peoples. He was not selective; he was and is inclusive, and so should we be. It is only when we overcome our sets of stigma against peoples that we can chant with the psalmist, “Hallelujah! The L-rd heals their broken hearts, and binds up their wounds. The L-rd gives courage to the lowly.” That in the end, there is hope.

 

For Reflection and Discussion: 1. What are my internalized stigma against people who differs from me? What brought me to this stigmatization? 2. What am I afraid to lose or give whenever I encounter someone in need? Why? 3. When was the time in my life that there was a reversal of things, that is I was touched by the least person or event I expect to challenge my beliefs in a pleasant way? 4. Days from now is the beginning of Lent, how could Jesus’ bodily encounters with the frailty prepare him for his ultimate experience of rejection on the cross?

 

Bibliography: Choi, Jin Young. Postcolonial Discipleship of Embodiment: An Asian and Asian-American Feminist Reading of the Gospel of Mark. New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2015.

 

This week’s Sunday Gospel Commentary was prepared by

Kristine Meneses, Ph.D., Philippines; Bat Kol Alumna 2016

Email address: krstn.rw@gmail.com

[Copyright © 2018]

 

……………………………………………………………

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

………………………………………………………………

 

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

1983-2018

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

gill@batkol.info Website: www.batkol.info

Parashah Commentary Post a Comment

Parashat Yitro

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat Yitro – Erev Shabbat 02 February 2018

Week of 28 January-03 February 2018

Torah portion: Exodus 18:1-20:23 Haftarah: Isaiah 6:1-7:6, 9:5-6

 

Download

 

Yitro (Jethro), the father of Zipporah, Midian priest, encourages Moses to set up a judiciary system; Jethro listens to Moses’ account of the deliverance of the Hebrew people from Egypt; we read the preparations for the Theophany and the details of the Decalogue. The commentators in Etz Hayim refer to this parashah as “the hinge of the Torah” (Lieber p.432). The hinge image needed to open or close the door, vividly pictures humanity’s access to critical revelation.

 

a. Torah given to Israel, intended for all humanity

a. Transformation of freed slaves to nation covenanted to God

b. God reached down to reveal Torah to humanity

 

b. Jethro …. heard (18:1) Jethro as righteous gentile; very human reasons for Jethro’s association with people Israel include (Lieber p.432)

a. Feeling of pity and compassion upon hearing the suffering of Hebrew people in Egypt

b. Desire to be part of a victorious people

c. Realization of the destiny of Israelites and desire to join them

 

c. G-d is aloof and unapproachable as well as immediate and full of love/concern/protection

a. The mountain covered with fire and thunder, need for purification, danger of approaching God (Exod. 20:16; Exod. 28:35; Lev. 10:2)

b. “How I bore you aloft on eagles’ wings” Exod. 19:4, Rashi says, it expresses the intimate relationship between the bearer and those borne, the concern and love of the benefactor for the beneficiary (Leibowitz, p293)

c. God will come down, Ex 19:1 (Etz Chayim p.439) expresses God’s infinite transcendence and personal, intimate involvement with humanity

 

d. How we treat one another is of concern to God

a. Other nations had laws that stated “If you do this…, then ….”. The Decalogue opens the door to the new understanding that certain acts are not only against the law, they are wrong in an absolute sense. “You shall not…” (Lieber p. 441)

 

e. The singularity of God’s relationship with each one of us

a. “I the Lord am your God” (20:2) The Hebrew word for “your” is singular, for God is revealed to each one of us according to our own capacity to respond (Lieber p.442)

 

Bibliography: Leibowitz, Nehama, New Studies in Shemot, Jerusalem, 1976; Lieber, Etz Hayim, Torah and Commentary, New York, 2001

 

 

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

MariAnn (Marjan) Saenen, B.A. M.A. Michigan State University,

Lay Minister, Diocese of Saginaw, MI

Bat Kol alum 1999-2000, 2002, 2010, 2015, 2016

Email: marjansaenen@hotmail.com

[Copyright © 2018]

 

…………………………………………………

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol. The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes. Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

…………………………………………………

 

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

~~1983-2018~~

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

Website: www.batkol.info; Parashat Admin: gill@batkol.info

 

January 23, 2018 Messages Post a Comment

International Holocaust Memorial Day

BAT KOL INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH STUDIES, JERUSALEM

 

A Note from Maureena

27 January 2018:

International Holocaust Memorial Day

 

For several years I taught a course on the Holocaust at the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto. It was a time of learning for myself. Perhaps one of the biggest lessons I learned was my own implication in what happened—each Good Friday I participated in the  solemn intercessory prayers, one of which was a prayer for the “perfidies Judaeis” which can mean “treacherous.”  It can also mean “faithless.” After Vatican II, the prayer was changed:

 

Let us pray

For the Jewish people,

The first to hear the word of God,

That they may continue to grow in the love of his name

And in faithfulness to his covenant.

 

That was a beginning step.  Other steps have been and continue to be taken. All Holy Scriptures of different faiths have problematic texts. On a day when we remember the murder of millions of Jews in Hitler’s Nazi Germany, let us repent, the first element of which is recognition of sin, of problematic texts in our own scriptures and repair them through reinterpretation.

 

The following quotations give me food for thought:

 

“Thou shalt not be a victim, thou shalt not be a perpetrator, but, above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.” – Yehuda Bauer

 

“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common people, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.” – Primo Levi

 

“I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation.” – Elie Wiesel

 

Maureena

Sunday Commentary Post a Comment

The 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Sunday Gospel and Readings Commentary

The 4th Sunday of Ordinary Time

28th of January, 2018

Lectionary readings: Dt.18:15-20; Ps. 95:1-2, 6-9; 1Cor.7:32-35; Mark 1:21-28

 

Download

 

In today’s Gospel, Mark clearly shows us that Jesus is both teacher and healer. He is the one who nourishes by his word and makes us whole again. The setting is in the synagogue at Capernaum where the people have gathered on Sabbath as a community to worship.

 

While speaking on the scripture, Jesus is interrupted by the shouting of a man who is possessed with an unclean spirit who questioned Jesus, “What have you come to do – to destroy us?” (1:24)  Jesus immediately addressed the inflicted man and rebuked the unclean spirit commanding, “Be silent and come out of him!” (1:25)  Immediately the unclean spirit left the man. He now stood erect freed from his tormentors. Those attending were astonished as they remarked, “What is this? A new teaching – with authority! He commands the evil spirits, and they obey him.” (1:27)

 

Those in attendance were not only amazed at what they had witnessed but were shocked and  therefore questioned by what authority does he do this. They had never seen anything like this before. Other teachers had never acted in this way but now Jesus taught with a power that they had never seen.

 

It was not the unclean spirit that troubled the audience for this was a common occurrence in their lives.  What disturbed them was the way that Jesus acted.  He had asserted by his words and actions that he had the authority and the right to act in this manner.

 

The common belief at that time was that a person would become defiled if he/she had any contact with a person possessed by an unclean spirit. “In fact, the simple presence of the unclean spirit in the synagogue contaminates the entire synagogue. The scribal advice was avoidance. The people and individuals were holy to the degree they kept distance from what was unholy.”  (Shea, 48)

 

Therefore, it was common practice to avoid all contact with a person possessed by an unclean spirit. That person was to be left alone. The unclean spirit knew this and counted on being left alone. That is why the unclean spirits wondered what Jesus would do to them. They realized who Jesus is, the Holy One of God, and they did not think that he would risk defilement.

 

Jesus, however, did not accept this thinking for it is a form of domination of God’s good creation.  He silenced this way of reasoning with power and authority and the unclean spirits obeyed.  “The higher Spirit of God who descended upon Jesus at his baptism (Mark 1:10) and leads his mission does not allow lesser beings to harm those whom God loves.  It commands them, “Get out!” And they got out, taking with them all the pain they have caused.” (Shea, 50)

 

In this extremely dramatic scene, Jesus by his actions addressed both the plight of this poor individual and the prevailing understanding of the people. Was avoidance the way to deal with these evil spirits?  No, Jesus wanted to convey that no human being needs to be held captive by evil and tormented like this.  What this man had endured was a very real experience of bondage to the powers that enslaved him and destroyed his ability to be free.

God’s creation is good and cannot be ruled by evil. Jesus’ inclusive manner has shocked the crowd as well as the unclean spirits! He has come among us to teach that in the all-embracing love of his Father, no one is excluded and barriers are broken. “The reign of God is the ultimate threat to the reign of evil and this form of the “good news” has radical implications for every aspect of the Church’s life.” (Farmer, 1406)

 

For Reflection and Discussion: [1.] How do I face evil in my own life and in our world?  [2.] If I see creation as a gift of God, how do I appreciate and treat this gift?

 

Bibliography:  W.R.Farmer, The International Biblical Commentary, (Collegeville, 1998),

John Shea, The Spiritual Wisdom of the Gospels for Christian Preachers and Teachers, (Collegeville, 2005)

 

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

Rita Kammermayer, nds, BA, B.Ed, Masters of Pastoral Studies, Jerusalem, Israel

Bat Kol alumni 2001

Email: ritakammermayer@netscape.net

[Copyright © 2018]


………………….…………………………………………

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Gospel commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Sunday Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.  Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

……………………………………………………………

 

~~1983–2018~~

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

Website: www.batkol.info; Administration: gill@batkol.info

Parashah Commentary Post a Comment

Parashat B’Shallah

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat B’Shallah – Erev Shabbat 26 January 2018

Week of 21-27 January 2018

Torah portion: Exodus 13:17-17:16   Haftarah: Judges 4:4-5:31

 

Download

 

 This parashat, along with an accompanying legend, presents us with two different attitudes towards the path on which we all walk—the path of yesterday, today and tomorrow.  One attitude is shown by the Israelites, who are leaving Egypt and a life of slavery.  The other is shown by Joseph, who arrived in Egypt as a slave and rose to a position of power thanks to his ability to predict the future by interpreting dreams. The Israelites complain to Moses: “Was it for want of graves in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? …. it would have been better for us to serve Egypt than that we should die in the wilderness.  (Ex 14:11-12) As we read in Leibowitz (245): “Egypt is an eternal refrain in their mouths…They yearned for Egypt as a babe for its mother’s breasts…. better to serve the Egyptians than to live in a strange clime…They looked to the future with trepidation.  The future was epitomized in a four-letter Hebrew word: midbar (wilderness).” For years of servitude had made the Israelites at home with a life in which today is like yesterday and tomorrow will be like today.  The thought of tomorrow being different from today, no matter whether that difference might be better or worse, is terrifying to them—the future is wilderness.  And what they fear—death in the wilderness—is exactly what will come to them. (Num 26:63-65)  

 

In contrast, Joseph, on his deathbed, looked to the future and said to his brothers: “God will surely take notice of you and bring you up from this land to the land that He promised on oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. So Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “When God has taken notice of you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” (Gen 50:24-25) At the beginning of this week’s parashat we read: “And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph…” (Ex 13:19) The bones of Joseph are finally interred in land that his father Jacob had bought at Shechem. (Josh 24:32)   Joseph did not dread the future as if it were a wilderness.  Instead, with the eyes of faith, he saw it as the domain in which God will make good on the promise.  To Joseph the past—when the promise was made, the present—in which he looks forward to the fulfillment of the promise, and the future—when his bones will be carried into the land that was promised, all make up a living whole.

 

Joseph trusted that the sons of Israel would remember what they had sworn to do. According to legend, while others were busy “gathering in the treasures of the Egyptians,” it was Moses who went to the royal mausoleum to retrieve Joseph’s bones. But so many had been interred there over the centuries that he had no idea where Joseph was.  His mother, Jochebed, came to his rescue and “led him to the very spot.” Presumably the knowledge of Joseph’s burial place had been passed down the generations so that memory could make possible action in the future.) Moses then spoke to Joseph, telling him that the time of the fulfillment of the promise had come at last.   The future had arrived; tomorrow had become today.  At once “the coffin stirred and rose to the surface.” (Ginzberg, 346) The people fear the journey into the wilderness; the dead bones of Joseph are eager to start on their way. 

 

Bibliography:  Ginsburg, Legends of the Bible (Philadelphia, 1956); Leibowitz, New Studies in Shemot (Exodus) Part 1 (Jerusalem, 1976)

For Reflection and Discussion:  1: What has been your experience of clinging to the way things are and fearing the future? 2.  What has been your experience of facing the future with a trust in God that overcame your fear? 3. Has a memory of the past ever helped you or prepared you for the future? 

 

This week’s teaching commentary is by

Anne Morton, BA, MA, MA (Theology). Winnipeg, Canada; Bat Kol Alumna 2010
Email address: anmorton@mymts.net

[Copyright © 2018]

 

……………………………………………………………

PLEASE NOTE: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.   The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes.  Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.

……………………………………………………………

 

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

~~1983–2018~~

“Christians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.”

Website: www.batkol.info;   Parashat Admin: gill@batkol.info