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Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat Acharei Mot/Kedoshim – Erev Shabbat 27th April 2018

Week of 22^nd – 28^th April 2018

Torah portion: Lev 16:1-20:27 / Haftarah: Ezek 22:1-19

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“Because I said so!” We all have heard, and often declared, such a minimally robust statement in regards to a forbidden behavior. This double Torah portion includes the source of the levitical “Holiness Code.” It is not uncommon to question and even reject these laws, seen as legalistic, outdated, or just weird! Yet God’s repeated, injunction “Be holy as I am holy,” demands we engage the Holiness Code which spans ten chapters (Lev 17-26).

The instructions, grounded in God’s expectation of his image-bearing people who are called and set-apart to shine his light to the nations, do more than restrict behavior. They form a people group, establish their identity and, quite significant, give insight into God himself. “Be holy as I am holy,” requires not legalistic responses, for God is not a legalist. Rather, it demands all people be respected and valued. Parents are to be honored (Lev 19:3), and the reversal of the order given in the Ten Commandments (“Honor your father and mother…” Exod 20:12), suggests “an equitable estimation of both parents” (Etz Hayim, 694). The poor and the strangers shall be provided for (Lev 19:9-10). The deaf shall not be insulted, the blind threatened with stumbling blocks (Lev 19:11). Holiness establishes equality, regardless of gender, economic status, nationality or disability. As we struggle today to embrace such bold proclamations, we must emulate a holy God who repeatedly invites, “Do as I do. Be who I am.”

The God who challenges, “Be holy as I am holy,” demands more than holy actions; he commands holy moral interiors. Like him, our word ought to matter, be trustworthy, and righteous (Lev 19:12). Our interactions with others are to be characterized by honesty (Lev 19:11, 13), love, and forbearance (Lev 19:17-18). We again hear guidelines for our lives, but also glimpse the God’s very character. These people- and character-forming laws strike the reader as logical, albeit challenging. But then the Holiness Code continues and enters into what appears to be inexplicable or supra-rational laws (Lev 19:19). The chukkim create opportunities for God’s people to extend themselves beyond doing what makes sense, into “opportunities to do God’s will” (Etz Hayim, 697). We might be tempted to say such declarations are God’s version of, “Because I said so.” Or we might recall the Lord’s words to Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…” (Isa 55:8ff).

In such seemingly strange laws, we also might discern God’s concerted efforts at forming a distinctive people group, bound together by traditions, guidelines, even obscurities. Like our family, comprised of Ukrainians, Americans, Canadians, Irish, English, Russians and Haitians, who steadfastly continues my great-grandparents’ “Polish Easter egg fights” tradition, the chukkim of the Holiness Code also builds identity. Richard Sosis, an anthropologist at the University of Connecticut explains, “Rituals deal with identity, the context in which intellect functions. Identity in turn is the glue by which a tribe is held together.” Sosis’ conclusions build on Emile Durkheim’s 1897 monograph on suicide in which he “coined the term anomie, which means a state of society where nobody knows who they are, what they have to do with one another, or what on earth they’re doing here” (Freeman, chabad.org). God’s injunctions throughout the Holiness Code – both the rational and supra-rational – clearly establish identity. As long as Israel strove to be holy as the Lord is holy and to follow his guidelines, they would never suffer from anomie.

For Reflection and Discussion: 1. How have your faith communities tended to read and interpret the Holiness Code? 2. Etz Hayim suggests that the Torah’s reversal of revere/honor your Mother/Father in Exodus and Leviticus suggests equity among males/females. Do you agree? How else would you explain this reversal? 3. God’s “Be Holy as I am holy,” does more than instruct God’s people – it gives us insight into God’s character. What can we discern about God’s character from the Holiness Code that may be overlooked or less commonly discussed? 4. How do you see anomie in today’s society? What are the rituals in your life that build identity? What rituals or practices might you begin or re-embrace to address anomie?

Bibliography: Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary. The Jewish Publication Society, 2001. Freeman, Tzvi. “Why Does Judaism Make No Sense?” www.chabad.org.

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

Rev. Dr. Kristen Bennett Marble, Bat Kol Alumni 2013

Senior Pastor, West Morris Street Free Methodist Church, Indianapolis IN
Email address: kristen@kristenmarble.com

[Copyright © 2018]

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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

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat Tazria – Metzorah   Erev Shabbat 20 April 2018

Week of 15-21 April

Torah portion:  Leviticus 12:1-15:33      Haftarah:  2 Kings 7:3-20

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In this week’s parashat we are asked to consider some elaborate rituals associated with uncleanness and impurity and the means by which those affected can regain their rightful place within the community. 

To modern sensibilities, while we can accept precautions and isolation in cases of distressing and infectious illness, it is difficult to understand the need for such elaborate prohibitions surrounding the natural functions of a woman’s body or the blessings of childbirth.  It would be a mistake however to totally separate the two or summarily dismiss the original motivation without delving into it a little more deeply.  What we have here is not a judgment on the moral state of the person but one of a lack of wholeness.  In such a state it was considered impossible for that individual to stand before the LORD.

 There is no room here to examine in detail the various rituals or the categories to which they apply; yet some random musings might lead us into further considerations. A woman who had given birth was considered temayah [one who is impure] so needed to regain the status of tehorah [ritually fit]. Until this is rectified wholeness cannot be restored, the means so precisely described here testify to the fact that it can be.  Once it is, she is able to take up her former duties — but far from simply excluding her, these restrictions allow her some much needed “time out”.  Rabbi Ettinger notes that the Yiddish Torah Commentary draws a parallel between this postnatal period and the time following a death.  She suggests that in both intense episodes in a person’s life there is a need to be freed “from other personal and communal obligations” to deal with the events that have occurred (WTC 205).  The fact that one is primarily physical and the other emotional makes little difference.

When we turn to those suffering from tzara’at, a word denoting a variety of skin aliments but most commonly called ‘leprosy,’ we see clearly that the priest’s function is in no way medical but simply ritualistic.  We gain nothing in trying to find in these verses any primitive treatments for such illnesses nor, according to Plaut (p.840) should we look for the meanings behind the ritual:  “Customs often survive after their original motives are forgotten” and were therefore not included in the text.  One thing we might consider is that “the ceremonies were designed to remove a defilement that was a threat to the entire community.” Are we so different in the present time as we grapple with the horror, fear and pain of health crises?  In such uncertainty we turn to God with our rituals and prayers to find an answer.

After the destruction of the Second Temple the detailed procedures outlined in these chapters lapsed even though the study of their meaning and significance continues to the present day.  Orthodox Judaism retains many rituals associated with personal purification. In one form it continued in some Christian denominations with “the churching of women” after childbirth. I was made aware of this practice many years ago from the memories of older women, one who recalled her personal involvement in it as a joyful recognition of her motherhood.

We should ponder this ancient text without trying to justify or empathize too closely with a people whose ways are so far removed from ours. Many of us might feel on more “comfortable” ground with this week’s haftarah. And yet why?  It contains disease, discrimination, starvation, death and destruction. Surely however some of the scenes it describes come closer to our experiences than those in the parashat.  Global communications mean that we can all see aspects of a broken world dominated by many of these conditions. Reflection and Discussion: Metaphorically speaking who do we leave at the city gates because of illness or other circumstances? What are we doing to bring others/ourselves back to wholeness, regain our rightful place in the community and the presence of God?

Bibliography: Goldstein ed. The Woman’s Torah Commentary (Vermont, 2000); Plaut, The Torah: A Modern Commentary (NY 1981); The Chumash Stone Edition (New York, 2000)

This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by

Jean Kelly, B.Ed. M.A. Watford, England

Bat Kol alum 2001. E-mail: kellyjean55@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.

~~1983–2018~~

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies, Jerusalem

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

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

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat Sh’mini,   Erev Shabbat  13th April, 2018

Week of 8th – 14th April 2018

        Torah portion: Leviticus 9:1 -11:47         Haftarah  2 Sam. 6:1-7:17

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Parashat Sh’mini  includes the first celebration of sacrifice in the Tabernacle by Aaron and it contains the instructions on distinguishing the living creatures that may be eaten from those that are forbidden.

The parashah begins on the 8^th day, after the completion of the seven-day ordination of Aaron and his sons. Why would it be necessary to begin with an emphasis of it being the 8^th day? As the parashah commences, what echoes do we hear? The Talmud compares the first seven days of celebrating the construction of the tabernacle to the seven days of creation. (Etz, p.630) The eight day, then, brings into focus the day after God had rested in creating and it is the first day when the whole of creation begins learning to live as one and whole.

 Moses’ first instruction is for Aaron to prepare for himself a calf of the herd for purification and an unblemished ram for burnt offering, at the same time asking also Aaron to call on the Israelites to separate sacrificial offerings for themselves. (Lev 9:2-4). It would seem that Aaron’s first act of sacrifice and purification expiates the memory of his first act of being a leader (in the absence of Moses), to the then wandering nation in the wilderness, where he assisted in the creation of the Golden Calf.

While all who witnessed the appearance of the God’s presence cried out and fell on their faces, tragedy followed suit. “Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pans, put fire in it and laid incense on it; and they offered before the Lord alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. Fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord.”(Lev 10:1-2) Why was it that when all were in awe and wonder of what had just happened, Aaron’s sons were doing something different and seemingly out of the flow of what was going on? Why would it be necessary to mar the occasion with the deaths of two who were already ordained to be God’s priests for the Tabernacle? Could it be understood that our commitments come with grave responsibility to attune our life and our ways to movement of the Divine in and around us, causing dilemmas, to the point of death to anything that separates us from being whole and one?

Repeated twice in chapter 9, once in verse 4 and again in verse 6, it appears to be the central message of the parashah. Amidst all the preparations and instructions of what and how it is do what is commanded, all is simply secondary to the real purpose of why it is to be done, and that is to welcome the presence of God in the midst of all.  

Parashat Sh’mini seems to remind us that each day is likened to an 8^th day experience, where creation awaits on us to rediscover that the whole is one and that amidst all the busyness of living, we are to keep alive the understanding that the real purpose of what we do and how we live our lives, is to simply awaken us to the revelation of the Divine Presence in and around us.

Reflection and Discussion: 1. How different would we live our life everyday if we get a glimpse of and remember that it is endowed with God’s presence? 2. How do we live out our commitments and responsibilities differently, if we understand it to be one and the same as contemplating the Divine in all?

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

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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

Shabbat Table Talk

Parashat Sh’mini,   Erev Shabbat  13th April, 2018

Week of 8th – 14th April 2018

        Torah portion: Leviticus 9:1 -11:47         Haftarah  2 Sam. 6:1-7:17

Download

Parashat Sh’mini  includes the first celebration of sacrifice in the Tabernacle by Aaron and it contains the instructions on distinguishing the living creatures that may be eaten from those that are forbidden.

The parashah begins on the 8^th day, after the completion of the seven-day ordination of Aaron and his sons. Why would it be necessary to begin with an emphasis of it being the 8^th day? As the parashah commences, what echoes do we hear? The Talmud compares the first seven days of celebrating the construction of the tabernacle to the seven days of creation. (Etz, p.630) The eight day, then, brings into focus the day after God had rested in creating and it is the first day when the whole of creation begins learning to live as one and whole.

 Moses’ first instruction is for Aaron to prepare for himself a calf of the herd for purification and an unblemished ram for burnt offering, at the same time asking also Aaron to call on the Israelites to separate sacrificial offerings for themselves. (Lev 9:2-4). It would seem that Aaron’s first act of sacrifice and purification expiates the memory of his first act of being a leader (in the absence of Moses), to the then wandering nation in the wilderness, where he assisted in the creation of the Golden Calf.

While all who witnessed the appearance of the God’s presence cried out and fell on their faces, tragedy followed suit. “Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu, each took his fire pans, put fire in it and laid incense on it; and they offered before the Lord alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. Fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord.”(Lev 10:1-2) Why was it that when all were in awe and wonder of what had just happened, Aaron’s sons were doing something different and seemingly out of the flow of what was going on? Why would it be necessary to mar the occasion with the deaths of two who were already ordained to be God’s priests for the Tabernacle? Could it be understood that our commitments come with grave responsibility to attune our life and our ways to movement of the Divine in and around us, causing dilemmas, to the point of death to anything that separates us from being whole and one?

Repeated twice in chapter 9, once in verse 4 and again in verse 6, it appears to be the central message of the parashah. Amidst all the preparations and instructions of what and how it is do what is commanded, all is simply secondary to the real purpose of why it is to be done, and that is to welcome the presence of God in the midst of all.  

Parashat Sh’mini seems to remind us that each day is likened to an 8^th day experience, where creation awaits on us to rediscover that the whole is one and that amidst all the busyness of living, we are to keep alive the understanding that the real purpose of what we do and how we live our lives, is to simply awaken us to the revelation of the Divine Presence in and around us.

Reflection and Discussion: 1. How different would we live our life everyday if we get a glimpse of and remember that it is endowed with God’s presence? 2. How do we live out our commitments and responsibilities differently, if we understand it to be one and the same as contemplating the Divine in all?

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