Category: Torah

Video on How to Have an Aliyah

7/16/2019

Members of Netivot Shalom in Berkeley created a video showing you how to have an aliyah at their shul. It is primarily for the use of their members. But it is very useful to anyone wondering about how an aliyah works.

Please remember that this video includes elements that are unique to the Conservative movement and even some that are unique to Netivot Shalom. In general however, this is how an aliyah is performed in a synagogue. Women are not called to the Torah in Orthodox synagogues. Women don't always wear kippot (or yarmulkes) in Reform synagogues. The chanted blessings are the same in all synagogues.

View the video here.
Thank you to Robin Braverman and her fellow members for making this video!

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Speak up! Be part of your own learning

6/14/2019

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This week Rabbi Avi Shulman of Temple Beth Torah in Fremont sent out a this message to his congregation.

One of my favorite passages in Pirkei Avot consists of three couplets by Hillel. Here they are interspersed with my own comments:

“A boor does not fear sin,
And the ignorant cannot be models of piety.”

It’s striking that the English word for an oaf echoes the Hebrew word ‘bor.’ A ‘bor’ is an empty pit, which is synonymous with someone who is empty-headed.
Above all else, Hillel valued knowledge of Torah. Yet he esteemed knowledge not merely for its own sake but so learning would lead to righteous behavior.

“A bashful person does not learn,
And the short-tempered cannot teach.”

I can recall many students who would sit quietly in class while others did most of the talking. Yet Hillel reminds students to speak-up. Productive learning takes place when students are engaged. Just as importantly, it is vital for teachers to welcome class in-put and participation. Instructors who are short-tempered intimidate their students, deteriorating the learning environment.

“Not all who succeed in business are wise.
In a place where there are no people* strive to be one.”

Hillel reminds us not to give undue deference to people who are successful in business. Tevye in Fiddler in the Roof may long to be a rich man, singing “When you are rich they think you really know.” Hillel informs us that material success is not synonymous with wisdom.

In the concluding verse, Hillel admonishes us to act morally even when others are behaving inhumanely. He encourages us to strive for virtue, even when others are not. No matter the circumstances, Hillel inspires us to be our best selves, to aspire to be a mensch.

This is a message that I want students to take to heart.
SPEAK UP
DON'T STAY WITH A TEACHER WHO IS INTIMIDATING

Jewish tradition values study, questions, and argument (for the sake of heaven). Don't be silent. Participate in your own learning.

*The original, as you can imagine, says “man” or mensch – a good person. Where there are no good people, strive to be one. You can read the original text here.

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The Torah's Happy Endings

11/10/2015

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This week Beth Sholom in San Francisco shared this bit of information in their weekly email.

If you've attended shul on Shabbat more than a handful of times, you're probably aware of the fact that the weekly Torah portion, or parsha, is divided into seven sections. These sections correspond with the number of aliyot meaning "calling up." For each aliyah, a reader is called to the bimah to recite a blessing for the gift of Torah.

So, sure, you know all that...but have you ever noticed that each reading ends on a positive note, even those in the midst of a dismal parsha? This is no accident.

As this recent article in J Weekly explains, the Shulchan Aruch, our most widely consulted halachic code, cautions that "one should aim to always begin reading [each aliyah] on a good note and end reading it on a good note as well."

Rabbi Yonaton Cohen, the author of the J Weekly article, believes that the rabbis elected to break up each parsha this way to demonstrate what might be described as the power of positive thinking. "Time and time again," he writes, "those who divided the Torah chose blessings over curses, life over death, hope over despair."

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Why Blood Sacrifice?

1/20/2014

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We received this question from a reader and felt that it should be answered by a rabbi. Rabbi Adar kindly supplied an answer.

Question:

I have a question: why blood (sacrifices) at all? – since G-d forgives whenever people repent (teshuvah). There are numerous examples in the Tanach which proves that G-d forgave people without them having to bring a sacrifice.

It seems that teshuvah is the condition, necessary and sufficient meanwhile.

Answer:

You are a careful reader of Tanakh - very good!

In fact, God does indeed forgive people without blood sacrifices. The sacrifices described in Leviticus were given to us because of our need to make sacrifices; God never needed them. With the destruction of the Temple in the year 70, we moved to a better kind of sacrifice, sacrifices of prayer. Today we pray on the same schedule that once was the schedule for the sacrifices. That is why we say the Amidah prayer several times a day; it is our "sacrifice."

This is also the reason that we in the Reform Movement of Judaism do not look for a rebuilding of the Temple. We believe its work is complete; there is no need for blood sacrifices today.

And yes, teshuvah is what we need in order to be forgiven. The prayers within the Amidah move us towards teshuvah. In fact, one of them (in the weekday prayer) is very specific about teshuvah, but the other prayers in the great Prayer work to make our hearts more inclined to make teshuvah, to turn to goodness.

Thank you for an excellent question. L'shalom, Rabbi Ruth Adar

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Video on How to Have an Aliyah

Speak up! Be part of your own learning

The Torah's Happy Endings

Why Blood Sacrifice?

Thoughts from our Email List

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