Torat Moishe - Moishe's Torah

Shabbat Vayelech (Shabbat Shuvah)

D’varim  31:1 – 31:30

6 Tishrei 5773 / September 21-22

Passing on the Mantle of Leadership
by Shifra Elman, Moishe House Palo Alto

This week’s parsha see’s Moses, leader of the Jewish people from the time we were slaves in Egypt through the forty years in the desert, pass leadership to Joshua. Joshua was Moses’s student, not his son or any other relation of his, he wasn’t even part of his tribe; Moses was a Levite and Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim (one of the sons of Joseph.) So at the ripe old age of 120 Moses hands over leadership right before they are to enter Israel. Moses, who brought the Jews out of Egypt, gave them the torah on Mount Sinai, built the mishkan(tabernacle,) weathered countless trials with them throughout the forty years in the desert, would not see or enter the promised-land with the Jewish people. He gathers the nation and in front of everyone tells Joshua “Be courageous and bold, for you will come with this people to the land which the Lord promised to their forefathers to give them. And you shall apportion it to them as an inheritance.”

With just this small piece of the parsha there are many lessons. The overarching theme is of the importance of passing leadership to the next generation. It is essential to choose the right person for the job and not get caught up in choosing those we don’t want to offend by not choosing, such as our friends or relatives. Had Moses chosen a relation or someone from his tribe he would have opened that person up to questions of competency which may have had the effect of dividing the Jewish people. Since Joshua was neither a relation nor one of his tribe he was starting fresh.

The lesson I take from this is when passing on the mantle of leadership at Moishe House or in any other part of my life is: it important to choose those that will be good for the community and good at the job. It’s the difference between having a really knowledgeable professor who doesn’t know how to give over that information versus one who can do both. Another lesson is that it is also important to publically introduce that person to the community; by publically endorsing this person you are telling the community that has trusted you that you have the utmost faith in the new leadership. While change is inevitable and good; we are giving up the direct control we had in how our community is shaped, by choosing our leaders wisely we have a continuing, if long distance, hand in creating its future.

Shabbat Shalom All! 

Shifra Elman, MoHo Palo Alto

Shabbat Nitzavim

D’varim  29:9 – 31:30

28 Elul 5772 / September 14-15

Work Hard to Play Harder
by Zvi Bellin, MHHQ

These words from D’varim Chapter 29 were spoken by Moshe to all the Children of Israel as they were standing at the edge of the Jordan preparing to enter the Promised Land. Each person, no matter where they stood on the social status ladder was equally invited into God’s covenant. As the High Holidays are fast approaching (Rosh Hashana begins September 16^th) and after spending this past weekend with 30 Moishe House residents and community members learning about Sukkot, I feel that these words are speaking to our community directly.

Here we all are – leaders at times, followers at other times, keepers of tradition, teachers, children, lovers and partners – all standing on the brink of a new year. We are all equally called to the rituals and themes of the High Holidays. How can I be a better person this coming year? Who have I hurt this past year? What steps do I have to take to reconcile my broken relationships with my family, my community, with God? It is not easy to authentically grapple with these questions. But if we want to be more compassionate people and if we want to experience closer and more nurturing relationships, we have to. I think the reward for our efforts is hinted at in verse 10 above, with the mentioning of the wood hewers and water drawers.

We learned this weekend that wood and water are two important elements to celebrating Sukkot. The wood represents that organic plant material that makes up the s’chach (the roof of the sukkah). We also take four natural species (palm, citron, myrtle, and willow) and wave them together as a way to pray for rain (WATER!) On Sukkot we begin to pray for a bountiful rainy season to water our crops and shower the earth with blessing. In Temple times, a raging party would take place as water would be drawn from a surrounding spring to the temple mount and poured onto the sacred sacrificial alter.

So I think that the above verse is whispering to us that Sukkot itself is the reward for the sometimes difficult process of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur introspection. Practically speaking, if you are going to sit through services on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, you have certainly earned some downtime in the Sukkah, simply sitting around with friends and family and enjoying each other’s company.  So this is an invitation to work hard now as you fess up to your faults, and play hard in a few weeks when you sit in a Sukkah and reap the benefits of your efforts.

Wishing you a Shana Tova u’Metukah! 

Parshat Ki Tavo
D’varim 26:1 – 29:8
21 Elul 5772 / September 7-8, 2012

It’s Mine! Or is It?
by Rebecca Karp, MH East Regional Director

As we are in the thick of the text of Devarim (Deuteronomy), the last book of the Torah, as we push ever closer to the high holidays and begin again, Ki Tavo reminds us of a few key points HaShem made earlier on in our story.

The bulk of the parsha (weekly Torah portion) speaks about our covenant with G~d and how, if we follow the various dictums G~d has laid out for us, we will be supremely blessed. There are details upon details of how those blessings will manifest in our lives, the lives of those closest to us, and so on.

In contrast to this list, albeit in its own right lengthy, there is a far more detailed account of what curses will befall us should we fail to obey and participate in G~d's covenant. The details of the curses that will come upon us outweigh the blessings almost 3:1! Curses that affect mind, body and soul, personal livelihood and community, your family and those under your care.

Now, when I wrote the Dvar Torah I gave at my Bat Mitzvah, on this very parsha, I focused on on those blessings and curses. I spoke about why the curses would be so much more detailed and lengthy than the blessings and I would be happy to debate my thoughts on the matter again.

However, today, I chose to go in a different direction. The first section of this portion reminds us of a commandment that was first mentioned in Shemot (Exodus) 23:19 - the commandment of בכורים/Bikkurim or first fruits. From Ki Tavo, Devarim 26:2 "...you shall take of the first of every fruit of the ground that you bring in from your Land that HaShem, your G~d, gives you..." and 26:10 "And now, behold! I have brought the first fruit of the ground that You have given me, O HaShem! And you shall lay it before HaShem, your G~d, and you shall prostrate yourself before HaShem, your G~d."

That, to me, is quite remarkable. To think, you have been wandering through the desert for forty years and you have finally reached The Promised Land. The land that G~d has brought us to. The land that we have inherited. And now, you have even spent enough time in that land, working its soil, tilling the earth, watering, waiting, watching, that that earth has born fruit. If that were me, I would be thrilled. Ecstatic, in fact! And when I saw that fruit, say, that delicious cherry tomato or raspberry on the vine, I would pluck it and drop it into my mouth to savor my handiwork. Almost without a second thought. And that, I believe, is exactly the point.

We often work so hard at something, whether it be a professional degree, landing that new, great job, finding a partner and starting a life together, that when we succeed in obtaining that "fruit", we forget to look at our surroundings and offer blessings and thanks for what brought us to that point. That, for me, is the lesson in בכורים/Bikkurim that we can take from this parsha. 

As we wind down the days of Elul, a traditional time for stock-taking and review of your deeds and actions over the past year, I hope you are able to look at your first fruits within their larger context. May we all be blessed to bear many first fruits in our lives, and to have the courage and self-awareness to give thanks and offerings for those fruits.

Parshat Ki Teizei
14 Elul 5772 / August 31 – Sept. 1, 2012
Dvarim 22:5 – 25:19

by Zvi Bellin, MHHQ

In this week’s parsha I would like to consider why two scenarios are presented next to each other. The verses from Parshat Ki Teitzei are pasted below from Chapter 22. The first case is a prohibition about cross dressing and the second is an obscure law about sending a mother bird away before taking the young birds or eggs. The later mitzvah is known as Shiluach HaKen (שלוח הקן) Sending from the Nest.

What might the Torah possibly be teaching us by juxtaposing these two commandments together? 

I would like to suggest that these two cases can provoke a discussion about the qualities of human empathy and compassion. In the first verse we are prohibited from dressing up like the other gender. Rashi commented that this is purely in the case where dressing up like the other gender is for the purpose of sexual deviance. For example, dressing up like a woman to sneak into the Women’s locker room for voyeuristic sexcapades. This is very different from a woman wearing pants or a transgender male to female wearing lipstick. The ability to assume another’s role or experience is rooted in the expression of empathy. While empathy is one key to human connectivity, compassion is lacking in a situation of deceit, as emphasized by Rashi. Thus, there are limitations to “walking in another’s shoes” that seems to be a good protective measure for a just society. 

Similarly, shooing away a mother bird and stealing her eggs is not an example of compassion at first glance. But when we consider what a fox might do who happens upon a bird’s nest – goodbye momma bird and so long chickies! Perhaps this commandment gives us pause to recognize our base-animal tendencies and also our ability to act against them. Thus, shooing away momma is perhaps not better then leaving the chicks alone, but it forces us to think about compassionate and respectful involvement in the chain of life.

Many Blessings!

Parshat Shoftim
Dvarim 16:18-21:9
7 Elul 5772 / August 24-25, 2012

 

Precious Human, Precious Tree, Precious Planet
by Laura W, MH London Alumnus
 

Somewhere in the lush green English country side is a Hindu temple donated by the late Beatle George Harrison in 1973.  On the far wall of the eco garden on their 70 acre estate lies a verse from this week’s Parsha "ki ha'adam etz hasadeh" (כי האדם עץ השדה),‘ Every person is a tree in the field’. Amongst the solar panels and wild life there are quotes from a variety of the world’s holy books. This was the one chosen to represent the Jewish view on environmental non-violence.

There have been several interpretations of this verse which refers to the forbidden destruction of fruit trees in a Jewish military siege.

The Jewish legal tradition focuses on the practical reading of the verse which strongly condemns the uprooting of fruit producing trees. The rabbis extended the prohibition of the meaningless destruction of the trees to a generalized prohibition against waste, known as ba’al tashchit, "Do not destroy." According to Maimonides (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 6:10):

"This is the law not only for trees, but anyone who breaks containers, tears clothes, destroys a building, stops up a well, or wastes food violates the prohibition of 'do not destroy.' "

As master kabbalist Rabbi Moshe Cordovero of Safed ("RaMaK," 1522-1570) teaches in the Holy text Tomar Devorah: "One's compassion should extend to all creatures, and one should neither despise nor destroy them; for the Supernal Wisdom extends to all of creation -- the "silent" or mineral level, plants, animals, and humans. This is why our sages have warned us against treating food disrespectfully. Just as the Supernal Wisdom despises nothing, since everything is produced there -- as it is written, 'You have formed them all with wisdom' (Psalms 104:24) -- a person should show compassion to all of the works of the Holy One, blessed be He."

My blessing to the Moishe House community is higher awareness of the beauty of our Torah and it’s teachings of how to consume with a social and ecological conscience in light that we are all creations. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Parshat Re’eh
30 Av 5772 / August 17 - 18, 2012
Dvarim 11:26 – 16:17

To Act or Not to Act
by Zvi Bellin, MH Head Quarters

I was struck in this week’s parasha by the laws regarding a person that leads others astray versus a city that has already been led astray – aka, the Wayward City. The text states that if a person tries to lead you to worship another god (the enticer), you should immediately kill this person. “Your hand shall be the first against him to kill him (verse 13:10).” In the case of a Wayward City, there is a more level-headed approach. “You shall seek out and investigate, and inquire well (verse 13:15).” In the case of the city, first be sure that the majority of people are serving another god, and then kill them all by sword and burn all their property and leave the site as a smoldering mound forever.

I know. This is a tough piece of Torah to swallow. The question that I would like to focus in on is how come the Torah specified taking time to investigate with the city scenario and not with the individual enticer? To me it seems like the Torah should state that in both cases there should be certainty before any punishment is doled out.

Here are some ideas that I have been thinking about:
 

1. The actual law, according to Rashi (medieval Torah commentator extraordinaire), is that in ALL cases there needs to be substantial investigation into the matter. And in fact, the person who has been enticed should not kill the enticer; rather the enticer should be taken to a Beit Din (Jewish Court of Law). Still, the literal reading of the text needs to be addressed!
 

2. A simple answer is that it makes sense that if you are being enticed, then you know it to be true and you should take immediate action. In a way, this created a form of “Neighborhood Watch”. We are all responsible for protecting the boundaries of our community beliefs. The problem, of course, is that this seems like a precursor to the Salem witch trials. A person’s life should not hang on the balance of another person’s limited perspective.
 

3. When you read the verses about the individual enticer, possible relationships are also listed out: a brother, or step brother, your son, daughter, wife, your step mother, or “your friend who is like your own soul.”! These are people that you would probably NEVER think are trying to lead you astray. Perhaps the Torah is telling us that when a person who we would least suspect is clearly trying to unravel our faith identity – we should act to protect ourselves even before we create excuses for them. At that point, it might already be too late.