Taste of Torah

The laws of the shemittah (sabbatical year) and Yovel (Jubilee) teach the fundamental connection between land, food, and spirituality -- a connection we have lost. There are movements in the Jewish community help us regain Torah’s ancient wisdom.

A priest with a defect was not permitted to make sacrifices. Throughout history, people have labeled other people “defective.” It is demoralizing to individuals, and dangerous and deadly to groups of people.

Leviticus 18:22 has long been misinterpreted. It’s time to get it right, and it’s time to welcome same sex marriages.

The description of the tzara’at is a great example of the possibilities of interpretation. There are two entirely different ways to understand this passage, and they lead to entirely different conclusions.

There is a danger of ritual becoming an end in itself, so that one loses sight of people and their needs -- which ritual is meant to serve. Aaron’s example helps establish the right priorities.

Passover enthrones question asking, teaching us that wisdom begins with the ability to ask the right questions. In the current debates about contraceptives and abortion, we are not asking the right questions.

One of the lessons of Passover that carries into our lives today concerns how we view who is “one of us” and who is not. Torah teaches us that boundaries should be permeable and people should be judged by their behavior and intent, not their social grouping.

The todah offering is made without expectation of recompense, unlike other sacrifices. It teaches us something that can improve our lives immeasurably: to express gratitude. Talmud teaches that feeling and expressing gratitude is a choice we make.

Many people have dismissed the sacrificial cult described in Leviticus as primitive, but it teaches us an invaluable lesson about the dangers of ownership and entitlement, and the blessings of responsibility and gratitude. Ultimately, this is a formula for much greater happiness in our lives.

Just as Torah is our national narrative composed of detailed memories, each of us has narratives about our lives, composed of memories, and ordered in our minds to make meaning. Our narratives can promote or prevent growth. How we tell our stories makes all the difference.

Betzalel’s art and inspiration are a model for all of us living our lives in a world saturated with God’s presence. If we are attuned, and mindful to the potential for our lives to hold and impart meaning, that can make all the difference.

Is there a single “biblical theology”? Parshat Tetzaveh, read on Shabbat Zachor, provides ample proof that such a claim is absurd and reveals little true understanding of the Bible. Hebrew Scripture is a remarkably open compendium of ideas about the nature of God, preserving and promoting an open-mindedness that is sometimes lacking in our day.

For our ancestors, a love relationship was the perfect metaphor for their relationship with God because it was the deepest, most intense, and most intimate relationship possible. Can we do the same?

People commonly think of halakhah as “Jewish law” but in reality it is the process of Jewish decision-making, far more nuanced and complex. Law codes have had the unhappy effect of reducing much of Jewish practice to a set of rigid rules. It’s time to bring back the process and flexibility of halakhah.

Both giving and receiving advice are difficult for many of us. Yitro provides a model for giving so that the receiver can accept.