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The other day, two of my sons, Moshe and Uri, were having an argument. Uri was getting ready to go with some friends to Rechov Shenkin in Tel Aviv (like Greenwich Village, but really hip, and very secular) in order to sell, at cost, sets of the four species - a lulav (palm branch), etrog, (citron, a lemon-like citrus fruit), hadassim (myrtle branches) and aravot (willow branches) - to passersby.
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One of the central elements of Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur is teshuva - repentance. We are encouraged to use the time leading up to the High Holidays, and the entire period from Rosh ha-Shanah through Yom Kippur - called, traditionally asseret yemai teshuva, the ten days of repentance - to examine and assess our behavior, reject that which is negative, and embrace that which is positive. Every year, the parsha which is read in synagogue this Shabbat, Parshat Nizavim, is read in close proximity to Rosh ha-Shanah.
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This week's parsha - Ki Tetse - begins with a fascinating law, known as the Law of the Pretty Woman. The Torah says: "When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hands, and you will take captives. And you see among the captives a pretty woman, and you desire her, and take her for a wife. And you shall take her into your house, and she shall shave her head, and let her fingernails grow.
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This week we begin the fourth of the five books of the Torah - Bamidbar, called Numbers in English. Bamidbar means "in the desert", which is where the entire book takes place. The name Numbers comes from the fact that the book begins with, and again later on contains, a lot of counting of the Jewish people. In Bamidbar, the Nation of Israel readies itself to enter the Land of Israel. Just before actually doing so, in the portion of Shlach, which we will read in a few weeks, spies are sent to investigate the situation in Canaan.
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The central symbol of the Passover holiday, and, specifically, of the Seder ceremony, is the Matzah. Whether you like the way it tastes or not; with butter, charoset, tuna, or as part of a microwave matzah-pizza, there is no escaping the unleavened bread which is the centerpiece of the Seder ritual and the staple of the week-long festival. I would like to spend a little time thinking about what messages are communicated to us by this culinary custom.
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This week's portion, Ki Tissa, opens with an interesting commandment: "And the Lord spoke to Moshe, saying: When you count the heads of the children of Israel, according to their numbers, each man shall give a payment for his soul to God, to be counted, and no harm will come to them when they are counted. This is what all those who are counted will give: half a shekel...half a shekel as a gift to God... The rich will not give more, and the poor will not give less than half a shekel...
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Whenever a conversation takes place about Judaism's attitude towards democracy, part of a verse from this week's parsha, Mishpatim (Laws) is usually quoted: "...acharay rabim l'hatot" - "...turn towards the many", or, simply put, go according to the majority. This phrase is often used to prove that although the classic Jewish state was clearly not a democracy - it was, in fact, a constitutional monarchy with certain democratic features - classical Judaism had within it some democratic elements; most crucially, the notion that, in certain frameworks at least, the majority rules.
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This week, the nation of Israel finally leaves Egypt. Interestingly, even after years of genocidal oppression, it is not the Egyptians who end up as the Torah's least favorite people; that distinction goes to someone else. After the sea has been split, the Egyptians defeated and the Israelites are in the desert, on their way to the Land of Israel, they are suddenly attacked by a desert tribe: "And Amalek came, and fought with Israel at Rephidim".
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Cos' I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy,
But my heart lies in old West Virginia,
Never seen New Orleans, Oklahoma, Tennessee,
Still I dream of the Black Hills
that I ain't never seen.
Cos' I'm a Muswell Hillbilly boy,
But my heart lies in old West Virginia,
Though my hills are not green,
I have seen them in my dreams,
Take me back to those Black Hills
That I have never seen.
The Kinks, Muswell Hillbillies; Ray Davies.
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Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage, rage against the dying of the light - Dylan Thomas
