Mosaic is a unique Jewish Community - in that we offer at least three weekly and festival services from the Liberal, Masorti and Reform traditions. After our services we get together for joint kiddushim, and offer study sessions before or after some of our services.
7/8 June: Bamidbar : Shabbat comes in 9:00 pm, ends 10:20 pm
In Parshat Bamidbar we read the verse “This is the line of Aaron and Moses at the time that the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. These were the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadav, the first-born, and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar.“ This passage begins by saying that it will tell the line of Aaron and Moses, but supplies only the names of Aaron’s sons.
From this, the Talmud concluded, “One who teaches the son of his neighbour Torah is considered as if he had begotten him, since Aaron begot and Moses taught them; hence they are [also] called by Moses’s name” (Sanhedrin 19b).
We all have teachers and coaches who greatly add to our appreciation for our life and give it deeper meaning. Judaism gives them proper recognition as actual givers of life. Who has done that for you as you were growing up?
The central tale in this parshat revolves around a rebellion or a series of rebellions led by Korach the Levite. At first, Korach is accompanied by 250 tribal leaders, including Datan and Aviram who complain to Moses, “You have gone too far! For all the community are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is in their midst. Why then do you raise yourselves above the Lord’s congregation?”
Korach’s purpose is not a mission of holiness and is not intended to advance a nobler purpose. It is a challenge rooted in his own individual ambition. Modern commentator Nechama Leibowitz writes that Korach and his followers “were simply a band of malcontents, each harbouring his own personal grievances against authority, animated by individual pride and ambition, united to overthrow Moses and Aaron and hoping thereby to attain their individual desires.”
A rebel without a cause, Korach is understood as a model of a destructive voice that challenges authority for no purpose other than his own personal advancement and wanton destructiveness. Challenges to authority are not bad per se in Judaism — it always depends on the motivation and intended goal of the people involved.
The scouts enter the land and journey to Hebron where they encounter a group of aboriginal giants. During their forty-day mission, the scouts proceed to Wadi Eshkol, where they procure a cluster of grapes to bring back to Moses. The scouts return and give their report. Although the men begin with the positive, it becomes clear that they would like to abandon the idea of conquering the land. Two of the scouts, Caleb and Joshua, attempt to pacify the people but they are ignored. The people are demoralized by the scouts’ report and begin to panic.
The rabbis asked why the account of the spies follows directly after the story of Miriam’s slander against her brother Moses, an incident recorded at the end of last week’s parshat ? Rashi explains that Miriam was stricken with leprosy on account of the slander she spoke regarding her brother; and now, these men were slandering the Land of Canaan.
The sin of these national representatives was an act of slander against the Promised Land, just as Miriam’s sin was an act of slander against Moses. Her actions created an environment that may have encouraged the malcontents among the Israelites to rise up in rebellion.
In parshat Behalotcha, two of the elders, Eldad and Medad, begin to prophesy in the camp. Joshua sees the elders’ prophetic ability as a threat to Moses’ authority and urges Moses to restrain them. Moses rebukes Joshua for his concern saying, “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord put His spirit upon them” (Numbers 11:29). Ideally, says Moses, every Israelite should qualify as a prophet.
Realistically, you can’t have many different prophets preaching different messages — but Moses finds that these two are genuine in their ability and approach. It is a lesson that good leaders who are concerned for the future, must train or “bring-along” others to ultimately replace them.
My kids are getting better at doing what they are told: “clean your room now; clear the table; take in the laundry.” But they are not good at having a job and getting it done, day after day without reminders.
Perhaps I can learn from the parasha: The Levites were singled out to transport the Tabernacle. The Levites comprised three clans: the Gershonites, the Merarites, the Kohatites.
The Kohatites were responsible for transporting the most sacred objects in the Tabernacle. The responsibilities of the Gershonites and Merarites are detailed at the beginning of parashat Naso. The Gershonites were assigned the duty of transporting the Tabernacle curtains, and the Merarites were assigned the duty of transporting the Tabernacle structure.
I always try to get a different kid to clear the table — to make it seem fair. But I wonder if the rotating nature of my requests make it LESS likely for the kids to do the job on their own. Perhaps clarity and consistency of the Levite tasks made it easier for them to be executed.
“When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all utensils of the sacred objects at the breaking of camp, only then shall the Kehatites come and lift them, so that they do not come in contact with the sacred objects and die .
“Let Aaron and his sons go on and assign each of them to his duties…but let not the Kehatites go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary lest they die.'”
Several rabbinic texts explore the meaning of the phrase and examine the reason why witnessing the dismantling of the sanctuary is so lethal.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin 81b) suggests that since the Kehatites see and handle the vessels every day, if they handled them uncovered, they might be tempted to steal them. Metaphorically, overfamiliarity with religion may tempt some to “steal it,” i.e., use it for ourselves or our own personal aggrandisement. If we do that, the rabbis teach, we make the holiness disappear.
I think that there is a problem with overfamiliarity but it’s not about stealing. I like that there is mystery surrounding the ancient tabernacle and Temple, and if you witness the ark, curtains, poles etc. in pieces — then it is more difficult for their “magic” to work on you.
We know that the objects of the Tabernacle, or of our own shul, have to be dismantled at times — the rabbis of old are acknowledging that it must be done — but they also admit that it comes at a psychological price.
Shavuot
You probably have heard of Shavuot as the festival of weeks, counting 7 weeks from Passover Shavuot. We know that there is always an agricultural association with the main holidays — so too with Shavuot; it was a harvest festival. And you may know that Shavuot is associated with the giving of the law at Mount Sinai — we read the ten commandments at services this Sunday morning.
However, you may not have heard of Shavuot as the celebration of the anniversary of our conversion to Judaism. As such, every one of us, having stood at Sinai are ourselves converts. A convert does not need to know the entire Torah before being accepted as a convert, rather, as Rambam teaches, a sincere convert is taught “some of the difficult mitzvot, and some of the easier ones,” at the time of conversion.
We are all converts on the path of accepting the Torah, just like our ancestors did at Sinai. But the Torah’s idea of becoming a Jew is not about all or nothing observance. As long as one is sincerely doing his or her best to observe what they know of and are ready for at this time, they are deemed fully embracing Judaism.
“Then shall the Land (of Israel) make up for its Sabbath years and you are in the land of your enemies…” (Lev. 26:34)
The Talmud (Shabbat 33) explains the verse above: because of the sins of [not observing] shmitta (Sabbatical) years, exile was decreed and others came to dwell in their place.
One important idea of the Sabbatical year is to demonstrate that the land is not ours. We are as servants on the land; six years we work and, if we behave properly, the land will be given for an additional six years. However, when they cancelled the Sabbatical year and acted as if the land was theirs, they were exiled from it ; measure for measure.
I think “custodians” instead of “owners” is a better way to think about possession of land. This has political implications, i.e. the need to share the land when there is a refugee crisis; and I think we would be living an ecologically “greener” lifestyle if we truly thought of ourselves as caretakers of the world God created.
In Parshat Behar, we read of the rights of landowners and the legalities of the sale and mortgaging of land. We are given the laws of the sabbatical year, when sowing and reaping of fields, and pruning and picking of vines are prohibited; although crops that grow naturally are allowed to be picked. Every fiftieth year is the Jubilee. In addition, all land returns to its original owners.
The Torah has set up a system against economic fraud or exploitation. It teaches that sales of land are to be considered leases, not final sales. In the event that someone wanted to buy out that lease, the value of the lease is a function of the number of crop years remaining until the next Jubilee. It is not socialism, it is capitalism with limits. When I was younger, I perhaps didn’t appreciate the need for this law — but now that I see too many examples of the rich becoming too rich and the poor becoming too poor — I better understand its wisdom.
In Parshat Emor, we read about the prohibition against desecrating God’s name. In our earliest understanding of this commandment, we understood that major violations of moral law are desecrations of God’s name. So, for example, we are commanded to give up our life rather than violate one of the three “cardinal” sins: murder, incest, and idolatry.
On the other side of things, sanctification of God’s name occurs when our observance of mitzvot enhances the respect for the Torah in the eyes of other people. When the Jewish community (or individuals) help out people in need, it sends a message about the kindness required by our God. Simple acts of common civility or incivility can have far-reaching ramifications, depending upon who is involved and who is watching.
Of all passages in the Torah, Parshat Kedoshim ranks as one of the most important. The major theme of Kedoshim is holiness. Modern Jews all too often associate the concept of holiness with a realm far removed from daily life. However, in simple terms, it is how we are supposed to be behave.
So in our parsha it states, “You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind.’ It is given a broad range of interpretations in the Talmud and in later Jewish literature. Almost all Jewish scholars understood that the expression “the blind” is not to be interpreted literally. A person can be “blind” if s/he is ignorant of a particular situation. In other words, it means: Do not purposefully trip someone up. Do not take advantage of someone not knowing something. It is part of being holy.
Shabbat comes in 9.03 pm: goes out 10.20 pm 
