Adar-2 5784 COMPLETE STRAIGHT TEXT Divrei Matir Asurim (for easier copying to email)
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This Divrei Matir Asurim is part of a continuing experiment in inside/outside communications. This material is available in three formats: straight text for copying into emails; formatted text for copying/printing for postal mail; and on-line in hypertext (with some internet links for those who can access them, below). Please share Divrei Matir Asurim, in whole or part, with interested inside readers.
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Jump to Torah Explorations — Closing Exodus, New Challenges of Leviticus
Jump to Torah Explorations — Purim and Passover
Jump to Torah Explorations — Closing Thoughts, Prayers
Matir Asurim Organizational News
Organizers’ Meeting
Matir Asurim organizers’ meetings are now on a quarterly schedule, with working groups meeting more often as needed. More news after our NEXT MEETING: March 17.
Continuing Query: Food Service/Kashrut
Thank you to those who already offered feedback on kosher and ritual food access.
If you have not yet done so, please do!!
Matir Asurim is gathering information about existing conditions and laws around kosher food service. We are a small number of volunteers, spread out across the U.S. and Canada, and we know we cannot address every need. But we do want to hear from Jews inside, and from visitors who use commissary and vending machines:
- Do you have access to kosher food?
- Is it comparable to meals provided to those not on religious diet?
- Are special foods for Shabbat and holidays available?
- Will you have access to customary sweets for the festival of Purim (March 23-24 this year)?
- Are accommodations made for the days of Passover (April 22-30)?
- Will you have access to ritual foods for seder?
- Anything else you’d like to share with us about your experience with kosher and ritual foods?
Use contact information above to share input. More information for outside readers
— Memorial, Healing and Special Concern, Celebration —
Submit items for future editions (use contacts above, page 1). Categories include:
- shares concerns for healing of all kinds,
- recalls teachers and loved ones whom death has taken from us, and
- marks milestones and celebrations.
Memorial:
March 31 Bella Abzug (1920-1998): US Congresswoman, eco-feminist, civil rights activist
Healing: All suffering community and state violence in US, Canada, and around the world.
All seeking healing of spirit, repair of personal conflicts, and healing of body.
Calendar Notes: Adar-2, Purim, Passover, and Special Shabbats
Jewish leap years, like this one, have 13 months, instead of 12. So, we have an extra month of Adar. Adar 1 began on February 8-10, and Adar 2 begins on March 9-11.
Purim begins after Shabbat on March 23 this year, and Passover runs April 22 through April 29 or 30.
The calendar includes five special Shabbats (Hebrew plural: Shabbatot) in the lead-up to Passover.
Shabbat Shekalim once concerned the annual half-shekel/adult contribution to the Temple. Since destruction of the Temple, Jews traditionally make a tzedakah contribution at Purim. Extra readings are Ex 30:11-16 (census) and 2 Kings 12:1-17 or 11:17 – 12:17 (donations to support the Temple).
Shabbat Zachor [memory]right before Purim, includes readings about Amalek, Deut 25:17-19 and 1 Sam 15:1 or 2-34. Amalek relates to the Book of Esther and many other ideas about Jews’ enemies.
Shabbat Parah [cow] adds Numbers 19:1-22, a reading on the Red Heifer Temple purification ritual.
Shabbat HaChodesh [month], adds Exod 12:1-20, on the new month and sacrifice of Passover
Shabbat HaGadol [big], adds Malachi 3:4-24; right before Passover, this Shabbat used to be one of two in which a rabbi would give a “big” sermon to help communities prepare for important holidays.
Passover: The Shabbat during Passover adds a reading of Shir HaShirim, the Song of Songs
Schedule of Exodus/Shemot and Leviticus/Vayikra Torah Reading
Hebrew title [English]. Chapters: verse Civic date. Hebrew date for Shabbat portion is read
Special PASSOVER-RELATED Shabbats
Ki Tisa [When you elevate]. Ex 30:11-34:35. March 2. 22 Adar I
Vayakhel [He assembled]. Ex 35:1-38:20. March 9. 29 Adar I SHABBAT SHEKALIM
Pekudei [“Accounts of”]. Ex 38:21-40:38 March 16. 6 Adar 2 [End of Exodus]
Vayikra [He called ]. Vayikra/Lev 1:1 – 5:26 March 23. 13 Adar 2 SHABBAT ZACHOR
Tzav [Command]. Lev 6:1 – 8:36 March 30. 20 Adar 2 SHABBAT PARAH
Shmeni [Eighth]. Lev 9:1 – 11:47 April 6. 27 Adar 2 SHABBAT HaCHODESH
Tazria [She bears seed]. Lev 12:1 – 13:59 April 13. 5 Nisan
Metzora [Infected one] Lev 14:1 – 15:33 April 20. 12 Nisan SHABBAT HaGADOL
Passover Day 5. Exodus 33:12 – 34:26 April 27. 19 Nisan SHABBAT PESACH
Acharei Mot [after the death]. Lev 16:1 – 18:30 May 4. 26 Nisan
Kedoshim [Holy] Lev 19:1 – 20:27 May 11. 3 Iyar
Emor [Say] Lev 21:1-24:23 May 18. 10 Iyar
Behar [On the mountain] Lev 25:1-26:2 May 25. 17 Iyar
Bechukotai [In my laws] Lev 26:3 – 27:34 Jun 1. 24 Iyar [End of Leviticus/Vayikra]
NOTE: Torah Explorations follow themes of recent and upcoming weekly readings,
but they do not match exactly to the reading calendar.
Some Torah Explorations relate to holiday readings.
TORAH EXPLORATIONS
Closing Exodus
Exodus ends with a focus on the Mishkan, the portable worship space carried through the wilderness. The final weekly portions contain details, drama, and more details.
Details. We get instructions for constructing the Mishkan. We get details about the priests’ robes, designs in the curtains, and oil for the lamps. We are told about types of woods and colors of yarns that should be used. The directions are interrupted by the Golden Calf incident (Ex 32, see also p.6).
Drama. This story begins when Moses is on Mount Sinai and seems gone too long. The people are fearful and lose faith in Moses. They ask Aaron to help them create an idol they can follow instead. They melt gold to create a statue of a calf and then worship the Golden Calf instead of God. God is furious and threatens to end all relationship with the people. Moses destroys the first Tablets of the “Decalogue,” the Ten Commandments or Words just revealed on Mount Sinai. Thousands are killed in violence meant to destroy those responsible for the Golden Calf….but eventually, God and Moses together create a second set of tablets, and we get yet more details.
Details. We get detailed description of how the tabernacle is constructed. Woods, and yarn, and curtain designs, and oil for the lamps — as it is all crafted and put into place by the artists and the people. Moses completes the work. God’s kavod [presence] fills the mishkan. [The Book of Exodus ends.]
Directions vs. Disaster. The Golden Calf incident illustrates sharp conflict between God, the people, and their leaders. When Moses is on Mount Sinai, there is a lack of communication with the people and Aaron below. This leads to death and destruction. Some teachers see the Mishkan sections as a kind of antidote, or a way of preventing more disaster. The exact directions are meant to keep things from going off the rails. But the Mishkan sections are full of tension, too.
Communal Responsibility. God tells Moses “Let them make Me a sanctuary [mikdash], that I may dwell among them” (Ex 25:8). The Hebrew verb “dwell” is related to “Mishkan.” The idea seems to be that the people’s collective creation of a worship space is necessary for God to “dwell among them.” Later, the people are responsible for keeping a lamp burning — “forever, through the generations” (Ex 27:21). These are not things anyone, or even any one generation, can do alone.
At the same time, construction materials are supposed to come only from “those with a willing heart” (Ex 25:2, 35:5). And the work is to be done by “every wise-hearted person.” So, individual intentions and abilities do matter.
Improvising. God provides a detailed list of accepted contributions (Exodus 25, 35) and exact uses. But the people bring their own contributions for the work — so much, that Moses finally tells them to stop (Ex 36:5-7). Then a group of women bring mirrors (Ex 38:8), so the chief artist uses them to create a wash basin — which was not in the original instructions.
Even with detailed directions, there is still tension between divine and human intentions and between individual and collective responsibility.
Exodus ends in this tension.
Beyond Exodus: New Challenges
Leviticus raises a whole new set of challenges.
The Mishkan may be finished, and relatively stable. But, surrounding the Mishkan are people. People have bodies, and bodies change:
- grow and decay,
- sweat and bleed,
- engage in sex acts and give birth,
- fall ill, heal, die.
Human bodies eat and relate to the land and to plants and animals around them.
How does all that change relate to God?
—-NOTE: Leviticus – “Vayikra” in Hebrew – is a difficult book for many. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that some passages have been used — in- and outside of Judaism — to great harm. Learning from the text does not mean ignoring harm, or trying to erase it. Learning about the book’s history, philosophy, and interpretations over the centuries can help us find meaning in Leviticus.—-
Change, “Ick,” and God-People Relationships. Leviticus is full of sacrifice, blood, and body parts — with plenty of “icky” detail. Those details are part of life’s messiness, how bodies change. Rabbi Tamar Kamionkowski teaches that Leviticus deals with relationships between that messiness and ideas of divinity.
Over the centuries, Judaism has developed many different ways of understanding how God and people relate. At least two different ancient theologies are found in the Book of Leviticus.
— P theology, for “priestly,” is found throughout the Torah and linked to the first 16 chapters of Leviticus — focus is on ritual purity;
— H theology, for “holiness,” is linked to chapters 17-26 of Leviticus — focus is on what modern readers call “morality.”
Two theories of God’s relationship to change. Rabbi Kamionkowski describes the two theologies in her introduction to Leviticus. She teaches that the two systems address different questions, and keeping the ideas apart can help avoid confusion.
P’s God is separate from humanity, a force-like “Other.” P’s God does not get angry or jealous, as in Exodus (see Golden Calf story, for example):
“P’s theology imagines a God of stability and perfection, which naturally results in a tension between God’s static nature and humanity’s constantly changing nature. P believes that placing some controls on the changing nature of human bodies can bring humanity closer to God.”
“P offers compelling views of community and the careful balance between the needs of individuals and the needs of the community. P emphasizes that the private seeps into the public and that an great community.” — p.lxii, p. lxiii, Leviticus*
H’s theology looks at God and the people in a partner relationship, influencing one another
“H is centered in holiness as relationship between God and [the people] Israel, with both partners able to impact the other profoundly….both partners are vulnerable and interdependent. God is not Other….” p.lxi*
For P, ritual purity is important to keep God’s presence [kavod] dwelling among the people. For H, holiness is found in God, people, places and things. God’s presence [kavod] is not in question for H, according to Rabbi Kamionkowski. Instead, God’s “name [shem]” is influenced by what we do: humans can desecrate God’s name through unethical behavior.
Rabbi Kamionkowski stresses that H’s theology is not describing an equal partnership between people and God — God is still God. But the focus is less priestly and more on the people as a whole.
What did I miss?
Opening Leviticus at the beginning can seem like starting a book or movie half-way through. The text seems to assume the reader knows the basics of the sacrificial systems already and just needs details of particular offerings.
One way to approach these opening chapters is to consider a very distant overview:
- Vayikra explains how to set things right after an inadvertent mistake. One of those sins is breaking trust.
- Tzav describes some rituals that are meant to be “everlasting.”
- Shmini outlines rules relating to food and contact with animals, to maintain purity.
What kinds of situations are involved here? What are we learning about what affects purity? Is there any aspect of life that is not of concern?
As the Book of Exodus comes to a close, a meditation on the Torah portion, Ki Tisa, the portion containing the Golden Calf story (Ex 32), see above. At this point in the story, Moshe (Moses) has disappeared into the cloud atop Mount Sinai, and the people are afraid he will not return….
Don’t Follow the Fear
In their panic
They fashioned for themselves a god.
Out of gold, silver and precious stones
They made something they could see and touch
Something they could hold onto.
From their own hands
They made a god that was static, immovable
A god that was definite
And would never change.
In the throes of fear,
Our ancestors grasped for certainty
They turned away from mystery
And the presence of the unknown.
And when Moshe returned to camp,
Carrying the tablets
Inscribed by the Divine Presence
There was a shattering.
The tablets, containing the light of the Infinite Mystery,
Could not enter a place where
Certainty was worshipped
And fear ruled.
As fragments of the broken tablets
spread through out the camp
The people mourned and wailed.
But from within the brokenness,
The Mystery called:
Hinei makom iti—
There is a place for you with me. (Ex 33:21)
In the midst of fear,
In the grip of doubt and mistrust,
Amid the shattering and dread,
Even here,
There is a place for you with me.
Feel my presence.
I am standing right beside you.
Listen as I call out my name:
All Being, All Being, Compassion and Graciousness,
Patience, Forbearance,
Abounding in Love and Truth,
Extending Generosity through time and space,
Lifting up Guilt and Despair
from the Depths of Misdeeds,
And making you free. (Ex 34: 5-7)
The Torah urges us to keep watch,
So as not to be hijacked by doubts and fears,
No matter how loud and insistent they become.
And not to let regrets and misdeeds
Shatter hope and possibility.
Listen, the Mystery calls:
There is a place for you with me.
I am standing right beside you.
And this is my name:
Compassion, Graciousness, Patience, Love, Truth, Generosity,
Forgiveness.
May these calls give us strength to face the brokenness we encounter
and join together for healing.
— Rabbi Yael Levy, shared with permission
Yael Levy is founder and rabbinic director of A Way In, offering “a way in” to spiritual practice and awareness that uses the language of Jewish tradition and address universal issues. She is retired from a part-time position at Mishkan Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation in Philadelphia, and has worked with the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. She is an author and provides a mindfulness guide to the Torah portions of the week. Contact: A Way In, P.O. Box 63912. Philadelphia, PA 19147-7779
Torah Explorations: Purim and Passover
This month’s Divrei Matir Asurim includes selections from previous holiday resources. See PDF links above and/or download full holiday resources.
For Purim: “The Holiday,” by Allen Lipson, and “Costumes & Masks on Purim: A Text Study” by Laynie Solomon. Full package from 5782 includes these and more.
For Passover: “Our Power” by Rena Branson, from 5782 Haggadah; and “Faith, Fear, and the Story of Nachshon and the Red Sea” by Stacey Zisook Robinson, z”l, from 5783 Haggadah. Visit Resource Page to download whole 5782 Haggadah and/or 5783 Haggadah.
Torah Explorations: Closing Thoughts, Prayers
Acheinu (“Our kindred”) —
for those facing anguish and captivity
“Acheinu” is a 1000-year-old prayer for captives. Some traditions use it during weekday morning prayers, when the Torah is returned to the ark after reading. This spot in the service is understood as a moment of unity for those gathered in prayer with Jews everywhere — in freedom or in captivity.
This version includes a wider sense of kindred. It changes “from darkness to light” to “from isolation to support.” And the final request for “redemption” is changed to a prayer for “peace and wholeness,” in recognition that many among us do not expect immediate release.
Acheinu kol beit yisrael,
v’acheinu kol yoshvei tevel
For all our family of the House of Israel,
and all our family across the Earth,
ha-n’tunim b’tzarah u-vashivyah,
ha-omdim bein ba-yam u-vein ba-yabashah,
who are given into trouble and captivity,
whether on sea or on land:
ha-makom y’raḥeim aleihem,
v’yotzi∙eim mi-tzarah lirvaḥah,
mi-bidud l’temichah
u’mi-shabud l’shalom
hashta ba’agala uvizman kariv.
Ve’imru Amen.
May the Divine have compassion upon them,
and bring them from distress to relief,
from isolation to support,
from subjugation to peace and wholeness,
now, speedily, soon,
and let us say: Amen.
— adaptation, Virginia Avniel Spatz
for Matir Asurim, Adar 2 5784 (March 2024). Share with attribution.
Hashkiveinu
Shelter from the River to the Sea
Hashkiveinu adonai eloheinu l’shalom
ve’ha’amideinu malkeinu l’chayim...
May you lie down in peace
and rise up again to life
in the morning.
Ve’hagen ba’adeinu ve’haser mei’aleinu
oyev, dever, ve’cherev, ve’ra’av ve’ya’gon…
May you be protected
from all violence and harm,
hunger and disease,
sheltered from weapons of death
that strike from above and below.
Uve’tzel kanfecha tastireinu…
May you be healed from all pain and trauma,
comforted by the knowledge
that you are not alone.
Ufros aleinu sukkat shlomecha...
May you find refuge
beneath a shelter that knows no bounds,
that you, and all who dwell
between the river and the sea
may find protection
for life and for peace
now and always.
Amen
— Rabbi Brant Rosen, January 21, 2024
Brant Rosen is rabbi of Tzedek Chicago, long-time activist for peace and justice, and author of essays, poems, and Jewish liturgy. This piece is one of several written in as part of “Jewish Prayers for Gaza.” Share with attribution.
Vayikra
The Book of Leviticus begins with the word, “Vayikra,” written with a small letter alef at the end of the word —
Jews have been discussing that little alef for centuries, coming up with moral lessons, mystical teachings, and long stories about Moses and God. For most, Hebrew spelling is key: With the alef, the word – vayikra [וַיִקרא], vav-yud-kuf-reish-alef — means “and he called.” (It is clear from the rest of the verse that God-YHVH is calling to Moses before beginning to speak in the Mishkan.) Without the alef, the word– vayikar [וַיִקר], vav-yud-kuf-reish —means “and he met, happened upon.”
The overlapping meanings, of calling and meeting, are used for many teachings —
— God calls out to indicate that communication is welcome. From this we learn: when meeting someone on the way, it is not polite to start speaking without an invitation.
— “Calling out” is more intimate than “happening on.” But Moses wrote the alef small to avoid bragging about his close relationship with God. From this we learn the importance of humility.
— “Calling out” shows God making room for Moses, so they could truly “meet.” From this we learn to imitate God by making room for another person’s thoughts and emotions.
— The double meaning, right at the beginning of a whole Torah book about holiness, shows that holiness can be found in true meeting and communication.
May the Book of Leviticus, difficult as it can be, bring moments of communication and connection.
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