Lay Led Torah Study & Service — 7/10/10, 9a to 10:15/10:30 to noonish Congregation Shir Shalom, 252 W. Spain St., Sonoma JOIN THE SONOMA VALLEY JEWISH community tomorrow morning at 10:30 for a laid-back, lay-led “Reform Mellow” service at Congregation…
Tag: Learning Jewishly
“A little Torah is all anyone knows.”
Song of the Universe
TONIGHT IS SHAVUOT, WHICH CELEBRATES the gift of Torah at Mt. Sinai some 3,322 years ago. Whether one believes the Torah’s own account is inconsequential; what we celebrate is the living text (rather, Living Text) itself and its indivisibility from…
4:20 Torah (not what you think)
France Street Torah Study Saturday, May 15, 2010 – 10 am to noonish Home of Neal and Ann (707.933.9430 for directions) Parsha Bamidbar: Numbers 1:1-4:20; Haftorah Hosea 2:1-22 THIS SHABBAT, AT LEAST IN Sonoma, at least on France Street, brings…
Nutshell Rabbinics
“HERE’S HOW THE TORAH WORKS, at least from a classical perspective: What’s important, really important, is not just the text — it’s your relationship to the text. Which means you get to say what Torah means, but within parameters as…
Torah: Learn A Little!
REMEMBER THE SATURDAY MORNING TORAH study Ann started back in 2001? Well, we’re still doing it, and if you’d like to do it too — and you’re going to be in Sonoma between 10 a.m. and noon tomorrow — you…
Torah Word: Kedoshim
Torah Portion: Acharei Mot-Kedoshim Leviticus 16:1-20:27 Haftorah: Amos 9:7-15 “Kedoshim t’hyu, ki kadosh ani Adonai Eloheicha — Be holy, for I am holy, Adonai your God.” (Leviticus 19:2) The second half of this week’s double portion takes a breather from…
This Week In Torah: Vayak’hel/Pekudei
VAYAK’HEL/PEKUDEI (Exodus 35:1-40:38; haftarot I Kings 7:51-8:21 and, because Nisan starts on Tuesday making this a special Rosh Chodesh Shabbat, Ezekiel 45:16-46:18) WRAPS UP THE BOOK of Exodus by building the Tabernacle: the traveling God-tent whose structure and contents are…
R. Crumb, Darshan
MOST REVIEWS OF R. CRUMB’S “The Book of Genesis Illustrated” seem astonished that the man who kept us truckin’ through the ’60s could possibly give the Goode Booke such a serious rendering. But what astonishes me is that Crumb has…
School’s Out
TODAY IS THE WORST DAY (or one of the worst days) in any given year: it’s the last day I’ll be teaching religious school, which means I won’t see “my kids” any more — and I’ll be slightly stupider without…
Hiding the Hidden
Last week, we read in Parsha Beshallach about the departure from Egypt (Heb. “Mitzrayim”, or “narrows,” which the mystical tradition identifies with the forces of constraint and bad-habitry). Among the other nifty details is this one, from Exodus 13:21: “And…
Working Definition
God 1 adv. the Omnipresent Center SEE Copenhagen interpretation, quantum consciousness 2 v. The Connector of Space and Sustainer of Time; One, Alive, and Intent 3 n domesticated primates’ ultimate attribution of excuse, tragedy, success or inspiration
Mapping God
Like any Torah Nerd, I’ve never met a commentary I didn’t like — the more abstruse and seriously-taking the better — but I’ve always had difficulty with the traditional view of God As Punisher and Rewarder. Perhaps that stems from…