Rabbi Rachel Barenblat: Place of Promise
Please follow the link below to read Rabbi Barenblat’s beautiful poem — a somewhat different perspective on the parashah
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l: Acharei Mot Holy People, HolyLand
Rabbi Sacks explores the theme of why Jews need their own land. On the one hand, the Torah is based on the theme of the promised land, and the journey there. On the other hand, cannot Judaism be practiced anywhere? The text of the parashah stipulates exile from the land for defiling the laws. Parashat Bechukotai also makes the same stipulation. He raises the issue that “Jews never relinquished the dream of return.”
Solidarity Concert May 12
Solidarity Concert May 12 at 4:00 pm — honoring Yom HaZikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut — at Congregation B’nai Israel in Tustin. Performers will include Cantors Heather Hoopes Seid, Elisa Waltzman, and Andrew Pascal, as well as other musicians and performers.
Amusing Jews
Check out the new YouTube channel “Amusing Jews”, celebrating Jews who have made offbeat contributions to American popular culture. Cantor Dr. Jonathan Friedmann and Rabbi Joseph Angel-Field have featured such notables as Fred Agree, the first Jew to complete the Iditarod in Alaska, and Gary Lassin, proprietor of the Stoogeum (Three Stooges Museum).
Passover Songs Mashup – Dance Spectacular!
Elliot Dvorin | Key Tov Orchestra – משאפ שירי פסח
Six13 – The Red Sea Shanty: A Pirate Passover
Six13 – The Red Sea Shanty: A Pirate Passover
Rabbi Elie Kaunfer: What Does it Mean to Say: ‘All Who are Hungry Come and Eat’?
We start our Seder with this phrase, but how practical is it, when taken literally? Literal interpretation changed to mean ‘feeding the poor in advance so they won’t have to beg on Passover’. So why do we still say it if it isn’t meant literally? Rabbi Kaunfer explores how to enact this line in other ways.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l: Metzora Is there such a thing as Lashon Tov?
Rabbi Sacks carries over the theme of speech in his drash on Metzora. Intriguingly, the Talmud doesn’t address the corollary, lashon tov. Shouldn’t it be a mitzvah to speak well of someone if it’s a sin to do the opposite? Please follow the link below to read his analysis of different Talmudic passages on the topic of speech, both good and bad, where the most common perspective is that both are not advisable:
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z/l: Tazria Othello, WikiLeaks, and Mildewed Walls
Tsa’arat, as translated in the Septuagint as leprosy, was not correct. Rambam describes it as a variety of dissimilar conditions, which the Sages attributed to lashon hara. It was, in fact, a Divine punishment, applied not just to individuals, but the location where the wrongdoing occurred. Rabbi Sacks compares this to Shakespeare’s Othello, wherein evil speech literally killed 3 individuals.
Sharon Safra: Parasita Tazria-Metzora From Isolation to Healing
Sharon Safra confronts the challenge of rituals for purification the seem so anachronistic in our contemporary society. She questions the requirement to ostracize members of a community when inclusion is so important in our tradition. She interprets the text by emphasizing the purpose of ritual purity to end isolation and establish wholeness. Her drash was written during the time of the pandemic, yet its relevance continues.