I was honored to be asked to write the D

I was honored to be asked to write the Dvar Acher (another word) for the URJ’s Weekly Torah Commentary this week. http://ow.ly/5dDCi

Weekly Torah Study: Parashat Kedoshim

Here is the text study from this morning’s weekly Torah Study at Whole Foods Market – Tarzana.  It was great to be back with the group.

Weekly Torah Study – Kedoshim

A helpful sermon on difficult texts

Today at our weekly Torah study a few students asked about how to handle commandments or teachings in Torah and/or Jewish tradition that we disagree with. The question and answer I gave reminded me of this article that I read last week while studying parashat Achrei Mot. I hope that it is helpful to you as well.

http://reformdafyomi.blogspot.com/2011/04/dealing-with-difficult-texts-acharei.html

Calling Moses – Parashat Vayikra

Join me today for Torah Study at 11:45am at Whole Foods Market Tarzana. This week’s Torah Portion is Vayikra, the first chapters of the book by the same name.  Our text study sheet is attached.  You might also find additional insight from the drash I wrote for this week’s Jewish Journal, click here.

Weekly Torah Study – Vayikra

Sabbatical Day 1

Well it has officially begun.  I am not planning on posting every day, but thought Day One deserved a comment.  I hope to update this blog a few times a week.  I set up an office/study at AJU (formerly the UJ) yesterday.  I have arranged to have a vacant dorm room, where I can read, write and reflect.  It is a great setup and the perfect environment.  As an alum of the UJ, and former resident in the dorms, its very comforting to ‘go home’ – on one level I guess its like moving back into your childhood bedroom, though I am not sleeping there (well I may take a nap on occasion – they did leave the twin bed in the room).

This week, I am re-reading Peter Block’s book “Community – the Structure of Belonging” I read this fascinating and prescient analysis of modern community/organizational structures, how they form and how they are sustained.  FROM THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: “How is community built? How does the transformation occur? What fundamental shifts are involved? He explores a way of thinking about our places that creates an opening for authentic communities to exist and details what each of us can do to make that happen.”  Peter is speaking at our rabbinic conference (CCAR) in New Orleans at the end of the month and I want to rethink my reaction to his book and its conclusions.

Tomorrow I will be teaching Torah study at Whole Foods – Tarzana.  I have decided to keep this commitment when my travels permit while on sabbatical.  I enjoy and learn from the regularity of preparing the study session and love the group that has developed.  Tomorrow I will be teaching Parashat Vayikra – the first chapters of the book of Leviticus.  I was asked to write this week’s D’var Torah for the Jewish Journal on the same subject (out in print on Thursday, but here is a link to it online now).

So that is day one and a glimpse of Day Two.  The big question is where to go this Friday night for Shabbat Services?  I will be at IKAR on Saturday morning, but have not yet decided on a shul for Friday night in Los Angeles.  Any suggestions?

Torah Study: Parshat Vayakel

Here is this week, Torah Study sheet for Parshat Vayakel (Exodus 35:1-37:16).  Join me each week for Torah Study at Whole Foods in Tarzana.

Here is an excerpt:

APPRECIATING THE GIVER AS WELL AS THE GIFT

Lewis M. Barth

Our biblical ancestors understood the unifying power of a community effort to construct a sanctuary. With regard to giving gifts and engaging in the labor of building, the biblical text uses the phrase “everyone whose heart so moves him” to recognize the psychological need to give, as well as to praise those who donate or volunteer their wealth and time. Moses also recognizes the special capacities of the great architect and craftsman Betzalel, descended from the tribe of Judah: “God has endowed him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft.” (Exod. 35:31)

Our biblical text provides an example of gratitude for gifts given when the heart moves the giver or the contribution of labor is a reflection of unique skill. Public appreciation of contributions to synagogue and community is not a modern creation. No building project, however, is without its history and its complications. Just a few chapters earlier in Exodus, we read the story of the golden calf, the Israelites’ immediate and utter betrayal of the covenant at Sinai. The Midrash contains a remarkable comment on the gifts brought for the construction of the Tabernacle. It notes that the very same jewelry that the Israelites initially brought to make the golden calf they now contribute to the construction of the sanctuary. This represents far more than “hearts that had been moved to give.” It is a sign of an inner turning away from idolatry, an act of teshuvah, “repentance.”

Appreciation of the significance of a gift offered as a reflection of a change of heart is better than the contemporary cynicism with which the public announcement of a generous contribution is often greeted.

Rabbi Lewis M. Barth, Ph.D., is Professor of Midrash at the Los Angeles campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

VAYAKHEL TEXT STUDY

Dvar Torah on Parshat Yitro – LA Jewish Journal

My Dvar Torah on Parshat Yitro in this week’s LA @JewishJournal. Who is wise? The one who learns from all people. http://ht.ly/3GMOG

Temple Judea Torah Study @wfmtarzana is

Temple Judea Torah Study @wfmtarzana is featured in this week’s new issue of the LA Jewish Journal. Check it out. http://ht.ly/3CUl4

Torah Study Wed 10/20 @WholeFoods Tarzan

Torah Study Wed 10/20 @WholeFoods Tarzana 11:45a. Parshat Vayera – Binding of Isaac – is it an example of ‘blind faith’? http://ht.ly/2WfHl

My D’var Torah in this week’s @JewishJ

My D’var Torah in this week’s @JewishJournal. Read it here before it hits the news stands. http://ow.ly/2PFN5