Vaera D'var Torah

Vaera Summary

God sent Moses to talk to Pharaoh, and he sent Aaron with him because Moses had impeded speech. When they got there, they used God’s powers to prove that God had sent them, by turning Aaron’s staff into a snake. Then, God told Moses and Aaron to go and ask Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and if he didn’t listen they should use the staff to turn all of the water in the Nile into blood. They asked Pharaoh, he said no, and they turned the water to blood. The same process happened with the following plagues of frogs, lice, insects, cattle disease, boils, and hail. After the hail, Pharaoh finally said that the Israelites could leave, so Moses made the hail and thunder stop. However, since it stopped, Pharaoh changed his mind and made the Israelites stay.

Commentary:

One lesser-known part about the story of the ten plagues is that Pharaoh didn’t let the Israelites go not just because he wanted to keep them as slaves, but he also didn’t believe that they really had the power of God- because he had magicians! When Moses and Aaron first went to Pharaoh to free the Israelites, Aaron changed his rod into a serpent as a demonstration of God’s power. But, “Then Pharaoh, for his part, summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and the Egyptian magicians, in turn, did the same with their spells; each cast down his rod, and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed their rods” (Exodus 7:11-12). The same thing happened with the following plagues: Pharaoh’s magicians turned water to blood and conjured frogs. However, by the third plague, Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t create lice, so they told Pharaoh “This is the finger of God!” (Exodus 8:15). Even that couldn’t change Pharaoh’s mind, and his heart “stiffened” every time as he refused to let the Israelites go. The last mention of the magicians is after the plague of boils, where Pharaoh wanted them to fix it, but they couldn’t since they were also affected. I wanted to write about these magicians just because I think that it’s really cool that they existed in the Torah, and it’s interesting how they were actually a major character in the Exodus story.

Shemot D'var Torah

Shemot Summary

After Jacob and his sons came to live in Egypt with Joseph, they started having kids and so their numbers multiplied and increased significantly. After Joseph and his brothers died, there was a new king in charge of Egypt, and he decided to enslave them because there were too many Israelites. Pharaoh then told two Hebrew midwives to kill all of the Hebrew boys born, to stop the Israelites from growing. They failed at this, because the women giving birth wouldn’t let them. So instead, Pharaoh told his people to throw all of the baby boys into the Nile. 

A Levite man and woman had a baby, and when the woman saw how beautiful her baby boy was, she hid him for three months. When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she made a basket for the baby, put him in it, and sent it floating down the Nile. His sister followed him to see what would happen. Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in the Nile, and she found the basket. She opened it and saw a baby, and realized that he was a Hebrew child. The baby’s sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter if she needed help finding someone to care for him, and she said yes, so the sister went to get the mother of the baby. Once the baby grew up, his sister brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, who named him Moses. 

When Moses was grown up, one day he saw an Egyptian man beating up a Hebrew man. So, once the Egyptian was alone, Moses killed him and hid him in the sand. The next day, he saw two Hebrews fighting and asked one why he hit the other. He replied, “Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” This alerted Moses that people had found out about what he did. When Pharaoh heard what happened, he wanted to kill Moses, but Moses ran away, to the land of Midian.

The priest of Midian had seven daughters, who went to a well to get water for their fathers’ sheep. When they got there, some shepherds tried to stop them from getting water, but Moses defended them and helped them get water. Because of this, the priest invited Moses to stay with them, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. A long time after that, the Egyptian Pharaoh died, and the Israelites were suffering a lot and cried for help to God. God heard them, and remembered his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so he watched over the Israelites.

An angel from God appeared to Moses from a burning bush, but even though it was on fire, it wasn’t consumed. God called to him from the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

Moses replied, “Here I am.” God then explained to Moses that he needed to help free the Israelites from slavery im Egypt.  God told him to go talk to the Pharaoh and tell him to free the Israelites, because God said so. Additionally, in order to make them believe that God had really sent Moses, Moses’ rod would turn into a snake when he tapped it on the ground, because God made it do that. He also gave Moses two more impossible things to help convince the Egyptians that God was with Moses. After this, Moses told God that he is slow of speech and he’s probably not the right person, so God sent Aaron, Moses’ brother, along with Moses so Aaron could do the talking.

At a camp at night on the way to Egypt, God wanted to kill Moses. Zipporah (his wife) circumcised his son, and apparently that made God happy and not want to kill Moses.

Moses and Aaron met together and gathered the Israelite elders so that they could explain what God had said.

After all this, Moses and Aaron finally made their way to Egypt to talk to Pharaoh. They asked Pharaoh to let their people go so that they could celebrate a festival for God for three days in the woods. But the Pharaoh didn’t believe in God, and said, “Moses and Aaron, why do you distract the people from their tasks? Get to your labors!”

Commentary:

One scene that stands out to me is where Moses killed an Egyptian for beating up one of the Israelites. The next day, Moses encountered two Israelites fighting and asked them why they were fighting, and one responded by asking Moses why he was telling them what to do, and would he kill them like the Egyptian? Moses’ action by killing an Egyptian for beating up an Israelite is truly a moral dilemma because it’s obviously not good to kill someone (even God said so in the Ten Commandments), but the Egyptian was doing something bad to one of Moses’ “kinsmen.” I personally think that Moses should not have killed the Egyptian because even though he was a bad person since he was beating up an Israelite, the punishment of death does not fit that crime, and I think Moses made a bad decision to kill him.

December SATO Snap

     December break is here for a lot of families and students and it is so important to learn how to travel safely with this virus still going around. Asher already wrote about the new COVID-19 variant, but I’m here to teach you how to travel safely and effectively throughout the winter. The reason I’m bringing this up is because this time last year in 2020, covid numbers increased drastically because of all the travel, with last December and January numbers that had spiked with an average of over 1000 new cases a day.     

    Before you even begin to travel, think about how safe you are, and how you’re affecting others. Make sure you’re vaccinated if possible, of course wear a mask at all times, and if you’re immune compromised, be extra cautious. If you have any symptoms of the virus, make sure to get tested and if you’re positive, don’t travel because you’re putting others at risk and in danger. The CDC does not recommend for vaccinated individuals to get tested, but they recommend getting tested if you are not vaccinated, along with quarantining before the trip, and getting tested after your return. While traveling, whether it’s on a bus, train, plane, or car, make sure to frequently sanitize and wash your hands as well.

The most important thing is to do your research. Research the covid numbers and vaccination rates for wherever you are going. Make sure there all the rules and regulations of the place you’re traveling to are followed by you and your travel mates. Make sure to avoid large crowds and keep that mask on in small ones. Good luck and safe travels! 

Vayechi D'var Torah

Summary:

Jacob was getting pretty close to dying, so he asked Joseph to bury him where his ancestors were buried, not in Egypt. Some time after, Jacob was ill, so Joseph went to see him. Jacob told him that Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph’s sons, would be treated just like Jacob’s sons and that they would be fertile and numerous. Jacob then blessed Ephraim and Manasseh, but he placed his right hand on Ephraim, the younger brothers’ head, and his left hand on Manasseh, who was older (this was backwards, apparently the right hand is supposed to go on the older one’s head). Joseph saw this and tried to switch Jacob’s hands to the right way, but Jacob said that it was on purpose, and although Manasseh would become a people and he would be great, Ephraim would be greater and his offspring would be plentiful enough for nations.

Jacob called all of his sons in to tell them what would happen to them after he died. According to Jacob, Reuben, his first-born, would no longer continue to excel, and that he was unstable as water. He decided that Simeon and Levi would not be counted in his council, because “For when angry they slay men, And when pleased they maim oxen.” He promised to divide them in Israel. Jacob then praised Judah, and said that good things would happen to him and he would continue to rule. Jacob continued to go through his sons, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali. He then gives Joseph many blessings, and ends with Benjamin. His last words instructed his sons where to bury him, in the same place as Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah were buried. At the age of 147, Jacob then died. His sons buried him, and at the end of the portion, Joseph died as well.

Commentary:

Today, I’ll focus on the part of the portion where Jacob blessed his children, and I’ll do it in a different format this time by instead focusing on who were the biggest “winners” and “losers” after Jacob’s speech.

Winner: Judah

Jacob had a lot of praise for Judah, and much more than any of his other eldest sons. In fact, Jacob said that Judah’s brothers would praise him, and they should bow low to him. He also compared Judah to a king of beasts, and he said Judah would always be a ruler. Surprisingly, Judah probably got the most praise from Jacob out of all of the sons (except for Joseph).

Losers: Simeon and Levi

Jacob told Simeon and Levi together that he didn’t want them to be associated with him because they were too violent and mean. He cursed their anger and said he would scatter them around Israel, away from their brothers.

Winner: Dan

Jacob also gave Dan an unexpectedly positive message, as he said Dan would govern his people as one of the tribes of Israel, and he would be a serpent “that bites the horse’s heels so that his rider is thrown backward” (Genesis 49:17). While others got negative or conflicting blessings, Jacob blessed Dan to live a good life as a good leader.

Loser: Zebulun

Jacob didn’t say anything mean to Zebulun, but he just didn’t say anything good either. He told Zebulun that he would “dwell by the seashore” and “be a haven for ships” (Genesis 49:13). While Jacob was praising his other kids for being strong or good leaders or will be a baker or raider, Zebulun was just told that he would be stuck around the water like a port. That just sounds really boring compared to some others, so I think Zebulun came out on the negative side of these blessings.

Vayigash D'var Torah

Summary:

This portion finishes the story of Joseph. At the beginning of the portion, there was a famine, so Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to ask for food. Joseph asked them to bring their youngest brother, Benjamin with them. So his brothers went back to Jacob and asked to take Benjamin with them, and he allowed them to, as long as they promised to return him safely. When they returned, Joseph couldn’t contain himself anymore, and so he started crying and made them leave the room. He then called them back and told them that he was their brother (who they thought to be dead), Joseph. Joseph then gave them lots of provisions and told them to bring Jacob to him. His brothers returned to Jacob, and they brought all of their kids and Jacob’s grandkids, for a total of 70 people travelling with them. Joseph told them to settle in the land of Goshen, and Jacob decided that he was ready to die having seen Joseph alive.

Commentary:

One interesting part of this portion comes right after Joseph revealed himself to his brothers. After Joseph re-introduced himself, the first thing he told his brothers was, “Now, do not be distressed or reproach yourselves because you sold me hither; it was to save life that God sent me ahead of you” (Genesis 45:5). Joseph then explained that God had sent him to Egypt and gave him power because of the famine, so Joseph could save his family and himself by having access to food. He did give them access to food, and he talked with Pharaoh to make sure his brothers were treated like guests of honor. My takeaway from this is that Joseph somehow doesn’t feel negatively towards his brothers, even after they hated him, wanted to kill him but threw him in a pit instead, sold him as a slave, and lied about it to Jacob. This is one example of a leader in the Torah doing good and thinking about others (compared to the selfish behavior we’ve seen from others over the past weeks), and it’s especially impressive considering these people hurt Joseph, but family bonds were strong enough to break through their previous experiences.

SATO SNAP by Asher Blacker

  While sometimes it is easy to forget that there is still a pandemic, it is nevertheless still there. We are now going to school, playing sports, and doing things that during most of the pandemic we were not able to do. Now, with the news of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19, it is becoming harder to  ignore the problem. 

The Omicron variant is very new, but scientists do know that it has many mutations to the spike proteins of Covid-19. The spike proteins are what the vaccines target. This could cause the vaccines to become far less effective against this new variant. 

It is still unclear if the Omicron variant is any more dangerous or transmissible than other variants but that does not mean it should not be taken seriously. It is still helpful to have a vaccine and wear a mask to stop the spread and to give doctors and scientists time to learn more about this new variant. 

Miketz D'var Torah

Sorry for the delay, but here is this week's special edition d'var written by Zalmen Richmond-Shazeer! (This is worth definitely the read, it's ten times better than anything I've written this year)

    This parshah, Miketz, chronicles Joseph’s meteoric rise from Egyptian prisoner to Egyptian second-in-command and the start to the children of Israel’s eventual move to Egypt. It starts out with Pharoah having a few dreams. The first one involves seven big juicy cows getting eaten by seven ugly gaunt cows and the second one being pretty much the same thing but with corn. Nobody can interpret the dream until the chief wine bearer remembers about this guy, Joseph, who he somehow forgot about for the last two years. He tells Pharaoh about him, and they rush Joseph out of prison, tidy him up, and bring him to see Pharaoh. He interprets the dreams correctly, explaining how there would be seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of awful famine. He even suggests a plan to ration the resources for the bad years, and that Pharaoh should put “some man of discernment and wisdom” in charge of food distribution. In perhaps the biggest, quickest, promotion in history up to that point, Pharaoh promotes Joseph from prisoner to SECOND COMMAND IN THE ENTIRE LAND. (There are lots of things that could be said about this, but we’re going to move on because we’re running out of time before Shabbos). Fast forward into the famine years, Joseph’s got a wife, a couple of kids, and control over an entire country, and who should show up but his own brothers, hoping to get some food because of a famine in the land of Israel. They don’t recognize him as that brother they threw into a pit a while ago, and he pretends he doesn’t know them. They get into a conversation where he accuses them of being slaves three times but he eventually gives them their food. He tells them that if they want to come back, they have to bring that other brother they talked about (Benjamin), who stayed home that time with Jacob. The brothers go back and he puts the money they paid back into their bags (presumably because they’re his brothers). Jacob isn’t very pleased with the idea of letting his favorite son go but he doesn’t have much of a choice as they get hungry again. With Judah’s promise to take care of Benjamin, they go back down to Egypt. This time, with Benjamin, they come for food and he invites them to a feast. He puts them in order of birth, which confuses them a lot, and when he sends them back, he puts all the money they tried to pay back in their bags again. He also puts his special cup in Benjamin’s bag. He then sends men to track them down and search them, claiming they stole his cup. They find it in Benjamin’s bag. Joseph says that he’ll take Benjamin as a slave and let the rest go home but Judah along with the brothers stick up for Benjamin, saying that if he’s taking them as slaves, he should take them all. The parshah ends with a cliffhanger, us readers not knowing what’s going to happen next (because we totally haven’t read this story about 13 times before). The immediate question is, why? Why does Joseph go through this whole multimonth shtik with his brothers. If it were me, I would have been like, “It’s me, Joseph, the one you sold away! Look at me now!” or something like that long before. Why did Joseph have to do this? Well, here’s an answer that I came up with. I think Joseph’s testing them to see if they’re worth reestablishing a relationship with, if they’ve changed since they threw him away. Earlier in the parshah, he named one of his sons Menasheh, meaning, “G-d has made me completely forget my hardship and parental home”. He’s already kind of moved on from his family, but he’s still open to possibly reconnecting. This whole shtick is a test to see if they’ve changed enough that he wants them to be part of his life again. Anyway, that’s what I think. -Zalmen Richmond-Shazeer

Vayeshev D'var Torah

Vayeshev Summary:

Jacob loved his son Joseph more than all the others, so he made him a special “ornamented tunic.” Joseph also had two dreams that made him seem superior to his brothers. Due to this, his brothers were not happy with him. They were plotting to kill Joseph, but before they did, Reuben stepped in and suggested that they just leave him in a pit in the wilderness, so they did that. However, before they left, Judah saw a group of Ishmaelites and suggested that they should instead sell Joseph to them as a slave, and so they did. When Reuben came back to the pit and saw Joseph was missing, he got scared, so they dipped Joseph’s tunic in blood and brought it back to Jacob, which conveyed that Joseph may have been killed by a wild animal. This devastated Jacob, so he mourned Joseph. Meanwhile, Joseph had been sold in Egypt to Potiphar, a courier of Pharaoh.

After some time, Joseph had risen to be in charge of his masters’ household, because his master saw that God was with Joseph. Subsequently, his masters’ wife decided that she liked Joseph and asked him to sleep with her. Joseph refused, but she continued to try to convince him. After many attempts at trying to lure in Joseph, his masters’ wife framed Joseph and pretended that he was trying to seduce her and that he ran away before she could call for help. Joseph was sent to jail for his supposed crime.

Some time later, Pharaoh sent his chief cupbearer and chief baker to the jail where Joseph was. One night, they each had a dream, and Joseph was willing to help explain them, since God was with him. The cupbearer told Joseph his dream, and Joseph interpreted it to mean that Pharaoh would free him in three days. Joseph also asked the cupbearer to mention him to Pharaoh when he gets freed, to maybe help free Joseph. Then, the baker told Joseph his dream, and Joseph interpreted it to mean that he would be executed in three days. Sure enough the dreams came true, the baker was killed and the cupbearer was released. However, the cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph as he was asked. 

Commentary:

Most people know that in the story of Joseph, his brothers hated him because he was Jacob’s favorite. Although this was true, there was actually another reason that pushed them over the edge to sell him to the Ishmaelites. The key event was that Joseph had two dreams. In one of them, Joseph and his brothers were sheaves in a field, and Joseph’s sheaf stayed upright while his brothers’ bowed down to Joseph’s. In the other, the sun, the moon, and eleven stars (representing his parents and brothers) bowed down to him. The problem was, he told his brothers and Jacob about the dreams, and they didn’t like it. Joseph’s brothers hated him even more for it, and even Jacob was unhappy that Joseph dreamt of Jacob bowing down to him. This was a major, but less well-known event that led to Joseph’s adventure in Egypt.

Preventing Pollution and Food Waste on Thanksgiving and Black Friday (November SATO Snap)

It’s November, which means Thanksgiving, black friday shopping, cyber monday, traveling, and getting ready for upcoming winter months. We may not realize it, but Thanksgiving time contributes to the world's waste drastically. Every year during the holiday, $293 million in food waste is generated on that day alone. Millions of Americans go hungry on Thanksgiving, and the amount of food wasted could have fed tons of them. So how do we prevent this type of waste while giving to those in need? The most important thing to do is plan your Thanksgiving meals intricately and thoughtfully. Most families end up cooking too much on Thanksgiving, and the best way to prevent that is to prepare and plan. Think about the amount of people coming, how much everyone eats, if people are bringing food, and how much food you need to buy to satisfy everyone. If you buy non-perishable food like a can of cranberry sauce, only use one can at once, so that if you have any leftovers, it can still be donated to help people. If you have extra things like fruits and vegetables that have no use, compost the extra. Leftovers are also part of virtually everyone who hosts the holiday this year. Many people may plan on eating their leftover turkey, gravy, and stuffing, but in reality the majority of it will go to waste. This year, try giving out some leftovers to your guests, as well as being more creative with your cooking. You can make bread pudding out of extra rolls, turkey soup, or turkey pot pie. Keep in mind that what you do this Thanksgiving impacts the environment more than you think!

    Another huge waste contributor this time of year is Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the most polluting shopping days in the United States. In 2020, customers spent $9 billion online shopping, an increase of 21.6% from 2019. Online shopping creates masses of waste with all that packaging. In the U.S., around 71% of the population plan to go shopping on Black Friday. To prepare for this shopping rush, businesses create a surplus of their goods to satisfy consumers, creating tons of plastic waste. This excessive production is encouraged by mass spending, which rewards business for overproduction, which needs to stop if we plan on saving our planet. Many businesses that contain extra goods after the big sales throw the extra product away. Not only are these perfectly good things someone could use, but it’s just more landfill and ocean litter that the planet doesn’t need. The most purchased Black Friday item, electronics contribute to the fastest growing waste stream of e-waste, a form of waste that comes from electronics that contain toxic chemicals like lead and mercury. Another big polluter is toys, which are often purchased on Black Friday for the holiday season. Most toys are not only made of plastic, but contain plastic packaging as well, which is extremely wasteful and increases the pollution problem. Over 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the ocean yearly, endangering animals and killing ecosystems. So how do we stop this? Rethinking your holiday shopping is ideal. Before impulse buying yourself something just because of a huge sale, think about if you really need it. Are you really going to wear this shirt? Will your family members get bored of this toy? And always thing about the impact you’re having on the environment by purchasing certain goods. If we all adopt this mentality, then not only can we save money, but we can save the planet as well!

Vayishlach D'var Torah

Vayishlach summary:

Esau was about to come to visit Jacob, so Jacob split up his possessions, he got presents ready for Esau, and he sent himself and his family across a river to protect them from Esau. That night, when Jacob was alone, a divine being came and wrestled him all night. In the morning, as the divine being left, he said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with beings divine and human, and have prevailed.” 

When Esau came the next day, they were very happy to see each other and Jacob gave Esau a present.

Jacob and his children travelled to Shechem, another city. One day, Shechem, who was the chief of the land Shechem, abducted and raped Dinah, Jacob’s only daughter. Shechem’s father, Hamor, went to Jacob to speak with him. He requested that Dinah marry Shechem, and he said that if Shechem could marry Dinah he would let Jacob’s sons marry the women of his city. Jacob responded with a deal: their families could intermarry but only if every male in the city of Shechem got circumcised. 

All the men got circumcised, but since they were adults, it was probably very painful. So, while they were all in pain, Simeon and Levi (two of Jacob’s sons) killed every adult male in the city, including Shechem and Hamor. They retrieved Dinah and then the rest of Jacob’s sons went throughout the city, collecting all of their possessions. Jacob then got mad at Simeon and Levi for ruining his reputation and increasing the possibility of them being attacked, but they answered, “Should our sister be treated like a [prostitute]?”

As Jacob continued his travels, God blessed him and said, “You whose name is Jacob, You should be called Jacob no more, But Israel shall be your name.” This is when Jacob’s name is officially changed by God to Israel. Soon after, Rachel became pregnant again, and had another boy, but she died in childbirth. The boy was named Benjamin. Overall, Jacob had 12 sons- Leah’s sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun; Rachel’s sons, Joseph and Benjamin; Rachel’s maid Bilhah had Dan and Naphtali, and Leah’s maid Zilpah had Gad and Asher. After the birth of Benjamin, Jacob returned to Isaac, who was 180 years old, and he died.

Commentary:

This week, yet another of our leaders in the Torah made a bad decision that benefited himself. When Shechem had taken Dinah by force, Jacob heard about it, but he didn’t do anything about it. While his sons came in angry from their work in the fields, Jacob was calmly talking with Hamor and Shechem about intermarrying, like nothing had ever happened! Jacob then agreed to let Shechem marry Dinah (and his kids would marry the women of Shechem) as long as every man was circumcised. After Dinah had been through an experience that was probably traumatic for her, Jacob wasn’t talking to her, or doing something to make her feel better, but he was giving her away, like a possession, to the man who had just assaulted her. After that deal was made, Jacob’s sons ended up being the ones who stood up for Dinah, for they killed Hamor, Shechem, and every other male citizen of the town. However, instead of being proud of them for standing up for Dinah, Jacob yelled at them, saying “You have brought trouble on me, making me odious among the inhabitants of the land” (Genesis 34:30) and scolding them for ruining his reputation. Even after Jacob’s sons had stood up for his daughter, all Jacob could think about was his reputation, which is once again an example of how the leaders of our ancestors were frequently extremely selfish, and they made decisions that only helped themselves.

Vayetzei D'var Torah

Vayetzei Summary:

As he was travelling, Jacob had a dream about a ladder, and God spoke to him, which made him realize that God was helping him and he was in a holy place. Later, he ran into his cousin Rachel, who took him to his uncle, Laban (Rebekah’s dad). Laban had two kids, Rachel, who was beautiful, and Leah, who was not (in Jacob’s opinion). Jacob then agreed to serve seven years for Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel, and the seven years went by fast. Once the time was up, Jacob asked Laban, “Give me my wife, for my time is fulfilled, that I may cohabit with her.” So Laban gathered all of his people for a feast, and then he gave Leah to Jacob to spend the night together. Apparently, Jacob somehow didn’t realize that he was given Leah until the morning, and so he asked Laban why that happened (when Jacob asked for a wife, he meant Rachel). Laban replied, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older. Wait until the bridal week of this one is over and we will give you that one too, provided you serve me another seven years.” Therefore, after a week, Jacob was given Rachel as well, and Jacob served Laban another seven years. God saw that Leah was “unloved,” so he “opened her womb,” but Rachel was barren. Leah had four kids, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.

Rachel was jealous of Leah, so she told Jacob to, “give me children, or I shall die.” Rachel gave Jacob her maid Bilhah to have a child, and they had two children together, Dan and Naphtali. Then, Leah gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob, and they also had two children together, Gad and Asher.

Some time later, Reuben came across some mandrakes (plants) and brought them to Leah. Rachel asked Leah for some, but Leah complained, “Was it not enough for you to take away my husband, that you would also take my son’s mandrakes?” So Rachel allowed Leah to sleep with Jacob for a night in return for the mandrakes. Leah had two more kids after this, Issachar and Zebulun. She also had a daughter, Dinah. God remembered Rachel, and opened her womb. She had another kid, Joseph. After this, Jacob and Laban agreed to split up Laban’s sheep as payment for everything Jacob had done for him, and so Jacob became increasingly prosperous. Then, Jacob took all of his possessions, along with Rachel and Leah, and he ran away from Laban. Laban chased after him, and was warned by God to not do anything to Jacob on the way there. Previously, Rachel had stolen Laban’s idols from his house, and so he went searching for them in Jacob’s camp. Rachel hid them under her and made an excuse that she couldn’t stand up. After this, Laban and Jacob made an agreement that Laban wouldn’t try to harm Jacob and Jacob wouldn’t take any wives besides Rachel and Leah. Laban then left Jacob’s camp.

Commentary:

This portion is all about Jacob’s relationships with Rachel and Leah, and it contains a lot of inappropriate behavior from a modern-day perspective. One important part of this portion is when Reuben found some mandrakes in a field and gave them to Leah, his mother. Then, when Rachel asked for some mandrakes, Leah refused because Rachel “took” Jacob from her. So, Rachel offered Leah a night with Jacob in exchange for some mandrakes. That’s the first bad part of this, that Rachel is willing to give her husband to Leah for a night in exchange for a plant! Then, Jacob came home, and Leah told him, “You are to sleep with me, for I have hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” This is another bad part of this story, for Leah commanded him to sleep with her, and she didn’t think about his feelings. Jacob didn’t give permission to Rachel or Leah to carry out their deal, and he was being used. The result of this ended up being that Jacob gave Leah two more sons that night, so Leah basically exchanged some mandrakes for two sons. This is a lot like the portion Lech Lecha, where Abram made a decision that only helped him and hurt others since Rachel and Leah did the same by making a deal that helped them but used Jacob. Although we always praise our ancestors, they have done some really bad things, and this portion helps show another way that our ancestors from the Torah were not all great people!

Toldot D'var Torah

Toldot Summary:

Isaac and Rebekah eventually got married and had kids named Esau and Jacob. Isaac liked Esau more, he was into hunting and outdoorsy stuff, and Rebekah liked Jacob more, he was more mild and stayed in camp most of the time.

Jacob was cooking a stew, and Esau came in very hungry. Esau asked for stew, but Jacob made Esau give up his birthright to eat.

There was a famine, so Isaac went to Abimelech, who was the king of the Philistines. However, Isaac pretended that Rebekah was his sister (apparently, this is a very common theme in the Torah), so that the men wouldn’t kill him so that they could have Rebekah. After some time passed, Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac with Rebekah, and he realized that they were married. He sent for Isaac and asked him why he lied, and after Isaac explained, Abimelech made it so that anyone who did anything to Isaac or Rebekah would be put to death. During the rest of the time Isaac spent with the Philistines, he continued to become wealthier and wealthier, until Abimelech kicked him out, since Isaac had become too good for them.

When Isaac was old and mostly blind, he asked Esau to go out and hunt him something good to make something to his liking, so he could give Esau his “innermost blessing” before he died. Rebekah overheard this and told Jacob to get her some sheep from their own flock so she could make a good meal and give it to Jacob. They also covered Jacob in animal skins to make him hairy, like Esau, so Isaac would be fooled. Isaac ate and then blessed Jacob, and right after that, Esau came and made his own meal. When he brought it to Isaac, they realized that Jacob had taken the blessing, which was irreversible. This made Esau sad, and then mad. He decided that he wanted to kill Jacob. Rebekah then told Jacob to run away from Esau to protect himself, and he did.

Commentary:

At the beginning of the portion, God told Rebekah, “Two nations are in your womb, two separate peoples shall issue from your body; One people shall be mightier than the other, and the older shall serve the younger” (Genesis 25:23). I think that’s an interesting quote because it signifies that God had planned on Jacob receiving Isaac’s birthright blessing instead of Esau, since he clearly says the older brother (Esau) would “serve” the younger brother (Jacob). That also puts into question Rebekah’s motives for helping Jacob secure the blessing- was it because she liked him more, or was it because she was following God’s prophecy by helping Jacob get the blessing when he was younger? I think it’s probably a combination of both, for she did like Jacob, but her subconscious decision may have been because of God’s words, or it may have been fate compelling her to make that decision.

Devin's Day (October SA/TO Snap)

Devin Suau was a six year old boy in Framingham. He passed away in 2017 when he was six, a week before his seventh birthday, due to a rare form of brain cancer, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. At the time when he was fighting cancer the Framingham community rose up, starting the WhyNotDevin movement. But now, the city of Framingham is remembering him by proclaiming Devin Day.

The City council unanimously voted to put in place the day which was proposed by the City council, The school district, and Framingham Mayor Yavon Spicer. Now October 20 is Devins day in Framingham which is supposed to be “a day of kindness”. The Day October 20 was chosen since it was the day Devin passed away. 

As well as making Devin Day, the first ever Devin’s Dash 5K is being sponsored by Jack's Abby, a local brewery, on November 7 to raise awareness and the money for the study of the type of Cancer that Devin had.

Chayei Sarah D'var Torah

Summary:

To start this portion, Sarah died and Abraham buried her. Then, Abraham asked his servant to go to the land that Abraham was from to get Isaac a wife, but not to bring Isaac there and to bring the woman to Isaac. The servant went to the city of Nahor, Abraham’s birthplace, and found a spot to try to find a good wife for Isaac. He encountered a woman, Rebekah, who offered him and his camels water, and then allowed them to spend the night at her house. The servant told Rebekah and his family his story, and they allowed him to take Rebekah with him. They went back to Isaac, and Isaac loved Rebekah. After this, Abraham died, and his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him together, and Ishmael also died at the end of the portion.

Commentary:

After Sarah died and Abraham was mourning, the Torah says, “Then Abraham rose from beside his dead, and spoke to the Hittites, saying, ‘I am a resident alien among you; sell me a burial site among you, that I may remove my dead for burial’” (Genesis 23:3-4). I think this is a really interesting quote because it shows how Abraham is really feeling. He used the specific words “resident alien” not because he was from outer space, and also not just because he was unfamiliar/unrelated to the Hittites- I think this word choice also represents how Abraham feels lost now that Sarah died, and he feels like he is a foreigner to the world since he lost his wife. It was a big moment in the Torah that Sarah died, and unfortunately, Abraham had to live the rest of his life (which only lasted until the end of this portion anyway) without her.

 

Vayera D'var Torah

Summary (by Isabel Pravda):

The Torah portion of Vayera is about Abraham and Sarah, Issac, and Lot and his family. Abraham and Sarah are approached by three visitors, who announce Sarah will soon have a son. Soon after, Abraham argues with God about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Meanwhile, Lot’s home is attacked by the people of Sodom and he escapes with his two daughters. Lot and his family had instructions not to look behind him while escaping, but his wife did not listen and got turned into a pillar of salt. At the end of the portions, Abraham and Sarah have their son Issac, and God tests Abraham by telling him to sacrifice Issac.

The haftarah of Vayera includes the profit of Alyshia. The story contains two miracles. The first miracle started with a widow who was in debt, dealing with creditors threatening to take her two children into slavery due to her little amount of money. Elisha asked what the widow had at home and she responded by saying she only had a vile of oil. Elisha then told her to gather as many empty containers as possible, she did as told borrowing many from neighbors and friends. He then told her to pout oil into each of the vessels. When the widow did this, each vessel started to fill with oil. She sold the oil and made a hefty profit, and was able to save her children from slavery.

The second story of Elisha started off when Elisha was visiting the city of Shunam. He was welcomed into the home of a hospitable couple, who made a guest room for him to stay. In return, the profit blessed the couple with a child. Years later when the child was working, he complained he had a headache and died shortly after. The couple layed his body on the guest bed where Elisha once slept and the mother of the child went on her donkey to get Elisha. Elisha quickly went to the house when he heard the news, and miraculously brought the child back to life. The child sneezed three times before waking up.

Commentary (by Matthew Koltenuk):

Another major event in Vayera is that God told Abraham to take his favorite son, Isaac, to a mountain in order to sacrifice him. Abraham was about to kill his son as an offering when an angel appeared and told him to stop, "For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your favored one, from Me" (Genesis 22:12). Abraham instead sacrificed a ram, and then God blessed him for following instructions, with the blessing should sound familiar about how Abraham's descendants would become as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the ground. In fact, this story is so important that we read it on the second day of Rosh Hashanah every year.

This week in the religious school here at Temple Israel (in which I am a madrich, which is why I know this happened), the sixth and seventh graders had an interesting discussion about this passage. The question was: was this a test from God to Abraham, and if so, did Abraham pass or fail? One perspective shared on this was that this was a test, the goal of the test was to make Abraham stand up to God and realize that his son is more important than blindly following instructions from God, and that Abraham failed by being willing to sacrifice Isaac if the angel hadn't intervened. However, a different perspective was that this was a test, but the goal was for Abraham to prove his loyalty to God, and he passed by being willing to sacrifice Isaac just because God told him to do that.

Despite the intense discussion that these students had about the topic, I think that it's clear just by reading the text of the Torah that the latter opinion is true. The quote two paragraphs above said that the angel stopped Abraham from killing Isaac because it was determined that Abraham did fear God, and that he was willing to do whatever God said. And, after the test, God gave Abraham a very positive and perhaps the most important and impactful blessing in the Torah, and God's reasoning for this blessing was "because you obeyed my command" (Genesis 22:18). This shows that this was not at all a test to teach Abraham a lesson about self-advocacy or defending his family, but this story was about Abraham proving to God that he was loyal and fearful of God. He passed this test, and in return, he was blessed to be the ancestor of the Jewish people.

New Health Care Facility for the Transgender Community (October SATO Snap)

 New Health Care Facility for the Transgender Community

Idividuals who identify as transgender, (note that this is an umbrella term used by many gender identities such as trans-femme, trans-masc, non-binary, gender fluid, agender ect.) have always experinced a level of discrimination due to their indenty, but it is extremely prominent in the medical community. There is a history of people refusing medical serices to transgender people, but luckily, new federal laws such as the “Health Care Rights Law (as part of the Affordable Care Act)” that behavior is prohibited. However, sometimes trans people need more care than the average cisgender person. According to a 2018 study conducted by the University of Michigan, transgender adults are twice as likely to be told they have a depressive disorder, as well as report twice as many poor mental health days compared to cigender adults. In addition, transgender adults are 4 times more likely to attempt suicide. Transgender people of all ages expeirence dyphoria, making it difficult to feel comfortable in their own body, something that needs special care and attention. Not only is mental health an issue, but being transgender can affect physical health differently as well, with nearly twice as many trans people reporting 9 out of 30 days had poor physical health. 

Fortunately, there is a new solution. A new clinic in North Hampton Massachusetts (close to home!) called Transhealth Northampton was officially opened on May 4th, 2021. Their goal is to empower trans and gender diverse adults, children and families. They are a trans led organization that provide proffesional healthcare and seek to expand healthcare possibilities for the transgender community. They provide clinical care that includes pediatric primary care, adult primary care, and mental health care. They also are committed to research, advocacy, and education and are continuing to expand those programs. Many people not only under the trans unbrella, but also transgender individuals in the Jewish community feel not only is this an amazing advancement in healthcare, but would love to go to a clinic like this if one was avalible to them. Finally, remember to make sure to always accept and validate transgender idividuals and welcome everyone into our temple community!

Visit  the official Transhealth website at https://transhealth.org/ 

Lech Lecha D'var Torah

Lech Lecha Summary:

God told Abram to leave his native land and go where God tells him; God promised to make Abram a great nation, to bless him and make his name great, to bless those who bless Abram and to curse those who curse him. Abram followed God’s directions and left his home, Haram, with his wife Sarai and his son Lot. The group traveled throughout Canaan, building some altars to God. After a while, there was a famine in Canaan, so Abram needed to go to Egypt to get food.

Before he entered Egypt, Abram said to Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. If the Egyptians see you and think, ‘She is his wife,’ they will kill me and let you live. Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.” After they entered Egypt, Pharaoh fell in love with and married Sarai and because of her, Abram was given good treatment as well. However, God afflicted Pharaoh and his household with plagues because of Sarai. Pharaoh then got frustrated with Abram that he lied that Sarai was his sister, and he kicked them out of Egypt.

Abram and Lot both had become very wealthy at this point, with lots of cattle, tents, and resources. Abram suggested that they split up because of this, so they did. However, the area where Lot went was soon invaded, and the invaders captured Lot. When Abram heard of this, he went to where Lot was being held captive, and Abram and his men defeated the invaders and took back Lot, all his possessions, and the other things that were stolen. After this, Abram was offered a reward by the King of Sodom, the place that was attacked, but Abram declined. Some time after this, God made a promise to Abram assigning him and his offspring the whole land of Canaan.

Sarai and Abram wanted to have kids, but they weren’t able to yet. Sarai had a maidservant named Hagar, and she suggested to Abram that he should try to have kids with Hagar. Soon after, Hagar and Abram had a baby together, and this made Sarai mad and jealous. In response, Abram gave Sarai permission to do whatever she wanted to Hagar, so Sarai treated Hagar harshly and Hagar ran away. God sent an angel to find Hagar, and the angel told her to go back to Sarai and have the baby, and the baby would be named Ishmael and he would be important and have many offspring. At the end of the portion, God establishes a covenant with Abram, and changes his name to Abraham (because God will make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations). Abraham’s part of the deal is that all of his descendants must be circumcised, to uphold the covenant. God also changes Sarai’s name to Sarah, and God promises that Sarah will give birth to a baby with Abraham and that she will give rise to nations and rulers and have many important descendants. Abraham laughed at the fact that Sarah was 90 and he was 100, and God said they would have a baby, but God still said that they would have a son, and he would be named Isaac. God also blessed Ishmael and promised to make him “exceedingly numerous” and be the father of 12 chieftains. God left Abraham, and then Abraham, Ishmael, and every other male in Abraham’s household all circumcised themselves to uphold the covenant with God.

Commentary: 

One major part of this portion was when Abram decided to pretend that Sarai was his sister and not his wife, for that was a very bad and selfish decision by Abram. First of all, since Pharaoh and the Egyptians thought Sarai was beautiful, Pharaoh married her. That must have been terrible for her since she was already married to Abram but was forced to pretend to be his sister and get married to Pharaoh. Then, God cast plagues upon Pharaoh since he married Sarai, and that made Pharaoh angry about the fact that Abram lied to him and told him Sarai was his sister. So, Pharaoh and Sarai were hurt by this experience. However, the one person that this story helped was Abram! The Torah says that because Pharaoh married Sarai, “it went well with Abram. He acquired sheep, oxen, donkeys, male and female slaves, she-donkeys, and camels.” This shows that even though Sarai was forced to marry Pharaoh and Pharaoh suffered from plagues since he married her, Abram’s decision to pretend that Sarai was his sister only helped himself, while hurting others. Overall, even our greatest leaders and ancestors can sometimes make poor decisions, like Abram did in this portion.

Noach D'var Torah

Summary, by Ari Klawans:

Parshat Noach begins by telling us the Noah was, "blameless in his age," often interpreted as meeting that Noah was not actually blameless and perfect, but he appeared so in comparison to the other people around him, who were incredibly violent and horrible. Because all of humanity has fallen into chaos, God decides to start over. God tells Noah this and then tells Noah to build an ark that can hold himself, his family, and two (or more) of every type of animal. (There were seven of the kosher, or "clean," animals.) Noah does as God tells him to. God makes it rain for forty days and forty nights, covering everything. Eventually, the rain finally stops and the ark comes to rest on top of Mount Ararat. To make sure that it is safe to leave the ark, Noah sends out a Raven, who comes back without anything, not having found a single dry place where it could stand. Noah tries again with a dove, who returns with an olive branch. Noah releases a second dove, who does not return at all, signaling that it is now safe to leave the ark. God creates a rainbow in the sky. God tells Noah that it is a symbol of God keeping the promise that God will never destroy the world again. Because of this, there is a tradition that when one sees a rainbow, they say the blessing: Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise." At the beginning, the parsha has a gloomy, end-of-the-world connotation, but it can also be read as a message of hope for the future, that even though things are bad now, they don't always have to be. The rainbow represents that hope, however because God has promised not to destroy the world in such a fashion again, we can harness that hope and use it to help God repair the world through Tikun Olam.

Commentary by Matthew Koltenuk:

Believe it or not, this portion actually has a connection to the early origins of racism. Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, one of the reasons many people believed in racism was known as the "Curse Theory." In this portion, after Noah's son Ham saw Noah when he was naked, Noah cursed Ham, saying, "Cursed be Canaan, the lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers" (Genesis 9:25). Many people (of all religions) read this line and interpreted it to mean that people with darker skin were cursed and were descendants of Ham. This theory is obviously highly unlikely and just a thing that people said and believed in to justify their racist acts, and many people eventually came out against it, including Martin Luther King Jr, who said, "This is blasphemy. This is against everything that the Christian religion stands for" in a speech he gave in 1956. King'ss statement is true, and it's unfortunate that so many people misinterpreted the Torah/Bible and used it as (false) justification for why racism is acceptable.

Bereshit D'var Torah

This year, I am entering my second year as Vice President of Religion of Education, so my d'varim will be updated and revamped this year. I will include the same summaries that I wrote for last year, but I will also include a small piece of commentary that will take a closer look at one part of the portion. Some weeks it may be explaining my opinion on something in the portion, and others it may be just highlighting a cool detail (spoiler: there will be sorcerers in the Torah!). Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy what I have in store for this new year!

-Matthew Koltenuk

Bereshit summary:

The beginning of the Torah comes along with the beginning of Earth. To start this portion, God creates the world over the first week of time. On the first day, God creates light and then separates it from the darkness. On the second day, God creates the sky and uses it to separate the already existing water. On the third day, God gathers the water into one area, so that land can form in the other areas. God also creates vegetation; plants, fruits, seeds, and trees. On the fourth day, God creates the sun and the moon. They are created to tell time and to show a difference between night and day. On the fifth day, God creates fish and birds. On the sixth day, God creates animals and one man in God’s image. Then, God blessed the seventh day, Shabbat, made it holy, and rested.

Next, God creates the Garden of Eden and puts the man in it. God tells the man that he can eat anything, except fruit from the tree of knowledge. Then, God creates a woman for the man, to give man a “helper.” The man and the woman were naked, but they did not feel ashamed.

After this, a snake comes up to the woman and suggests that she eat from the tree of knowledge, and she does. She then gives some to the man, and he eats too. However, eating the fruit caused “their eyes to open,” and they realized they were naked, so they made loincloths. The man and the woman then hear God coming into the garden, so they hide because they were naked. This causes God to realize that they ate fruit from the tree. Since they broke the rules, he punishes each one of them. The snake is cursed to crawl on its belly forever, the woman is cursed to have pain while giving birth, and the man has to work to earn food. Then, the woman is named Eve (it doesn’t explicitly give a time when Adam is named), and God makes clothes for Adam and Eve. God then banishes them from the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve have two kids, Cain and Abel. Cain becomes a farmer and gives God a fruit offering. Abel becomes a shepherd and offers God his best sheep. God pays attention to Abel’s offering but not to Cain’s offering, which makes Cain sad. Cain then kills Abel while they are working, because he is mad. God then asks Cain where Abel is, and Cain lies and says that he doesn’t know. However, God says that he knows that Cain killed Abel. God then curses Cain to fail at farming and become a ceaseless wanderer. God also puts a mark on Cain to protect him, so that anyone who kills Cain would suffer 7 times as much as Cain.

The portion then goes on to list all of the descendants of Adam, all the way down to Noah. Next, God sets man’s maximum lifespan to 120 years. Finally, God realizes that men are not all good people, and he regrets that he made them. He vows to get rid of all men, animals, and living things. This is a sad way to end the portion, but the last line reads, “But Noah found favor with the Lord,” suggesting that humans might have one more hope in Noah!

Commentary:

One interesting part of this portion is found almost immediately, in the fourth verse of the Torah. I think that these introductory verses can show us the origin of one of our most simple beliefs- light is good and dark is bad. There are many appearances of this in society, whether it’s that people are scared of the dark (almost no one is scared of the light) while light is used for dramatic, positive effect in many movies and TV shows. We have lights in our buildings to help us see, and we have flashlights for times we know it will be dark. Being in a dark room can dampen the mood. Even in Star Wars, the bad guys are on the “dark side,” and in baseball, the dark, navy blue Yankees are the “Evil Empire” to the lighter-colored Red Sox fans. There are clearly many examples of light being positive and darkness being negative, but where do we get this from?

It turns out, this may originate from the Torah! The Torah says, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:3-1:4) This was the first day of the world existing, and the first thing God did was to create light. That clearly shows that light was a priority for him. It’s also interesting word choice that God made light “good,” and that especially connects to my point mentioned above. In society, we just accept light as positive and dark as negative, and I think this is because the Torah literally says that light is good, and God made sure to create light to separate the infinite darkness.

September Sato Snap

 Help those in need due to Hurricane Ida 

It’s hurricane season, and recently Hurricane Ida severely damaged parts of states such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and more. It is traveling northeast, passing through states such as West Virginia and New Jersey as one of the worst storms the U.S. has ever seen, with a death toll of over 60 so far. It is so important that we know how to prepare and deal with hurricanes ourselves, help give aid to those affected by natural disasters, and inform others how to do the same. As a category 4 storm, Ida hit parts of the U.S. so hard, the streets are flooded, buildings are destroyed, power lines are broken, and so many are left without a place to go. To help out those people, you can donate money to a ton of different charities and organizations. One good website to donate on is https://disasterstrategies.org/ . Disaster strategies runs a hotline, specifically designed to help disabled people in trouble because of a natural disaster. The Greater New Orleans Foundation at https://www.gnof.org/ , is a way to directly donate money to help people affected by the hurricane specifically in New Orleans. The World Central Kitchen at https://wck.org/ has been providing meals to those in need in areas heavily affected by the hurricane, and need more support for their emergency relief efforts. Another great group is Mutual Aid Disaster relief at https://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org, which not only responds to disasters, but provides education about how to deal with natural disasters and how to prepare for them. Finally, the Red Cross, which you can find at https://www.redcross.org is an amazing organization that could always use donations. They provide so much information on their website about dealing with disasters and how to stay safe. Their direct donation page to help Hurricane Ida is located at https://www.redcross.org/donate/donation.html/. I hope this information inspires you to give some Tzedakah to those suffering from this disaster.

Chukat D'var Torah (Last one of the year!)

First, God gave Moses instructions about what to do if someone dies (their body is unclean for seven days). Then, after people complained about not having water, God gave Moses a rod and told him to order a rock to give water in front of the community. But instead, Moses struck the rock with the rod. This caused God to tell Moses that he wouldn’t be allowed to lead the people into Israel since he didn’t trust God enough. Soon after that, Aaron died. Then, the Israelites moved through many different lands on their way to Israel, conquering some people and winning battles, and at the end of the portion, they paused in Moab.

Korach D'var Torah

Some Israelites were mad at Moses for making them wander around for so long, but Moses explained that it was God’s decisions, not his, and then God opened up the Earth, which swallowed those people. Next, there was a plague in the community, which made the people temporarily forget about their complaints about Moses. Lastly, God gave Moses instructions about what the priests and Levites should do with gifts and tithes involved with sacrifices.

Schlach D'var Torah

First, Israelites from each tribe scouted the surrounding land for 40 days. They found the “land of milk and honey,” but came back and reported that there were other people there that were much more powerful than the Israelites. The people panicked, and didn’t have faith that God would help them get there, which made God mad, and that made God force them to wander for 40 years as a punishment. Then, God gave Moses instructions about what offerings to make once they got to Israel. Finally, after an Israelite man was stoned to death by the other Israelites for gathering wood on Shabbat, God commanded the Israelites to wear tzitzit, which would remind them to follow his commandments.

Beha'alotcha D'var Torah

God told Moses more rules about Levites, and then rules about how to do the Passover sacrifice. God then had Moses have two silver trumpets made, which could be used for a variety of purposes, like making the whole community assemble at the Tent of Meeting (two long blasts), making only the chieftains assemble (one blast), making the different groups move forward (short blasts), or during war and while making sacrifices.

Then, the Israelites were ready to leave Sinai and start moving through the wilderness. During the beginning of their journey, here are some things that happened:

-The Israelites were complaining about God, so God set the outskirts of their camp on fire.

-Then, they were hungry, and didn’t like the manna they were forced to eat, so God gave them meat for a month.

-Miriam got leprosy, and was exiled from the camp for a week.

Nasso D'var Torah

God gave Moses instructions about the Gershonites and Merarites, and what their jobs would be in the Tabernacle. God also gave more instructions about Nazirites (One who takes a Nazirite vow wouldn’t be allowed to drink wine, shave, or go near dead people).
Then, the Tabernacle was finished and ready to be dedicated, so every tribe gave a offering of “one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels and one silver basin of 70 shekels by the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in, for a meal offering; one gold ladle of 10 shekels, filled with incense; one bull of the herd, one ram, and one lamb in its first year, for a burnt offering; one goat for a sin offering; and for his sacrifice of well-being: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, and five yearling lambs.”

Israel affairs may 2021

     Missiles have been raining into Israel from Gaza and it has had an effect on children. Parents have had to rush to bomb shelters and also had to deal with keeping little kids calm. Parents also have to try to keep calm themselves to keep their children from freaking out! Experts recommended talking to children (if they want to talk) and to have plenty of things to do in the shelter. Another problem is that teenagers would rather film the iron dome defense system than go into the shelter. I, as a teenager, would go into a shelter and not risk my life! But, I do understand wanting to see the iron dome system at work...  

Bamidbar D'var Torah

After getting the rules about how to do it from God, Moses and the Israelites took a census and counted the population (which was 603,550). God then told Moses about the arrangement that the tribes of Israel were expected to live in, and they then moved into that formation. God also gave special instructions about the roles of Levites and Kohanim, who would be involved with sacrifices and the priests.

Behar/Bechukotai D'var Torah

God gave Moses more instructions about things like Sabbaticals, trading with others, slaves, and not using idols. God then explained what he would do in exchange for the Israelites following the rules, like helping their food prosper, and keeping peace and helping the Israelites to victory in wars. But, if they didn’t follow the rules, God would make it so their lives were miserable.

*I also figured out how to fix the formatting of these posts, so there should be no more white highlights or weird spacing or any of the other problems of previous d'varim!

Emor D'var Torah

Emor

God gave more instructions to Moses (a very common theme throughout Leviticus) that were specifically about Aaron and the priests, and how they should act, like how all offerings should be unblemished animals.

Then, God told Moses about specific times when special things would happen. This includes Shabbat (“on the seventh day there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest, a sacred occasion”), Passover (“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a passover offering to the Lord, and on the fifteenth day of that month the Lord’s Feast of Unleavened Bread. You shall eat unleavened bread for seven days.”), not working on holidays (“On the first day you shall celebrate a sacred occasion: you shall not work at your occupations.”), Yom Kippur (“the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.”), Sukkot (“On the fifteenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Feast of Booths to the Lord, [to last] seven days.”), and Shavuot.

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim D'var Torah

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

God gave Moses instructions for what Aaron should do on the “day of atonement” (Yom Kippur) involving sacrifices. God also said that no one can eat blood, and that they shouldn’t be romantic with their family members.

Next, God continued to give Moses more commandments about things like keeping the Sabbath and to not steal or lie.

Tazria-Metzora D'var Torah

Tazria-Metzora

God gave Moses more rules, including rules about rashes, leprosy, pregnancy, plagues in a house, and events that would be considered unclean, and what offerings to do after some of these things.

Shemini D'var Torah

Shemini

Moses gave the priests instructions about how to do their jobs. This included that they couldn’t drink wine or be intoxicated, and they had to eat leftovers from offerings beside the altar, where it was most holy. Then, God told Moses the kashrut laws, rules about what they could and could not eat.

Tzav D'var Torah

God told Moses how to make certain offerings and the rituals that should occur. Moses then assembled all of the Israelites outside the Tabernacle, and Aaron, Moses, and the priests made an offering to God.

Israel affairs March 2021

    Even though this seems like a good idea it could have some bad ramifications. One example is that it has privacy concerns since the app shows a lot of personal information and has out of date inscription software. Another concern is that it could divide Palestinians and Israelis even more since in the West Bank it is much harder to get a vaccine then in Israel.

Vayikra D'var Torah

God gave Moses specific instructions for how the Israelites should choose, present, and sacrifice burnt offerings.

Vayakhel-Pekudei D'var Torah

Vayakhel-Pekudei

Moses gave the Israelites the instructions for building the Tabernacle (90% of the portion was going through all of the specific instructions, so there isn't much to write about), and they started working. The Tabernacle was eventually finished, and the first offering was made to God.

Ki Tisa D'var Torah

Ki Tisa

God started by giving instructions for taking a census, which involved every Israelite paying for an offering to God to make sure they were counted. God then gave people special skills so they would be able to successfully build the Tabernacle. He also told Moses to tell the Israelites that they still must keep Shabbat, and not work on the Tabernacle on Shabbat. 

While Moses was on Mount Sinai, Aaron and the Israelites made a golden calf to idolize God. When Moses came down, he saw this and was so mad that he broke the tablets God had given him. He then burned the golden calf, put the powder in water, and made the Israelites drink it. Moses then said “Whoever is for the Lord, come here!” and all of the Levites came to him. He then instructed them to kill the other Israelites. They did so, and over 3,000 died that day. Moses met with God again, and God brought a plague upon the people as additional punishment. Next, God said to Moses to “Set out from here, you and the people you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying ‘To your offspring I will give it’,” and God also said he would drive away other people and allow the Israelites to go to “a land flowing with milk and honey.” God also agreed to let Moses see his back (but he would die if he saw God’s face). Moses then made two new tablets and went back up to Mount Sinai, where he made a covenant with God. The covenant ordered the Israelites to always worship God, to never join with other groups of people because they would want to follow other gods, to observe Passover, and to observe Shabbat, among other things. In return, God would help lead them to Israel. Moses stayed and fasted on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, and he wrote those commandments down and went down the mountain.

Tetzaveh D'var Torah

Tetzaveh

God told Moses to make Aaron and his sons priests, and then told Moses how to make the special clothes that the priests would wear. He then told Moses how to ordain Aaron and his sons, which involved a sacrifice at the altar. He also gave instructions to regularly slaughter two lambs every day. Finally, he told Moses how to build and use an altar for burning incense.

Terumah D'var Torah

Terumah

(Note: Starting with this portion, the Torah portions become a lot more dense, explaining lots of specific rules and instructions rather than telling a story like most of the previous portions. Due to this, in these dvarim, I am not doing to explain every single detail of these portions in as much depth as the previous portions, instead I will give a short summary of what the overall topics of the portions are.)

In this portion, God told Moses to have the Israelites bring gifts for God. These gifts would be used for building the Tabernacle, a sanctuary to God. The rest of the portion is God explaining many specific instructions on how to build the Tabernacle.

Mishpatim D'var Torah

Mishpatim

God explained many rules and commandments to Moses, about things like how to treat slaves, that someone who murders another person must be killed, and what happens if an ox kills someone. He also commanded them to start celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of the Harvest (Shavuot), and the Feast of the Ingathering (Sukkot). God then called Moses to come up Mount Sinai to write down everything God had just said, so Moses went and stayed there for forty days and forty nights.

Israel affairs February 2021

 February 8 2021

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in court today to testify in his corruption trial for one count of bribery and two counts of fraud. He pleaded not guilty and he said that the claims of corruption are an attempt by the left wing to take over the government. Netanyahu told  his supporters to stay home and not come out to support him because of the potential spread of the new mutation of Covid-19. Supporters of Netanyahu still came out. Protesters also gathered with signs that read “Crime Minister”.

Beshalach D'var Torah

After the Israelites had been let go by Pharaoh, God made Pharaoh have a change of heart and decide to pursue the Israelites. As the Egyptians approached, God gave Moses the power to part the Red Sea, and he made the Egyptians more stubborn at the same time so they would continue to follow the Israelites. The Israelites successfully crossed the sea, and the water closed on the Egyptians so they drowned. The Israelites sang a few songs, and then continued their journey. At one stop, God made it so that throwing wood into water made it good to drink, and God also promised to prevent the Israelites from getting diseases as long as they were faithful to him. At another stop, the people were hungry, so God made it rain food from the sky every morning (and a double portion on Friday so the people wouldn’t have to gather any on Shabbat). The food was named manna, and the Israelites ate it for forty years.

Vaera D'var Torah

Vaera

God sent Moses to talk to Pharaoh, and he sent Aaron with him because Moses had impeded speech. When they got there, they used God’s powers to prove that God had sent them, by turning Aaron’s staff into a snake. Then, God told Moses and Aaron to go and ask Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and if he didn’t listen they should use the staff to turn all of the water in the Nile into blood. They asked Pharaoh, he said no, and they turned the water to blood. The same process happened with the following plagues of frogs, lice, insects, cattle disease, boils, and hail. After the hail, Pharaoh finally said that the Israelites could leave, so Moses made the hail and thunder stop. However, since it stopped, Pharaoh changed his mind and made the Israelites stay.

Israel Affairs January 2021

January 2021

    Unlike America, Israel is a Jewish state and many people in Israel follow the rules of the Torah. One of those rules is not to eat leavened bread on Passover. Some orthodox Jews think that hospitals should not let hametz in during passover. On Sunday, the 10th, the high court of Israel decided not to hold a new hearing about the problem of bringing hametz into hospitals during Passover. The court had ruled that they would not restrict what foods people could bring into hospitals during Passover. There are many different conflicting opinions on this topic. Some believe that there should be no hametz allowed in hospitals during Passover, some believe that it should be the hospitals choice and some believe there should be more compromise on both sides.