by katie@betalef.org | Aug 21, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Re’eh Deuteronomy 11:26 – 16:17 Waking Up From Our Collective Amnesia See! I place before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing, that you listen to the mitzvot of the Eternal your God, that I enjoin upon you today; and the curse if you do not...
by RabbiOlivier | Jun 2, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Nasso Numbers 4:21 – 7:89 The True Purpose of Blessing In our Torah reading this week we happen upon one of the central blessings of our tradition; the Priestly Blessing. And the Eternal spoke to Moses, saying; Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying; Thus you...
by RabbiOlivier | Feb 3, 2017 | Torah Reflections
Bo Exodus 10:1 – 13:16 God Acts in Wondrous Ways Our Torah portion opens, this week, with the last four plagues to befall Egypt. “Then the Eternal One said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart… so that I may display My signs among them, and...
by RabbiOlivier | Jan 30, 2017 | General, Torah Reflections
Va’eira Exodus 6:2 – 9:35 Many Faces of God This week’s Torah portion opens with a compelling affirmation: “God (Elohim) spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I Am the Eternal (YHVH).’” [Ex. 6:2] I often wonder how people read this opening: “God spoke to...
by RabbiOlivier | Nov 21, 2016 | Adult Learning, Interfatith, Israel, Torah Reflections
There was a time in my life when I was powerfully attracted by the possibility of living on a kibbutz. When I was 16, I spent a summer in Israel working on a kibbutz in the northern part of the country called Beit HaShitah. I fell in love with the place and the way of...