RJ Blog

By Blu Greenberg In every generation, Jews have understood the significance of the Revelation of Torah in their lives. We have studied and written and taught about the meaning of Torah and its relevance to contemporary circumstances. With the publication of The Torah: A Women’s Commentary in 2008, the teachings of women scholars and Jewish professionals on the significance of Torah in their lives had not been shared in such a dedicated work. The “Contemporary Reflections” section in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary “enable us to hear women’s voices that reckon with divine revelation….each essay shows the significance of Torah as [...]

Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs and NFTY President Evan Traylor delivered a joint D’var Torah during Saturday morning T’fillah at last weekend’s NFTY Convention and Youth Engagement Conference, which run concurrently. An abridged text and full video of their address follows; you can also find the full text of Rabbi Jacobs Friday night d’var Torah, “On Top of the World,” here.

This d’var Torah is the winner of the Wendy Blickstein Memorial D’var Torah Competition, which was established in memory of Wendy Blickstein, a former member of NFTY’s Mid-Atlantic Region whose years were cut far too short because of cancer. The Blickstein family established this competition for aspiring teen writers to share their words of Torah with our NFTY Convention community and beyond.

Beginning this week Visit URJ’s new site For Torah haiku You might have read about the URJ’s new website, ReformJudaism.org, which includes it’s own blog. As RJ.org transitions to a sort of “insider’s blog” about congregational life and Movement activity, the new website is the right place for material like The Torah In Haiku. So, starting with this week’s entry on Yitro, you’ll now find my quick takes on the weekly Parsha at its new home. After you’ve gotten your haiku fix for the week, be sure to take some time to explore the new website and blog for a [...]

It’s Shabbat Shirah Time to read Shirat HaYam The song of the sea Who is like You G-d? Majestic in holiness Doing miracles    

Turn rods into snakes? Pharaoh’s men can do it, too. Plagues will be required   Exodus 7:10-13 Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh. They did exactly as G-d had said. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh, and it became a viper. Pharaoh summoned his scholars and magicians. The master symbolists were able to do the same thing with their magic tricks. When each one threw down his staff, [the staffs] all turned into vipers. Aaron’s staff then swallowed up their staffs. But Pharaoh remained obstinate and did not pay attention to them, just as God had predicted.   Image by Robyn Jay [...]

Moses finds a wife Jethro’s daughter Tzipporah A Midianite   Image from The Prince of Egypt  

As Genesis ends We see the last of Joseph And two thousand twelve At new beginnings Or when, for some, it’s the end We need strength – Chazak

This Shabbat, we conclude the Book of Genesis with Parashat Va-y’chi. Whenever we finish reading a book, even a book of Torah, it is important to reflect on where we have been, what we have covered since the beginning of the book. Over the past twelve weeks, we have made our way through Genesis, beginning with Creation and the mythological stories that attempt to explain how the world as we know it came to be. Then, we began the story of our people, with God’s call to Abram to leave his home and go to a land that God would [...]

We have reached the last Shabbat of the secular year, reading the last parashah of the Book of Genesis. To add to that double harbinger of finality, we also read, first of the death of Jacob, and then of the death of Joseph. Ironic, but not unique in Torah, Va-y’chi, “And he lived,” is mostly about death. Chayei Sarah, “the life of Sarah,” also deals not with Sarah’s life but with her death and burial, in the Cave of Machpelah, where Jacob now insists to his sons, he, too, is to be buried. But there is more to Va-y’chi than [...]

Slavery begins Not the Jews, but Egyptians Become Pharoah’s serfs Genesis 47:19: Why should we die before your very eyes – us and our land? Buy our bodies and our land in exchange for bread. Let us become Pharaoh’s serfs, and let our land [also be his]. Trouble foreshadowed A new Pharoah will not like Events in Goshen Genesis 47:27: Meanwhile, [the fledgling nation of] Israel lived in Egypt, in the Goshen district. They acquired property there, and were fertile, with their population increasing very rapidly.

Are there any more moving words in the entire Torah than the question Joseph asks immediately upon revealing his identity to his brothers: “Is my father [really] alive?” (Genesis 45:3). After many years of denying his identity, hiding his identity, and trying to forget his past, he cannot contain himself any longer. He clears the room of everyone except his brothers. “He gave voice to a loud wail, and the Egyptians heard—Pharaoh’s palace heard!” (45:2). At first glance, it might seem that Joseph asks a rhetorical question. Hadn’t his brothers spoken of his father all along? But upon further reflection [...]

Joseph’s sons are born Menasseh and Ephraim Their mom’s Egyptian The Maccabees fought But Joseph seems to embrace Assimilation Genesis 41:50-52: Joseph had two sons before the famine years came, borne to him by Asenath, daughter of Poti Phera, priest of On. Joseph named the first-born Menasseh – ‘Because God has made me forget (nasheh) all my troubles – and even my father’s house.’ He named his second son Ephraim – ‘Because God has made me fruitful (p’ri) in the land of my suffering.’ Mikeitz is almost always read during Hanukkah, and presents a stark contrast to the Hanukkah story. [...]

Elie Wiesel has written, “In Jewish history, a name has its own history and its own memory. It connects beings with their origins. To retrace its path is then to embark on an adventure in which the destiny of a single word becomes one with that of a community; it is to undertake a passionate and enriching quest for all those who may live in your name.”1 From the story of the Creation through the rest of Genesis, the giving of names has been a significant part of the biblical narrative. After creating the wild animals and birds, God “brought [...]