Kol Ramah

Parsha Talk - with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Mishpatim [Exodus 21–24] is the sixth parashah of Sefer Sh’mot. It is made up almost entirely of what Biblical scholars call the Covenant Code, the exact parameters of which scholars disagree. Suffice it to say, after the drama of the Revelation at Mount Sinai comes a litany of laws. What exactly is the relationship between the two? We discuss Rashi’s comment as well as offer our own interpretations of the exact connection between what one might call the poetry of revelation with the prose of legislation. Give a listen and let us know what you think is here, below, or at [email protected].

As the war is about to enter its fifth month, we are about to begin our 5th year of Parashah Talk. May the study of Torah sustain us during these difficult times. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, and the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Yitro [Exodus 18–20] is the fifth parashah in the Book of Exodus. It features the 10 commandments which was the topic of most of our conversation. How does the Sh’ma compare with the Ten Commandments? What meaning might these commandments have for us today? How do we evaluate them as a text? These are some of the questions we discuss. We’ll leave for another time chapters 18 [the arrival of Yitro and the establishment of the judiciary] and 19, the description of the event of revelation. There is always next year!

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, and the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat B’shallach [Exodus 13:17–17:16], the fourth parashah in Sefer Sh’mot [the Book of Exodus] features the Song of the Sea [Exodus 15:1–19], which has become part of the morning prayer service. In introducing the show, Eliot framed our discussion as Anatomy of a Scene. We examined the four main figures [God, Moshe, Pharaoh, B’nai Yisrael], seeking to understand their motivations, evaluating their words and actions. This is a rather different approach for us, so we want to know how you liked it! Feel free to leave comments below, or write us at [email protected].

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, and the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way.

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Bo [Exodus 10:1–13:16] is the third parashah in Sefer Sh’mot [Book of Exodus]. It relates the last 3 plagues, describes the original Passover celebrated in Egypt and prescribes what should happen in subsequent generations, and concludes with the first 16 verses of chapter 13, which comprise the third and fourth passages in the tefillin, the ritual objects worn during the daily worship service by those who consider themselves so obligated. Chapter 12 in particular, at 51 verses one of the longest in the Torah, is particularly rich, and is one of my favorites. We will meet it later as the maftir [additional reading] on Shabbat Ha-Hodesh, the fourth of the four special parashiyot preceding Passover and the Torah reading for the first day of Passover.

In our conversation we took up the enigmatic verse in which Pharaoh apparently asks Moshe and Aaron to bless him on their way out of Egypt [12:32] and considered whether or not Pharaoh shows any humanity. We considered the power of narrative [or, storytelling], and its connection to redemption. And we concluded with a few thoughts on the meaning of ritual. We hope you enjoy it!

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, and the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-era [Exodus 6:2–9:35] is the 2nd parashah of Exodus. Unlike many of the parashiyot, it takes its name from the first word of the 2nd sentence, in which God declares that He appeared to the patriarchs as El-Shaddai, but did not make known to them the 4-letter name, YHVH. In modern critical scholarship this verse looms large, but alas, that is the subject of another conversation. We focused our attention on the phrase sh’lakh et ammi v’-ya’avduni, a trope in this chapter in its manifold iterations. It translates as “send forth My people, they might worship Me”. We spent most of our conversation trying to unpack this enigmatic phrase. Near the end we took up Moses’ description of himself as aral-s’fata’im, of uncircumcised lips. What did Moses intend to say about himself in describing himself so?

There is much we did not get to, including the 7 plagues and the verses of redemption [6:6–8], which are the foundation of the 4 cups of wine at the Pesach Seder. We hope you enjoy what we did talk about! Please let us know, here on Facebook or at [email protected]

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, and the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Shemot [Exodus 1:1–6:1] opens the Book of Exodus [Shemot in Hebrew]. It summarizes the end of Genesis in a few verses wherein בני ישראל [b’nai Yisrael] the biological children of the patriarch Jacob who had been renamed Israel, becomes עם בני ישראל [am b’nai yisrael], the mighty nation of Israelites. Very quickly, the anxious ending of Genesis gives way to Pharaoh’s plan to oppress the people with hard work in order to suppress their population growth, instructions to the midwives to murder infant boys in the guise of stillbirth, culminating with genocide by having all Israelite boys thrown into the Nile. We then meet Moses, who will, in turn, meet God, the God of the ancestors, and who instructs him to liberate the Israelities from bondage. Moses is a reluctant leader, claiming to be of heavy mouth and tongue; God appoints Aaron to be his mouthpiece. There first venture into diplomacy ends with abject failure, for Pharaoh only increases the burden on the Israelites. The parashah ends with God telling Moses that now he will see what God will do to Pharaoh. So there is a moment of uplift at the end.

So much for the story line. In our conversation we set the scene for the opening of the book, and among other things, discussed the character of Moses as revealed in the 3 events narrated in chapter two, where he slays an Egyptian, intervenes in a dispute between 2 Israelites, and rescues Midianite shepherdesses, leading to his marriage to one of them. What actually is the identity of Moses? We hope you enjoy it!

Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, and the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way. Shabbat Shalom.

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yehi [Genesis 47:28–50:26] is the twelfth and final parashah of Genesis. We address the overall theme/direction of the book, and how it fits into the Torah. We also discuss the burial of Jacob: why does he insist on being buried in the ancestral grave? As always [we hope] the conversation is spirited, and we hope you enjoy it!

As daylight increases now that we have passed the winter solstice, may light again increase in the world as well. Again this week, our thoughts and prayers are with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, the soldiers fighting in defense of Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way, and all those affected by this war, both near and far. May the One Who brings peace in the heavens, bestow it upon us on earth as well. Shabbat Shalom

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yigash [Genesis 44:18–47:27] is the penultimate parashah of the Book of Genesis. It opens with Judah’s plea to Joseph to take him as captive instead of Benjamin. The events unfold quickly which lead to the reconciliation of the brothers, the descent of Jacob and his family into Egypt, a genealogy [interesting enough on its own, but which we leave for another time], the reunion of Jacob and Joseph, the meeting between Jacob and Pharaoh, and concluding with what Nahum Saran in his JPS Commentary, calls “Joseph’s Agrarian Policies”. We focused on what seems to us a few of the key verses of the parashah. As becomes abundantly clear, biblical stories are never quite how they appear to us even the last time we encountered them. We hope you enjoy our conversation!

Again this week, our thoughts and prayers are with the hostages, may they be returned to their homes safely, the soldiers fighting in defense of Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way, and all those affected by this war, both near and far. May the One Who brings peace in the heavens, bestow it upon us on earth as well. Shabbat Shalom.

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barrry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. According to Eliot, Parashat Mikketz [Genesis 41:1–44:17] is the second-most amazing parashah in the entire Torah, coming a week after his Bar Mitzvah parashah. This parashah is the heart of the Joseph story: Joseph’s interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams and subsequent elevation to second-in-command to Pharaoh, and the scenes with his brothers who have come to Egypt to buy grain. Joseph, as is well-known, tests his brothers, to see if they have changed. Our conversation focused almost exclusively on Joseph’s character. Has Joseph changed since that fateful day he was sold into slavery? The Hebrew of one of the verses makes the illuminating connection between recognition and strangeness, and estrangement, all with the same three letter root: nun, kaf, resh. We hope you enjoy it!

As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the hostages, may they be restored to their families speedily, and with the soldiers defending Israel, may they be removed from harm’s way. As Hanukkah draws to a close, may the lights we kindle continue to burn ever more brightly long after the conclusion of the holiday. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk Vayeshev, with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chasler and jeremy Kalmanofsky. Hanukkah edition.