Kol Ramah

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Miqqetz [Genesis 41:1-44:17] is the second of the four parashiyot which tell the story of Joseph. It begins in the court of Pharaoh, with the third set of 2 dreams. The butler now remembers Joseph and tells Pharaoh there is a Hebrew slave who can interpret his dreams. This sets in motion a chain of events which leads to Joseph’s release from prison, the correct interpretation of Pharaoh’s dreams, and the appointment of Joseph as second in command to Pharaoh. In the meanwhile, Jacob’s family is in need of more food, so the sons get Jacob to acquiesce to sending Benjamin. As the story unfolds, Benjamin is accused of stealing Joseph’s goblet. They return to Joseph, where Judah makes an impassioned plea on behalf of Benjamin to return to Jacob, and for Joseph to take Judah in his stead. As the rabbis have programmed the cycle of Torah readings, we are meant to brood upon this sad state of events for the week. While on one hand, we, who have gone through the Torah reading cycle before, know the denouement, the rabbis intend that we mull it over as if we do not know, while we wait for next Shabbat to come to find out what happens. While you are mulling it over, you might listen to our conversation for our take! Shabbat Shalom!!

Earlier this month we lost a dear friend and unique talent, Pete Sokolow.

Enjoy this 2011 Radio Klezkamp interview with Mitch Mernick. Recorded at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, Kerhokson NY.

Parsha Talk Vayeshev with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yeshev [Genesis 37-40] is the beginning of the Joseph story, the longest extended narrative in the Book of Genesis. So even though, properly speaking, Joseph is not a patriarch, he is not a recipient of the covenant with its twofold promise of land and numerous descendants conveyed directly by God, he is the subject of the longest story in the Book. Chapter 37 introduces us to an adolescent or young adult Joseph, who at 17 is the favorite of his father, Jacob, the recipient of what has come to be known as the Coat of Many Colors, and a noted dreamer and interpreter of dreams, all of which will conspire, together with his brothers, to land him in Egypt as a slave. Chapter 38 is an interlude of sorts, the story of Judah and Tamar, whereby Tamar is widowed twice, by Judah’s two oldest sons, and then will become, through Judah, the ancestress of King David. Chapter 39 resumes the Joseph story, this time in Egypt, where he will serve in Potiphar’s house, land in prison, and there interpret the dreams of the butler and baker. Both before our recording and during the show, Eliot made a great case for the literary art in the Joseph story, which is, first and last, a great story. Give a listen, and send comments and criticisms to [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yishlach [Genesis 32:4-36:43] is, as the French might say, an embarrassment of riches. There are Jacob’s plans for seeing his brother again after 20 years, the mysterious encounter with the malakh, often translated as angel, which will acquire for Jacob a new name and a physical disability which will everafter affect the way his descendants eat, the meeting with Esau, the rape of Dinah, the putting away of the idols at Beit El, and the detailed genealogy of Esau, inclusing the list of 12 successive kings, which exposes perhaps as well as any Torah text, the limitations of Mosaic authorship of the Torah. Along the way is the the death of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, the birth of Benjamin and the death of Rachel [which occasions its own name change], and the death of Isaac. And even this list is incomplete!

As befitting such a rich parashah, our conversation was free-wheeling, skipping from topic to topic, seamlessly we hope! Let us know your thoughts and reactions at [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Va-yetze [Genesis 28:10–32:3] has long been my (BC) favorite, since it was the one to which I was called up to the Torah as Bar Mitzvah many years ago. As it turns out, it is also the Bat Mitzvah parashah of my wife, Carol, though not quite so many years ago. In our discussion this week we did go much beyond the opening verses, the notice that Jacob left Beersheva and went to Haran, and the encounter at Beit El, formerly known as Luz. Perhaps we gained in depth what we sacrificed in breadth. In any event, it was a lot of fun to do! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parsha Talk; with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Toldot [Genesis 25:19-28:9] begins with a flurry of activity, with 60 years summarized in 8 verses: there is a birth notice of Isaac, the marriage of Isaac at 40, the barrenness of Rebekah for 20 years, the entreaty on her behalf by Isaac, the difficult pregnancy, the consulation with the oracle, and finally the birth of Esau and Jacob, complete with a physical description which will give each of the twins his name. And then the parashah slows down with a story about the selling of the birthright, a series of episodes in the life of Isaac, a notice about Esau’s two wives and then an extendeded narrative about the stealing of the blessing. At the end, Jacob will flee for his life to the ancestral homeland back east, and Esau will marry a descendant of Ishmael. All in all, it is quite packed with material to talk about, which, of course, is what we do! We hope you enjoy this early edition of Parashah Talk, made necessary by the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Happy Thanksgiving! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Chayyai Sarah [Genesis 23:1-25:18] opens with a summary of the years of Sarah’s life: These were the lives of Sarah, a hundred years and twenty years and seven years, the years of the lives of Sarah. It is interesting that in Hebrew “life” is a plural noun, whereas in English it is singular. Perhaps related to this is that the Hebrew uses the singular “year” for 100 and 20, but the plural “years” for 7. So much for Hebrew style!

Sarah’s death is now reported, in Kiryat Arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. The rest of the parashah unfolds as a response to Sarah’s death: Chapter 23 relates the negotiations which lead to the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah as a burial cave for Abraham’s family, chapter 24 [the longest chapter in Genesis at 67 verses] the process by which Rebecca is secured as a wife for Isaac, and chapter 25, Abraham’s remarriage, the births of six more sons, the dismissal of the children of the concubines, the death of Abraham, the genealogy of Ishmael, and his death. Next week the torch is passed to Isaac.

Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk, with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. If it seems that we have just read parashat va-yera [Genesis 18-22] it is because, in a sense, we have. Chapters 21 and 22 were the Torah readings on the first and second day of Rosh Hashanah. In our conversation this week, we started at the end, with aqedat yitzchaq, the Binding of Isaac, and stayed there. Aside from an occasional reference to earlier parts of the parashah, we focused on the endlessly fascinating story of this last test of Avraham. Feel free to share your own thoughts on my Facebook page or at [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk, with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Lekh L’kha [Genesis 12-17], following on the heels of B’reishit and Noach these past two weeks, is the third in a sequence of winnowing or sifting. Taken together, they illustrate the rabbinic category of work known as bo’rer, which forbids the separation of something good from something bad on Shabbat. The first man, Adam, is created with high hopes. In the course of the next 9 generations, the quality of humankind will deteriorate so badly that God’s only solution is to destroy the world. The next week, the world is recreated anew, as it were, with No’ach. This time when the generations deteriorate, God does not destroy the world, but singles out one individual, Avram, soon to be renamed Avraham [17:5], to be the bearer of God’s word in the world. In the language of the beginning verses of the parashah, Avram’s destiny is to be a blessing, to bring God’s word into the world. We spent nearly the whole conversation on the meaning of these opening verses. When the material is so rich, we do not move very far! We hope you enjoy it. Comments and criticisms are welcome at [email protected]. Shabbat Shalom!

Pasha Talk: with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat Noach [Genesis 6:9-11:32] concerns itself primarily with the Flood in which God destroyed nearly the entire world he had so carefully created in the opening chapters of Geneis. Noah is described as a righteous person in his generation, which led the rabbis to speculate how he would have fared in a different generation. This midrash provided the springboard for our discussion this week, which moved from a discussion of Noah in his generation to the experience of time to the odd little story [9:18-27] which concludes the Flood narrative. We concluded with a consideration of Chapter 10, sometimes described as the Family of Nations. Shabbat Shalom!