Kol Ramah

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky: Parashat Naso [Numbers 4:21–7:89] is not just amazing, it is the longest single parashah in the Torah, with well over two thousand words, and contains the longest chapter, chapter 7, with 89 verses. Among the topics taken up is the completion of the levitical census, the trespass offering, the ritual for the woman suspected of adultery, the nazir, and the tribal chieftains’ gifts for the Tabernacle. It is perhaps appropriate for such a dense parashah that our conversation lasted nearly forty minutes, which may be our record. We hope you enjoy! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Eliot Kalmanofsky. We begin a new book of the Torah this week, Sefer B’midbar [the Book of Numbers], with the opening parashah [Numbers 1:1–4:20] also named b’midbar [literally, “in the wilderness (of)”, which is the setting for the opening chapters]. This parashah is concerned with the tribal census of fighting men, which is what influenced the Greek, then Latin name for the book, which made its way into English as Numbers.

Immediately upon the conclusion of Shabbat begins the holiday of Shavuot, the holiday of first-fruits, which the rabbis designate as z’man mattan torateinu, the season of the giving of the Torah. We devote our conversation this week to the holiday of Shavuot and the theme of revelation. We may pick up b’midbar when we return to our regular schedule next week with parashat Naso, which completes the levitical census, the enumeration of the 3 principal clans of the tribe of Levi and a detailing of their tabernacle responsibilities. In the meanwhile, Shabbat Shalom and Chag Same’ach!

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat B’chukotai [Leviticus 26:3-27:34] concludes the reading from the Book of Leviticus. Chapter 26 contains the tochechah, the lengthy passage of rebuke for failure to live up to God’s commands, which finds an echo in parashat Ki Tavo, near the end of Deuteronomy. Chapter 27 discusses votive offerings to the tabernacle, where a person’s donation is determined by gender and age. This finds an echo in the Book of Numbers, which we begin reading next week, and the redemption of the first-born. This topic of valuations forms the basis of the mishnaic tractate of Arakhin, and provides a contrast between the monetary worth of a human being here with the infinite value of a human being embedded in the idea that each of us is created in the image of God. Shabbat Shalom!

Parsha Talk; with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky. Parashat B’har [Leviticus 25:1–26:2], at 57 verses, is one of the shortest of the weekly readings. It is concerned with the shmittah [sabbatical] year and yovel [jubilee] year, as well as other legislation designed to remediate poverty which leads to the selling of ancestral land. Of particular note for Americans [of the United States variety] is 25:10, which provides the Hebrew source for the inscription on the Liberty Bell, “you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof”. We discussed a little bit what liberty or freedom might have meant in its biblical context, but spent most of our time discussing a rabbinic take on the trolley problem, which is found in the Talmud [Bava Metzia 62a], and quotes from our parashah as a proof-text [25:36] As always, comments and criticisms are welcome at parshatalk.com. Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky bring us Parsha Talk! The parashah this week is Emor [Leviticus 21-24], which features the Levitical calendar [chapter 23], last read in the synagogue on the 2nd day of Passover. This calendar is a culmination of the move to a fixed calendar, with nearly all the holidays now designated for a specific day and month, completing the shift from agricultural occasions in the earlier calendars [Exodus and Deuteronomy]. Chapter 21 is devoted to various priestly restrictions and limitations, to borrow the title given it by Baruch Levine in his JPS Torah Commentary, while Chapter 22 discusses various sacred donations which come to the priests as a result of their service. Chapter 24 contains one of the few events that takes place in Leviticus, an event which sparks the conclusion of our conversation. As always, comments and criticisms are welcome at parshatalk.com. Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Jeremy Kalmanofskt and Barry Chesler. This week we are back to the regular weekly reading, parashat Kedoshim [Leviticus 19-20]. For the rabbis, this is the central portion of Leviticus, with the famous verse, ve-ahavta l-re’akha ka-mokha [“you shall love your neighbor as yourself”], at the very center of the Torah. According to the Sage, Hillel, the rest [of the Torah] is commentary. We take up the theme of holiness in our discussion of chapter 19, though we make some references to chapter 20, a kind of reprise of chapter 18, read three weeks ago as part of parashat Acharai Mot. Since we recorded the show on the eve of Yom Ha-atzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day, we spent some time discussing its significance. We hope you enjoy! Shabbat Shalom!!

Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Jeremy Kalmanofsky and Barrry Chesler. Parashat Acharai Mot [Leviticus 16-18] is familiar to many of us from Yom Kippur, when we reach chapter 16 in the morning and, traditionally, chapter 18, though in modern times congregations have chosen to read chapter 19 or parashat nitzavim for Deuteronomy. Chapter 16 describes the Yom Kippur ritual in the mishkan [tabernacle], and is prefaced by a note about the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, narrated in chapter 10. We spend the first part of our conversation discussing these deaths and what they might have meant in the life of the nation and in the lives of Moses and Aaron, national leaders but also brothers who suffered an enormous tragedy. The second part of the conversation took its cue from the calendar, the observance of Yom HaShoah [Holocaust Memorial Day] this past Wednesday evening and Thursday, and of Yom Ha-Zikkaron [Israel’s Memorial Day] and Yom Ha-Atzma’ut [Israel’s Independence Day]. Jeremy, who must returned from a trip to Israel for Pesach, shared his Yom HaShoah experience in Israel. Wishing one and all Shabbat Shalom!

Join Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Barry Chesler and Jeremy Kalmanofsky for Parsha Talk! Because the next two shabbatot are the first and last Yom Tov of Pesach, we offer this special Pesach edition of Parashah Talk, where the conversation focuses on the Haggadah, rather than the Torah portion. We hope this will carry you through until parashat Acharai Mot, read in synagogues on April 30, when we will return to our normal schedule! Until then, our best wishes for a zissen Pesach!!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Eliot Malomet, Jeremy Kalmanofsky and Barry Chesler. This week’s parashah is M’tzora [Leviticus 14-15], which continues the Torah’s discussion of the skin affliction commonly, but mistakenly, identified with leprosy. In the latter part of chapter 14, this affliction plagues the houses of the Israelites. The Torah raises the curiosity of the Israelite summoning the priest to make the diagnosis but given time to remove the movables, lest they be condemned with the house. This raises the possibility that the affliction has a spiritual dimension which may be of greater importance than the physical one.

The haftarah, special for the Shabbat before Passover, is from the last chapter of the last prophet, Malachi [generally dated to late 6th century, around the building of the 2nd Temple], who predicts the coming of Elijah to restore harmony between parents and their children. The generation gap, perhaps surprisingly, is much older than we often imagine, and may require a miraculous intervention to resolve its tension.

As always, comments and criticisms are welcome at [email protected]. Below is the link for T-shirts. Should you purchase one, do let us know! Shabbat Shalom!!

Parsha Talk with Rabbis Malomet, Kalmanofsky and Chesler. This week is the 4th of the special Shabbatot before Pesach, each with a special maftir [additional reading] and haftarah [prophetic reading]. Next week is also special; it is the Shabbat before Pesach and is called Shabbat Ha-gadol, for reasons which fall far short of unanimous agreement. While Shabbat Ha-gadol does have a special haftarah, there is no special maftir. Perhaps more on that next week!

The weekly reading is Thazria [Leviticus 12-13], flying solo so to speak this year [in many years it is paired with M’tzorah, which this year we read next week]. The seventh aliyah, which is normally the end of the weekly reading, is from Numbers 28:9-15, in honor of Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the Hebrew month Nisan.. The maftir is from Exodus [12:1-20], and details the preparation for Pesach Mitzrayim, the Passover as celebrated in Egypt. While Thazria, which is primarily about the disease commonly, but mistakenly according to most scholars, called leprosy, and the elaborate priestly ritual for dealing with it, we discussed chapter 12 [at 8 verses, one of, if not the shortest, in the Torah], which has to do with the status of a woman who has given birth to a boy or a girl [each has a different status]. It also includes the law of circumcision, which was first mentioned in Genesis in the context of Abraham and the covenant. Most of our conversation this week focused on circumcision and the Passover ritual in Exodus. We hope you enjoy! Shabbat Shalom!! Chodesh Tov!!!