Minute Lessons From the Torah: Recent Episodes
Minute Lessons From the Torah
My name is Sandra and I am a Rabbi to be and welcome to my podcast of Minute Lessons from the Torah. The Torah is amazing and full of wonderful lessons that we can still learn from today.
This week's Torah Portion urges us repeatedly to pursue Justice. Justice for ourselves and for others.
We are human beings with free will and we get to choose the right and just path. The right path is to follow God and strive to always do what is right.
This is the last Torah Portion from the book of numbers. The Israelites are so close to the promised land but before they can enter the promised land God tells Moses that they must create cities of refuge. Today we might call them Sanctuary cities. Today when we are talking about Sanctuary cities we are talking about protecting undocumented immigrants in the United States.
The Torah Laws related to the cities of refuge are unique. The Torah says that when a person accidentally kills another person he may flee to one of these cities. The Torah says that as long as a person is within the boundaries of one of these cities they will be protected. These cities were intended for everyone, Israelites, and non-Israelites all were protected by God.
This week’s Torah portion is talking about people who accidentally kill but I can’t help but draw a connection between to our obligation to protect human life. There are so many people in our world who are seeking protection, a city of refuge a ci
Ma tovu….How great are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel! These words are the opening lines of a prayer that many Jews say when entering a synagogue. These words appear in this week’s Torah Portion in Number 24:5. Where Balaam is sent to curse the Israelites. But instead, Balaam is overcome the awe and awesomeness of God and the Israelites' places of worship. Rashi says that Balaam is overcome by the modesty that the Israelites maintained while traveling in the desert. So even though Balaam was sent to curse the Israelites the words that come out of his mouth are actually a blessing a blessing of praise.
In this week’s Torah portion we learn that Miriam dies She is the sibling of Aaron and Moses. A funny thing happens when Miriam dies; all of a sudden the Israelites are without water. Rabbis of our tradition have long connected Miriam with the water that the Israelites drank and without the water Israelites are in a panic and worried they are going to die of thirst.
So Moses prays to God. God tells Moses to assemble the Israelites and go find a rock and order the rock to yield water. God promises Moses that water will come from the rock.
But Moses does something a little differently instead he strikes the rock not once but twice out of anger. Copious amounts of water come from the rock. Then God Tells Moses he will not be allowed into the Promised Land
Moses has put up with so much why did he strike the rock out of anger. I think Moses is grieving and confronting his own mortality. When people are grieving they may lose sight of their normal emotions and may not act like they
The lesson that we learn from this week’s Torah portion is simple. If you think you can you will and if you think you can’t then you won’t. It’s all about attitude. In this week’s Torah portion, Moses chooses twelve men to go to the Promised Land to see whether it is conquerable and inhabitable. Ten of the men come back saying that it’s not possible to conquer the land because they perceive that giants live there. Two of the men, Joshua and Caleb, come back saying, “We can do it”. They are ready to fight. The ten men who lack courage saw themselves as very small, saying they are as “grasshoppers” in the eyes of the inhabitants of the land, and in their own eyes as well. They lacked the self-confidence it takes to do what is required and they lacked faith in God. And therefore condemned the rest of the Israelites to wander in the desert for 40 years. If you see failure everywhere you will fail. Think positively, believe that you can and you will and can conquer whatever comes your wa
Always be grateful and thankful for what you have and not the things you think you want. And you can never move forward in life if you are always looking at the past.
In this week's Torah portion, Behar - Bechukotai (Leviticus 25:1-27:34)God tells Moses to speak to the Israelites and say to them when you enter the land that I assign to you the land shall observe a sabbath. God says that the Israelites can work the land for six years but on the seventh year the land gets a Shabbat of complete rest.
The Torah goes further: not only is every seventh year meant to be a shmita aka a sabbatical year but after seven-time seven years the 50th year "Jubilee," and that year too is a year of rest. During the Jubilee, all debts are canceled; slaves are released, and any land transactions which have taken place are annulled so that the land can return to its original caretakers God says you shall proclaim freedom throughout the land These are also the same words inscribed on our nation’s liberty bell and I think it’s important to remember Our country has made a lot of mistakes through the years but one thing is true we are constantly striving to live up to
This week's Torah portion is Emor (Leviticus 21:1–24:23)and the Torah is reminding us to be kind. "And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the LORD am your God."
Remember we are created in the image of God. We are not strangers we are all related.
Let’s talk about Love This week’s torah portion Acharei Mot Kedoshim. Is about love. And it contains what we often call the holiness code. A blueprint for how we as a people living in a society should strive to behave.
The opening words are: And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, speak to the people of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.
Then God explains how people can be holy. God teaches us to Judge others fairly, to not hate our neighbors in our hearts, and to observe God’s laws.
And to love. The Torah says You shall love your neighbor as yourself . We are to love each other, what a concept. We often call this the Golden rule. There is a story in the Talmud. A non Jew comes to Rabbi Hillel and says I’ll convert to Judaism if you teach me the whole Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel replied “which is hateful to you do not do to another. That is the entire Torah and the rest is commentary, now go study
This week’s Torah portion i
This week’s Torah Portion is a double portion Tazria-Metzora and it is portion we love to hate because it’s all about skin diseases, bodily emissions, and other health conditions. These physical conditions make a person temporarily unfit to be close to God.
Question: What are some ways that you restore yourself when you feel sick, not whole or not close to God?
Every year at Passover Jews retell the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt, and their escape from slavery and oppression. Our tradition reminds us that the Exodus narrative is not just any story, but one we must retell because we are asked to believe that we were present at that moment.
This week we read a double portion Vayakhel-Pekudei. Moses assembles the people and tells them about the sanctuary they are to build but before that happens Moses tells them that God commands them to work six days but on the seventh day they shall rest. The seventh day is a holy day. The commandment to rest precedes the command to work. This tells us just how important it is for us to rest. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. For many Jews today, many Jews Shabbat seems like a day of restrictions rather than an awesome day intended for rejuvenation. Shabbat is intended to be vacation from your workday world. Use it to reconnect with your family, spend time with your partner and or invite friends over to share a meal. Shabbat is God’s gift to us, every week of the year you are guaranteed a day off.
Every week, we get to renew our covenant with God and we pause to notice the sacredness of creation.
Today in our modern times we as Jews don’t have one Mishkan we have synagogues and we worship God not just in the Tabernacle but wherever we might be. And where we are located can have a significant effect on the spirituality we feel in that moment. Designing a prayer space is a sacred task to be done with great care. And so too must we take care to use that sacred space to nurture our personal and communal connections with God.
Change is possible in human nature, but it takes time, maybe even a long time. We know now that slavery is morally wrong. Part of our relationship with God is that God does not force us to change faster than we are able to do of our own free will. This week’s Torah does not abolish slavery, but it does set in motion a series of fundamental laws that will lead people, to abolish it of their own accord.
The Torah of one man, even a Moses, is not the Torah of a nation. Jethro’s plan is democratic, taking it out of the hands of any one individual and making it the property of the people. Exodus 18:1–20:23.
This week’s Torah portion is Yitro and this is the Torah portion where we finally get the 10 commandments. Let’s focus on number 10 Thou shall not covet..Anything that is your neighbor’s. In other words do not be envious of anything from your neighbor’s house. This is my favorite commandment because I believe this commandment is the key to happiness Exodus 18:1–20:23.
Envy is the desire to have something belonging to someone else. This is an emotion, that brings out jealousy, resentment, bitterness the old green-eyed monster and makes people unhappy.
Why should we want something just because others have it. The remedy for envy is gratitude. If we remember to define ourselves in our relationship to God and not define ourselves in relation to others we will be happy and grateful.
Every morning we have built into our practice the Jewish blessing Modah ani Lefaneka...Thank you God. The prayer goes on to say thank you god for restoring my soul in me, You God are awesome. Taking on t
Israelites are finally free and they are moving fast to leave Egypt. Now they find themselves at the edge of the sea. There is no way out and Pharaoh's army is not far behind. They are trapped and scared.
This week we are in Parsha Bo (Exodus 10:1−13:16)and we are at the climax of Israel’s struggle for freedom. Plague after Plague has hurt Egypt and Pharoah is willing to let some of the Israelites go free. Moses insist that none of them will go unless all of the Israelites can go. Moses wants freedom for all. He says We will go with our young and our old, we will go with our sons and our daughters. In other words, we ain’t leavin' anybody behind.
Sometimes leaders succeed with ease and sometimes they fail. In this week's Torah portion Moses fails several times before he eventually becomes the man who leads the Israelites from to freedom. When we fail it's important to learn from our failure and then to keep going.
This week we are in the Torah portion of Vaera (Exodus 6:2 - 9:35). God tell Moses I am here to free the Israelites from slavery
This week as we enter the book of Exodus. In hebrew we call this book Shemot the book of names. The Torah portion starts out with the names of the Israelites who came down to Egypt. Then later we learn the name of Moses and when Moses encounters God for the first time he says to God tell me your name.
As I write this I can't help but remember the gay anthem of my youth the Gloria Gaynor song I Am What I Am https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj8C43r4zm0
This week we begin the book of exodus in the Torah Portion Shemot (Exodus 1:1–6:1). The Israelites are slaves and we follow them from slavery to freedom and then redemption. As we begin this journey through Exodus, Let us consider the midwives Shifrah and Puah The process of redemption does not begin with divine intervention, but with the first recorded act of non-violent civil disobedience. The Torah says that a King arose that did not know Joseph. This Pharoh did not like the increasing number of Israelites. He ordered the midwives, Shifrah and Puah to kill the Israelite male babies as they were born. Midwives did not comply. Their act of civil disobedience makes it possible for the next act and then another and then finally freedom and then redemption
Hello, and welcome to another Minute lessons from the Torah. This week we begin the book of Exodus with the Parsha Shemot (Exodus 1:1–6:1). The Israelites are now slaves in Egypt. Our hero Moses is now a criminal and living as a shepherd. One day he takes his sheep into the wilderness and he sees a bush all aflame, yet the bush was not consumed. Mose turned to investigate this amazing site and when God saw that Moses turned to look, God said. Dude!! Take your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.
One of my teachers told me that we have a Midrash, an ancient story, that tells us that the bush was burning for a long time and it was well known to the local people and many came to see this cool attraction. But what set Moses apart from everyone else was that the bush didn’t merely catch his eye, it was something he realized must be investigated. He was inspired by what he saw, and he left the path he was on, to investigate. Moses was willing to step out of
Vayechi (Genesis 47:28–50:26): Be Strong and Let Us Be Strengthened When we finish a book of the Torah we close we close that book words with ‘chazak, chazak v’nitchazek’ (be strong, be strong and let us be strengthened!). We are excited to finish a book of Torah and excited for the book ahead.
Today's lesson comes from the Torah Portion Vayechi - Genesis 47:28 - 50:26. This is the last Torah portion in the book of Genesis and today's lesson focuses on the importance of forgiving family.
Hello my name is Sandra Lawson and I am a rabbi to be. Welcome to my new Podcast. This Podcast grew out of my Torah Lessons on Snapchat and Instagram. It‘s a work in progress and has grown out of my love for Torah Like a lot of things I do, I just jump in with both feet. So welcome and I look forward to learning with you.
This is the first Shabbat of 2017. We are in the Torah Portion of Vayigash which means to draw near or to come close. My friend and Rabbi Yael Levy called it the Shabbat of approaching. We are approaching this year with a lot of certainty and as we approach this year and draw it near if we open our hearts to love, forgiveness and God's plan.
My last Torah message for 2016. This week we have been reading from the Torah portion Mikeitz, continuing the Joseph story. Joseph is the boy who dared to dream who turned into a man who was able to interpret dreams. As we move into 2017 my message is to never be afraid to dream. In our society we sometimes discourage those. who call themselves dreamers but to have the courage to dream for a better future, there is nothing wrong with that. On this last night of Hanukkah Chag Sameach Happy New Year and may you be blessed in 2017