TORAH READING FOR 25 TEVET 5784 January 5-6, 2024
SHAZOOM ONLY 6:30 PM January 5, 2024
OUR HEARTS ARE WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL
From “Mishkan T’filah / A Reform Siddur” CCAR, New York 2007, p.161
Baruch atah, Adonai, mevarëch hashanim.
BLESS this our year and its abundant harvest for good. Grant blessing throughout the earth and satisfy us with your goodness. Blessed are You, Eternal One, who blesses the years.
PARSHA
From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/shmot
Sh’mot (שְׁמוֹת — Hebrew for “names”) – Ex. 1:1-6:1
These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. – Exodus 1:1-4
SUMMARY:
- The new king of Egypt makes slaves of the Hebrews and orders their male children to be drowned in the Nile River. (1:1-22)
- A Levite woman places her son, Moses, in a basket on the Nile, where he is found by the daughter of Pharaoh and raised in Pharaoh’s house. (2:1-10)
- Moses flees to Midian after killing an Egyptian. (2:11-15)
- Moses marries Zipporah, the daughter of Midian’s priest. They have a son named Gershom. (2:16-22)
- God calls Moses from a burning bush and commissions him to free the Israelites from Egypt. (3:1-4:17)
- Moses and Aaron request permission from Pharaoh for the Israelites to celebrate a festival in the wilderness. Pharaoh refuses and makes life even harder for the Israelites. (5:1-23)
HAFTARAH
From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shemot_(parsha)#Haftarah
The haftarah for the parashah is:
- for Ashkenazi Jews: Isaiah 27:6–28:13 and 29:22–23
The parashah and haftarah in Isaiah 27 both address how Israel could prepare for God’s deliverance. Rashi in his commentary on Isaiah 27:6–8 drew connections between the fruitfulness of Isaiah 27:6 and Exodus 1:4, between the killings of Isaiah 27:7 and God’s slaying of Pharaoh’s people in, for example, Exodus 12:29, and between the winds of Isaiah 27:8 and those that drove the Reed Sea in Exodus 14:21.
- for Sephardi Jews: Jeremiah 1:1–2:3
The parashah and haftarah in Jeremiah 1 both report the commissioning of a prophet, Moses in the parashah and Jeremiah in the haftarah. In both the parashah and the haftarah, God calls to the prophet, the prophet resists, citing his lack of capacity, but God encourages the prophet and promises to be with him.
RECOMMENDED READING
From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/shmot
By: Jonathan K. Crane
STRUGGLING WITH TORAH and REFLECTION
We will continue to meet every other Friday for Torah Study to read and discuss selections from Ketuvim, the third section of Tanach (Hebrew Bible), which follows Torah and Nevi’im. Please see the NEW Torah Study-Shazoom schedule below. NEXT week we will continue studying a selection from Ketuvim (Writings). Read this week’s Torah Portion at https://www.sefaria.org/Exodus.1.1-6.1, the Haftarah at https://www.sefaria.orgn/Isaiah.27.6–28.13 and https://www.sefaria.orgn/Isaiah.29.22-23 or https://www.sefaria.org/Jeremiah.1.1-2.3
From “The Torah / A Women’s Commentary” edited by Dr. Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Rabbi Andrea L. Weiss, Ph.D., Women of Reform Judaism/The Federation of Temple Sisterhoods and URJ Press New York 2008
שמות Sh’mot – Exodus 1:1-6:1
Contemporary Reflection – by Carole Balin, pp. 326-7
PARASHAT SH’MOT SETS THE STAGE for the drama that plays out not only in the rest of the book of Exodus but around tables worldwide as Jewish families gather year in and year out for Passover seders. The Exodus and the experiences connected with it–the slavery of the Israelites, their liberation from Egypt, the covenant at Sinai, and the journey in the wilderness toward the Promised Land–are indelibly stamped on the Jewish collective memory and imagination. North American Jews relish, arguably more than any other holiday, the festival of passover whose symbolic foods serve as props for retelling the tale of Israelite bondage that ceases with God’s redemptive miracles. The story is fantastic in every sense of the term: fanciful, remarkable, unreal, and superb. The biblical writers are at their best in these passages, crafting a gripping narrative inscribed with timeless ethical imperatives, such as “You shall not wrong nor oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 22:20), and theological conundrums, like why does God repeatedly harden Pharaoh’s heart–thereby preventing the necessary redemption without plagues befalling Egypt? This story has sustained generations of Jews, from esteemed commentators of yore to todays’ questioning sons and daughters with mouths full of matzah and maror. Jews of all stripes really to the Exodus cry; even those with mere peripheral knowledge of things Jewish resonate to “Let my people go!”
So why is it that the most unbelievable of Jewish stories is that which is most believed in? Why does the Exodus charm and beguile liberal Jews, even Reform Jews, who are products of a movement of leaders who early on dismissed what the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform calls “miraculous narratives” of the Bible as “reflecting the primitive ideas of its own age…”?
Indeed, on one level, the popularity of the Exodus is baffling. One might imagine that its lack of historical veracity would knock it off its pedestal. After all, biblical scholars, whose stock in trade is comparative materials of contemporaneous ancient Near Eastern cultures and archeology, inform us that few of the book’s details can be substantiated by cold, hard facts.
Take, for example, the matter of dating. Based on chronological indications in the text itself, the Hebrew Bible would have us believe that the Exodus took place in about 1446 B.C.E. One of the mathematical “proofs” for such a claim depends on the following information provided to the biblical reader in various places: Exodus 12:40 claims that the Israelite slavery in Egypt lasted 430 years (a figure that contradicts the prediction of an Egyptian sojourn of 400 years or four generations; Genesis 15:13, 16). I Kings 6:1 states that the Temple was constructed 480 years after the Exodus, during the fourth year of Solomon’s forty-year reign (I Kings 11:42), which scholars date as 966 B.C.E. According to these calculations, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt between 1876 and 1446 B.C.E. Moreover, if, as the text indicates, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for forty years before entering the Promised Land, the conquest of Canaan would have begun in approximately 1406 B.C.E.
Besides the fact that the Torah texts do not agree with one another on the length of Israelite enslavement in Egypt, these numbers do not add up against the evidence of extra-biblical sources. In fact, the first clear historical proof of an Israelite presence in Canaan at all is the inscription on the so-called Israel Stele of the pharaoh Merneptah, dating to about 1207 B.C.E. In other words, the biblical claim of a 15th-centruy Exodus is off by 200 years when compared to the archeological evidence. Moreover, ancient records demonstrate that Egypt controlled Canaan in 1446, a fact that makes an escape from Egypt to Canaan at that time rather unlikely.
Another aspect of the story that troubles modern readers is the purported size of the Exodus. The biblical claim of 600,000 men (Exodus 12:37), which including their families would total nearly 2 million people, is hyperbole at best. Plus, many of the sites appearing in the detailed itinerary of the Israelites’ route from Egypt to Canaan (see Numbers 33) cannot be verified.
Certainly, scholars like the preeminent Nahum Sarna have argued convincingly that corroborating evidence suggests a “plausible context” for the Exodus story. Many have confidently asserted that a group of people who later became Israel went down to Egypt from Canaan, settled there, and became oppressed as foreigners. At some point, it can be presumed, they were conscripted into labor and oppressed as foreigners. Some of them later escaped and professed to a transcendent experience with a divine being in the desert. Still later, they or their descendants entered Canaan, where, according to Sarna, they were joined by other peoples and became the biblical nation of Israel.
From my perspective as a professor of Jewish history and a Reform rabbi, dismissing the story because it conflicts with historical data misses the point. Holding the Torah to critical standards of historiography is unfair, because it is not intended to be a history book containing scholars’ attempts to re-create an impartial rendering of what occurred in the past. Instead, the Torah is a knitting together of narratives composed to cultivate a particular spiritual and moral point of view. So when God parts the Reed Sea, I can no more expect myself to nod in faithful assent like an open-mouthed child than when reading a book like Harry Potter.
As a non-literalist, non-fundamentalist, liberal, and committed Jew, I ascertain the message behind the medium. To me, the text asserts God’s ability to subvert nature as a means of demonstrating God’s vital interest in the welfare of the Israelites, which extends through time–indeed, I fervently hope, to our own time. To my students’ question, “But is it true?” I respond, “Yes!” and “No!” The Exodus’ visible and venerated place in the Jewish calendar assures that it will be believed in, year in and year out, to our rational consternation and spiritual delight.
ROSH CHODESH SH’VAT
Sh’vat begins at sundown on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, and ends at nightfall on Thursday, January 11, 2024. It is the eighth month of the Hebrew calendar and the second of the civil calendar.
PRAYERS
From “Mishkan T’filah / A Reform Siddur”:
ROSH CHODESH – FOR THE NEW MONTH p.519
Our God and God of our ancestors, may the new month bring us goodness and blessing. May we have long life, peace, prosperity, a life exalted by love of Torah and reverence for the divine; a life in which the longings of our hearts are fulfilled for good.
FOR OUR COUNTRY p.376
THUS SAYS ADONAI, This is what I desire: to unlock the fetters of wickedness, and untie the cords of lawlessness; to let the oppressed go free, to break off every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry, and take the wretched poor into your home. When you see the naked, give clothing, and do not ignore your own kin.
O GUARDIAN of life and liberty, may our nation always merit Your protection. Teach us to give thanks for what we have by sharing it with those who are in need. Keep our eyes open to the wonders of creation, and alert to the care of the earth. May we never be lazy in the work of peace; may we honor those who have [served, suffered or] died in defense of our ideals. Grant our leaders wisdom and forbearance. May they govern with justice and compassion. Help us all to appreciate one another, and to respect the many ways that we may serve You. May our homes be safe from affliction and strife, and our country be sound in body and spirit. Amen.
PRAYER FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL p.552
O HEAVENLY ONE, Protector and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel which marks the dawning of hope for all who seek peace. Shield it beneath the wings of your love; spread over it the canopy of Your peace; send Your light and truth to all who lead and advise, guiding them with Your good counsel. Establish peace in the land and fullness of joy for all who dwell there. Amen.
FOR HEALING
We recite MI SHEBËRACH for the victims of abuse, brutality, conflicts, fear, natural disasters, pandemics, tragedies, violence of all kinds especially directed at individuals and specific communities including us, and war; for all those at home alone or lonely; for all those in need of physical, emotional, and mental healing. “R’fuah sh’lëmah” – a complete recovery!
YAHRZEITS/ANYOS
We say KADDISH YATOM for those of our friends and families who have died and been buried this last week; those in the period of Sh’loshim (30 days since burial); those who have died in the last year; and those whose Yahrzeits/Anyos occur at this time; as well as the victims of brutality, conflict, disease, natural disasters, pandemics, tragedies, violence of all kinds, and war.
This coming week, 25 Tevet through 2 Shevat, we lovingly remember:
First Anyos/Yahrzeits of
Rebecca Bielaz-Sklar
Relation of Jane Kolber
Anyos/Yahrzeits of
Alan Chan
Friend of Ben Caron
Theresa Sanchez
Cousin of Mary Caron
Henia Rymar-Sznejder
TKH Memorial Board
Those victims of the Sho’ah (Holocaust) who died at this time of year.
“ZICHRONAM LIV’RACHAH” – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE FOR BLESSING.
SHAZOOM ONLY
We will meet ONLY for Shazoom this evening, Friday, January 5, 2024. For the next few months, we will continue reading and discussing selections from Ketuvim, the third section of Tanakh.
Zoom regularly updates its security and performance features. Making sure you have the latest version of Zoom, please join us online this evening with wine/grape juice for Kiddush and Challah for Motzi.
Shazoom – Erev Shabbat Service
Time: Jan 5, 2024 06:30 PM Arizona
To join Torah Study and/or Shazoom click on the following link [you may need to copy it into your browser]: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/72510500854?pwd=Z3VQZWF4U1BBZytNYmh3aHFTWkFDZz09
Meeting ID: 725 1050 0854
Passcode: 4NrMk0
Hint: The last character of the password is the number zero.
Shabbat Shalom – Buen Shabbat/Gut Shabbos
-Ruben
PS – About Ketuvim (Writings) and the NEW schedule through June 2024:
From My Jewish Learning
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ketuvim-writings/
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hebrew-bible/
From Jewish Encyclopedia
https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9291-ketubim
From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketuvim
From Encyclopedia Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ketuvim
https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-Ketuvim
From Sefaria
https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Tanakh
From Jewish Virtual Library
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-tanakh-full-text
From Religion Facts
https://religionsfacts.com/the-third-and-final-section-of-the-tanakh-ketuvim/
NEW Schedule through June 2024 for Torah Study and Shazoom (Arizona Time Zone):
January 5, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
January 12, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
January 19, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
[Tu Bishvat 1/24-25]
January 26, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Shabbat Shirah 1/26-27]
February 2, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
February 9, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
February 16, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
[Purim Katan 2/22-23 Adar I]
February 23, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Shushan Purim Katan 2/23-24 Adar I]
March 1, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
March 8, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Shabbat Shekalim 3/8-9]
March 15, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
March 22, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Shabbat Zachor 3/22-23] [Purim 3/23-24]
March 29, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
[Shabbat Parah 3/29-30] [Shushan Purim 3/24-25]
April 5, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Shabbat HaChodesh 4/5-6]
April 12, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
April 19, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Shabbat HaGadol 4/19-20] [Pesach 4/22-30] [Counting the ‘Ómer 4/23-6/11]
April 26, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
May 3, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Yom HaShoah 5/5-6]
May 10, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
[Yom HaZikaron 5/12-13] [Yom Ha’Atzma’ut 5/13-14]
May 17, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Pesach Sheni 5/21-22]
May 24, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
[Lag Ba’Ómer 5/25-26]
May 31, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
[Yom Yerushalayim 6/4-5]
June 7, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
[Shavuot 6/11-13]
June 14, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm
June 21, 2024 – Shazoom ONLY at 6:30 pm
June 28, 2024 – Torah Study at 6 pm and Shazoom at 7:30 pm