TORAH READING FOR 9 SIVAN 5784 June 14-15, 2024

June 14, 2024 by templekol

OUR HEARTS ARE WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AND ALL THE VICTIMS OF CONFLICT

From “Mishkan T’filah / A Reform Siddur” p.180

Oseh shalom bimromav, hu ya’aseh shalom alëinu, v’al kōl Yisraël, v’al kōl yoshvëi tëvël, v’imru: Amën.

May the One who makes peace in the high heavens make peace for us, for all Israel and all who inhabit the earth, and let us say: Amen.

PARSHA

From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/naso

Naso (נָשֹׂא – Hebrew for “Take a Census”) – Numbers 4:21−7:89

The Eternal One spoke to Moses: “Take a census of the Gershonites also, by their ancestral house and by their clans.” – Numbers 4:21-22

SUMMARY:

A census of the Gershonites, Merarites, and Koathites between the ages of thirty and fifty is conducted and their duties in the Tabernacle are detailed. (4:21-49)
God speaks to Moses concerning what to do with ritually unclean people, repentant individuals, and those who are suspected of adultery. (5:1-31)
The obligations of a nazirite vow are explained. They include abstaining from alcohol and not cutting one’s hair. (6:1-21)
God tells Moses how to teach Aaron and his sons the Priestly Blessing. (6:22-27)
Moses consecrates the Sanctuary, and the tribal chieftains bring offerings. Moses then speaks with God inside the Tent of Meeting. (7:1-89)

NOTE: Sometimes Parashat Naso is separated into Naso I and Naso II as follows:

Naso I (Numbers 4:21-5:31)
Naso II (Numbers 6:1-7:89)

HAFTARAH

Judges 13:2-25

RECOMMENDED READING

From Reform Judaism https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/naso

Echoes of the Wilderness, Part II: A Pulse, Not a Pause

By: Cantor Josh Breitzer

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. THIS week we will start studying Lamentations (אֵיכָה – Ëichah), which is found in Ketuvim (Writings), and traditionally read on Tisha B’Av (this year August 12-13, 2024). Read this week’s Torah Portion at https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.4.21-7.89, and Haftarah at https://www.sefaria.org/Judges.13.2-12.

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

נשא Naso – Numbers 4:21–7:89

Contemporary Reflection – Lisa J. Grushcow, pp. 838-9

THE SOTAH RITUAL (5:11–31), in which a man suspects his wife of adultery and subjects her to an ordeal, has been notoriously difficult for contemporary readers, especially from a feminist perspective. The unequal application of the ritual to women and not men, the lack of due process, the physical and emotional humiliation–all of these combine to make this passage a challenging place in which to find meaning.

As such, this passage keeps company with a number of other biblical texts that are problematic, even painful, to read. Rabbi Rebecca Alpert offers a valuable model for confronting such troubling teachings. In her book Like Bread on a Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition (1997), Alpert presents a number of approaches for dealing with traditional texts on homosexuality. She suggests that we can understand these texts by interpreting them in the context of their own time and place. We also can try to wrest new meaning from them, or we can simply acknowledge the pain that they have caused–and continue to cause. These approaches are not, of course, mutually exclusive, and they can apply also to this parashah.

Certainly in the case of the sotah, we can analyze it in light of its historical context. Comparing this passage with other ancient Near Eastern texts reveals it to be in keeping with other laws contemporary to Torah times.

In terms of the pain the passage has caused, we can easily imagine its effect on women thousands of years ago, but we ourselves are spared direct impact. Modern readers have long taken solace in the fact that this practice is no longer in force–and thus is far from the purview of synagogue ritual committees. In fact, it is unclear whether this ritual ever took place. Even in the Torah, the law is given without a connection to any particular incident. The Mishnah states that an early rabbinic leader discontinued the ritual of the sotah (Sotah 9:9). The entire body of rabbinic literature cites only one example of its implementation. Regarding the medieval period, a little-known fragment from the Cairo Geniza still gives instructions as to how to perform the ritual in one’s neighborhood synagogue; but there too, no record has been found of anyone actually doing so. (For details, see Lisa Grushcow, Writing the Wayward Wife: Rabbinic Interpretations of Sotah, 2006, pp. 297–300.)

When we try to understand the sotah ritual in context, we can be relieved that it has not been implemented for at least two thousand years. But how can we wrest meaning from this difficult text? Interestingly, the very discontinuation of the ritual–and the rabbinic explanation of its abandonment–may give us a way to find meaning. The official suspension of the sotah ritual provides an example of how religious and legal change happens, and how such change is explained. For those of us who are committed to the Torah and also see Judaism as a path that embraces change, this is a crucial issue.

Some modern scholars assume that the ritual of the sotah disappeared because of the destruction of the Temple. Others argue that the ritual was abolished as a bold rabbinic move, to remove a practice that was seen to be unfair. But when one looks closely at the rabbinic texts, neither of these reasons is found. Rather, the explanation given is that things were getting worse–either more people were openly committing adultery, or more husbands were sinning in such a way that the sotah ritual did not then work on their wives. The Rabbis account for these and other examples of decline by claiming that the deaths of certain sages led to the disappearance of certain qualities from the world (see for example, Mishnah Sotah 9:9).

Thus, in these rabbinic texts, change results from a world that is getting worse. It is also worth noting that we find a similar outlook in the Greco-Roman world that surrounded the ancient rabbis. From that perspective, religious and legal changes were a response to moral, sexual, intellectual, or political collapse.

Coming back to the sotah ritual, then, it seems that our ancestors did not abolish the ritual because they found it morally objectionable. Instead, they used the best conceptual tools of their time to make sense of why change had happened, and those tools explained change as the product of decline.

Our modern paradigm, in contrast, is fundamentally based on the assumptions of science, the Enlightenment, and Emancipation: we believe that it is possible for humanity to make changes based on progress, not decline. The optimism of the Enlightenment has been tempered by the Holocaust and other tragedies of modern times, but the fundamental shift remains. For us, change can be positive, even holy. We believe that God continues to speak to us. Living in accordance with our new understandings of gender and sexual identity has enriched our clergy and communities. Living in a world more openly diverse has taught us the importance of outreach and inreach for our communities, in all their diversity. Scientific insights spur us to find new ethical and spiritual answers to questions of life and death. The existence of the modern state of Israel challenges us to live richer Jewish lives, wherever we are in the world. These changes and others are celebrated, not lamented as evidence of decline.

Ultimately, then, the sotah ritual is most powerful as a teacher of change: how we understood change in the past, and how we might understand it now. Just as the Rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud used the best conceptual tools of their time to understand change, so must we–with the tools of our own time. Such an approach is not abandoning our tradition; it is being true to it.

The end of the Babylonian Talmud’s tractate on sotah gives us a glimmer of possibility: some of our ancestors might also have had a different perspective on change and decline. Mishnah Sotah 9:9 ends with the statement that with the death of Rabbi Judah haNasi, humility and the fear of sin disappeared. In the Talmud’s commentary, this statement is challenged. “Do not teach that humility is gone,” says Rav Joseph, “for I am still here!” “Do not teach that the fear of sin is gone,” says Rav Nachman, “for I am still here!” (BT Sotah 49b). Rav Nachman’s self-proclaimed fear of sin–not to mention Rav Joseph’s self-proclaimed humility–suggests that our ancestors, like ourselves, thought that they still had something to add.

PRAYERS

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, 9 Sivan through 15 Sivan, we lovingly remember:

Jimmy Aragón

Cousin of Mary Caron, TKH Member

Simon Farkas

TKH Memorial Board – brother of Jack Farkas z”l

Those victims of the Sho’ah (Holocaust) who died at this time of year.

“ZICHRONAM LIV’RACHAH” – MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE FOR BLESSING.

TORAH STUDY AND SHAZOOM

We will meet as usual at the regular times for Torah Study and Shazoom this evening, Friday, June 14, 2024. Please see the NEW Torah Study-Shazoom schedule below. THIS week we will start studying Lamentations (אֵיכָה – Ëichah), which is found in the Ketuvim (Writings), and traditionally read on Tisha B’Av (this year August 12-13, 2024).

Zoom regularly updates its security and performance features. Making sure you have the latest version of Zoom, please join us online this Friday evening with wine/grape juice for Kiddush and Challah for Motzi.

Topic: Torah Study – Lamentations Chapter 1

Time: June 14, 2024 06:00 PM Arizona

and/or

Shazoom – Erev Shabbat Service

Time: June 14, 2024 07:30 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 Lamentations (אֵיכָה – Eichah) and the NEW schedule through June 2024: