Monthly Archives: July 2022

Halfway through this weeks Torah reading comes the episode of the daughters of Zelofchad.

The five daughters of Zelofchad approached Moses with a claim. Their father had died through no fault of his own and there were no sons. This meant that when the allocation of land was going to be made upon the Jewish peoples arrival in Israel, their fathers family would lose out because the land was given through the males. They argued that they should be able to receive an allocation to ensure that their fathers family would not disappear from the tribal rolls. The daughters were named Machlah, Noah, Choglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Interestingly Noah and Tirzah are common Hebrew names today, the others are not.

This is one of two examples where Moses was unsure of what to do on a matter of law. It also shows how access to the courts at that stage was available to women, as well as men. Moses refers the case to God, and comes back with his approval of the daughters being granted land rights.

Later, in Chapter 36, there is a challenge to this judgment, because allocations were made per tribe. And if the daughters married outside of their tribe, their allocations would be transferred to another tribe and cause an imbalance in the amount of property a tribe could own. Moses then accepts this argument, and insists that the daughters should only marry within their own tribe. This way each tribe would retain the proportion of the original allocation.

What is implicit in all of this, apart from the rights of women, was that no one should not acquire too much or have a monopoly over lands. This is why originally all marriages between tribes were forbidden. Incidentally, the priests were not allocated land so that they could concentrate on community service.

The Talmud always adds extra dimensions to a narrative.

In the Torah, Zelofchads daughters are mentioned again by name in the appeal of the male-dominated tribal leaders, but in a different order; Machlah, Tirzah, Choglah, Milcah, and Noah. Rashi says that this is because each one of them was equal to the other in terms of qualities. The Talmud also says that they were equal in wisdom and greatness and merited having their names attached to the laws of inheritance. Others suggest the order had to do with either who married first or who married a more important tribal leader. But I do like the egalitarian reason that enshrines the rights of anyone to plead their case regardless of sex or status.

The daughters are an important symbol because they brought their case with dignity, whereas others in the Bible brought their cases with anger and confrontation. The Talmud (Bava Batra 119) also says they came to the Beit Midrash, the study halls, to plead their case. They wanted to bring about change through the legal structures and the existing system instead of trying to overturn it.

If the Torah this week starts with the example of someone going beyond the law, these women assert the value of working within it.

The author is a writer and rabbi based in New York.

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Jewish Women Take a Stand in the Torah - Algemeiner

The Talmudic sage Hillel advised that it was possible to recite the whole Torah while standing on one leg (Letters, 17 July), ie dont do to others what is hateful to you the rest is commentary. It would be a good discipline for all politicians to adopt the same posture when explaining their policies. Given the incoherence of Tory leadership candidates, they might wish to try an easy start the benefits of Brexit, say, or the achievements of the Conservative government and work their way up.Dr Anthony IsaacsLondon

I learned with interest that, in her younger years, Penny Mordaunt had been an assistant to master magician, Will Ayling. My wife, Sue, preceded her, by some years, in that role. She still recalls the time fondly. But, unlike Ms Mordaunt, she harbours no illusions about the competency of this government.Howard JonesShirley, West Midlands

More resourcing should be put into training doctors and nurses in the UK (Letters, 17 July). However, having just spent two months seriously ill in hospital now recovering I was just glad of the excellent porters, ancillary staff, nurses, doctors and consultants, wherever they came from. They are surely welcome here. Keith Flett Tottenham, London

As their current political leader is casting an undeserved pall over all Hungarians, it is worth pointing out that the Latin book Winnie Ille Pu (Letters, 17 July) was a translation by a remarkably talented Hungarian, Sndor Lnrd (Alexander Lenard, 1910-1972).Peter SherwoodLondon

Angela Rayner is wrong to call Boris Johnson missing in action. He is missing in inaction.Colin BakerLlangynidr, Powys

Have an opinion on anything youve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

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Talmudic sage offers a leg-up to the Tories - The Guardian

Q: In your recent column, "Are there many paths to heavenly salvation?,"you discussed the differences in worshipping God. As you pointed out, non-Christians have perhaps the most difficulty with John 14:6: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the father but by me."Yes, this verse serves as a divide between Christians and many other religions. Yes, Jesus said: "I am the way"; but let us interpret "the way" as "love." Isn't it possible that "love" is "the way"? Isn't it more meaningful? Will it not serve as a steppingstone to harmony among all religions?

l John 4:7 reads: "Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God." Perhapsmore Christians should become aware of the beauty of this verse. J

A: I love your compassionate solution to one of the most vexing texts in the Christian Testament. However, Jesus was a person, not a synonym for love. Jesus loved, but Jesus was not love. If the Beatles were right and "Love is all you need," the need for Jesus' atoning death and resurrection would evaporate.

Christianity is not just love and only love. Christianity is a religion that saves believers from sin. Love may be enough dear God, I wish you were right but there is much more that is needed for salvation than just love. To quote the prophet Micah 6:8, "We need to do justice,love mercy and walk humbly with our God." Whatever those commandments mean, they surely mean more than just being a loving person. I am not insulted by John 14:6, but I cannot find myself in it. Still, I do wish you were John and that you could go back and edit that difficult verse.

Q: In the Jewish faith is there a belief in an afterlife? G in West Haven, Connecticut

A: Yes but not until the arrival of post-biblical Judaism called rabbinical Judaism, which added the Talmud to the list of Jewish sacred texts after the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in the first century of the Common Era. In the Bible, there is no belief in life after death. For example, Job's comforters never mention Heaven as an answer to him because they did not have it. Then, in the year 331 Before the Common Era, Greek ideas of matter and form began to be accepted by teachers who would later be called rabbis. They taught that our bodies (matter) die and decompose but our souls (form) live on with God in the World To Come (Hebrew: olam habah).

This teaching was adopted by the early Christians, and later by the Muslim faith, and called Heaven. However, it all began with Judaism. Many rabbis do not speak about this luminous teaching of Judaism and this greatly troubles me.

Q: Can God forgive someone who has talked to spirits in the cause of good and to help people? If they decide to stop doing it because God doesn't like it, can they then be forgiven? Thanks. Looking for a true Bible answer. P

A: Talking to spirits or using psychics to communicate with the dead is expressly forbidden by Judaism and Christianity.

The reason for this prohibition is that their powers, even if they are real, draw us away from God's words and seduce us into following the words of humans. These mediums also can have a financial motivation to create their predictions. I have also seen that such psychics can block a mourner's grief work by convincing them that death is not a real final barrier between the living and the dead. Father Tom Hartman, my pal, did not agree with me. He was much more open to what he believed to be the healing powers of psychics. I came to believe that such dialogues with the dead ought to be a surprise not an appointment, and that they should happen without any professional assistance. However, I am definitely going to check this out again with Tommy when we meet up in Heaven.

As to your question: There is no doubt that God can and will forgive a brief,mistaken dalliance into the spirit world. The Christian Testament affirms this in a true Bible answer, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men." (Matthew 12:31)Sitting in while someone you pay rings up grandma Mary may be a sin, but it is not an unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit. So don't worry, but try to keep your conversations limited to people who have an area code.

SEND QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad at godsquadquestion@aol.com or Rabbi Marc Gellman, Temple Beth Torah, 35 Bagatelle Rd., Melville, NY 11747.

SEND QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad at godsquadquestion@aol.com or Rabbi Marc Gellman, Temple Beth Torah, 35 Bagatelle Rd., Melville, NY 11747.

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God Squad: Readers ask about heaven and the afterlife - Newsday

The Judaism we practice today is rabbinic Judaism, not biblical. The daily prayers, Shabbat observance, laws of kashrut, celebrations of festivals, and the dozens of other things that make Jews Jews, are not to be found in the Bible itself (at least, not in anything like their current form), but were legislated by the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud in the early first millennium. Were rabbinic Jews, not biblical Jews.

Well not all of us. There still exists a tiny community of Karaite Jews in pockets of Israel (Ramla, Ashdod and Beersheba). Karaite Judaism rejects the oral law and rabbinic Judaism, focusing only on the observance of biblical laws as they appear in the Bible.

They are, if you like, constitutional originalists.

Karaite Jewish practice is fascinating. They dont light candles on Friday night that quintessentially Jewish behavior because they interpret the Biblical verse you shall not burn a fire in any of your dwellings on the day of Shabbat to mean, quite literally, that you cant have fires burning during the sabbath. Rabbinic Judaism, of course, has no problem with fires burning on Shabbat, as long as they are lit beforehand. Karaites dont wear tefillin again, a quintessential Jewish ritual object because they read the Biblical verses about binding words on your hand in their original (presumably metaphorical) meaning, without the overlay of rabbinic law that saw this text as a divine command to wear small black boxes on our arms and heads.

Of course, as a pluralist, I say live and let live, but however fascinating Karaite theology may be, its not Judaism. To be a Jew is to be a rabbinic Jew. To go back to our constitutional document the Torah and create Halachah (Jewish law) from its original text, is just about the most un-Jewish thing you can possibly do. Why? Because we get that law changes. We get that context matters. We get that what was appropriate 3,000 years ago might not be appropriate now. And so while we revere our original constitutional text, we give ourselves considerable liberty to re-interpret it for different contexts. This notion is accepted, to varying degrees, by all the movements of contemporary Judaism, from Reform to Ultra-Orthodox.

There are countless examples where this has happened in the history of Jewish law. We dont literally follow the law about an eye for an eye anymore. We interpreted out of existence the strange case of the rebellious child who must be stoned to death. Most of us understand the biblical injunctions against homosexuality as socially-constructed legal positions of ancient times and jump through halachic hoops in order to create a contemporary legal approach to the issue that fits with todays moral values. Oh, and sorry, Karaites, but we light Shabbat candles too, as it is written, um, nowhere in the Torah.

The originalist approach that now appears to be the majority position of the US Supreme Court is the American equivalent of Karaite Judaism. The Second Amendments well regulated Militia is to contemporary American life what stoning the rebellious child is to contemporary Jewish life. Sure, its written in the Constitution, and we should treat that original text with reverence, with an understanding of its historical context, and with communal rituals that keep its symbolic power alive for us (we Jews, for example, read the Torah every week throughout the year even the bits that we no longer keep). But for Gods sake, lets not confuse reverence for the original text with reliance on the original text.

Equally, the fact that the constitution says nothing about abortion (see under: Dobbs v. Jackson) or same-sex marriage (coming attractions!) should be irrelevant. The Torah says nothing about Hanukkah (because it hadnt happened yet). It says nothing about Rosh Hashanah being the Jewish New Year (because in biblical times they counted Nissan as the first month). It says nothing about saying the Hallel prayer of praise on Yom Haatzmaut (because Israel didnt exist back then and neither did Hallel). Yet all of these practices, and dozens more, are constituent parts of what it means to be a practicing Jew today. Jewish law is able to derive new practices from the original spirit of our constitutional text, even when (actually: especially when) contemporary circumstances were unimaginable in the times of that constitutional text.

Samuel Alito may be right when he argues that the original Roe decision was based on a non-contextual extrapolation of the 14th Amendment. But thats exactly the point. We Jews learned long ago to dismiss originalist law and instead develop a living, breathing, adaptive halachic Judaism, inspired by, but not tied to, our foundational constitutional text. If only the Supreme Court could do the same.

Note: this piece is intended as a critique of the originalist bent of the Supreme Court, not Karaite Judaism. I certainly do not mean to offend or insult Karaite Jews, and if I have misrepresented aspects of Karaite Judaism or used it as too loose an analogy, I apologize unreservedly. However, the core argument of my article still holds: to revere an original foundational text (Constitution/Torah) should not require us to be bound to its original historical meaning or context. In current American political discourse around abortion, gun control, and other items, that core understanding is critically important.

I am grateful to Jonathan Kessler, founder and CEO of Heart of a Nation, for his comments on an earlier draft of this piece.

Dr Alex Sinclair is a thinker, writer, practitioner, coach, and program director. He has written and spoken widely on Jewish education, Israel-Diaspora relations, and Israeli politics in both academic and popular contexts. He was a professor of education at the Jewish Theological Seminary for almost two decades, and has worked or consulted for a wide variety of other educational and communal institutions.His first book, published in 2013, was titled Loving the Real Israel: An Educational Agenda for Liberal Zionism. He lives with his wife and three children in Modi'in, Israel.

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America's Karaite Court | Alex Sinclair | The Blogs - The Times of Israel

Its not every day that you meeta rabbi who has gone on not one, but multiple meditation and yoga retreats let alone ones in Guatemala, India and a tiny island off the coast of Scotland. But Rabbi Adam Kligfeld is not your typical spiritual leader.

While Kligfeld, the senior rabbi at Temple Beth Am (TBA) in Los Angeles, cherishes the Jewish tradition, he is open to new and innovative ways for people to connect to the sacred.

Its the difference between religion being a club, or religious practice being a profound spiritual experience.

Its the difference between religion being a club, or religious practice being a profound spiritual experience, he said. Most people in the Conservative community are involved in a Jewish life because they think God is demanding them to be. If youre not involved in religious life to appease a particular God, there has to be some other profound reason for your behavior. Its there to help you develop your spirit.

Kligfeld was raised in a traditional Conservative home in Connecticut. His family was involved in the community; they went to synagogue regularly, and his mother was a volunteer with Soviet Jewry movement and resettlement efforts.

Becoming a rabbi was not something Kligfeld planned. He always enjoyed learning Jewish texts, but he decided to pursue a degree in psychology and Jewish history from Columbia College. From there, he was considering going into a pre-med program.

I spent a lot of time in college trying to convince myself to do anything but become a rabbi, he said. I figured Jewish learning couldnt be a vocation, even though it was always in my life.

Still, Kligfeld wanted to continue his Jewish learning, so he enrolled in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and focused on Talmudic studies. And then, while he was in school, he had a change of heart.

I met rabbis in the field and tried to get a sense of what their lives were like, he said. I saw myself potentially doing that, if I could stay in long enough to be ordained. I thought I wouldnt be a pulpit rabbi, and certainly not in a big city setting. But here I am.

Kligfeld has been the rabbi at TBA, where he serves 900 families, since 2009. During his time there, he set up a prayer room and incorporated meditation and chanting into his services.

We did this to increase the chances of people not just trying to get to the last page of their prayer book, but also having a spiritual experience, he said.

The design of TBA is also intentional. The sanctuary, which was recently renovated, is round. Instead of the rabbi standing at the front of the congregation, he stands in the center. The acoustics amplify peoples voices whether theyre speaking or singing.

I think space matters, Kligfeld said. We set up the chairs in a circle so that prayers are magical. Frontal presentations of prayer leave people lacking. We designed TBA to be intimate and warm.

Kligfeld was introduced to meditation five years ago, when he traveled to the Holy Isle of Scotland for a retreat. Since then, hes gone to other international retreats to reinvigorate his soul.

I recharge my batteries and then try to deliver that to my congregants, he said.

The rabbi acknowledged that its a challenge to serve so many families and thankfully, he has a staff of rabbis and rabbinical interns to meet the needs of his community. However, especially in the wake of the pandemic, he strives to make personal connections with everyone and let them know they are seen.

My ultimate goal is to live with purpose and wonder and help others do the same, Kligfeld said. Despite all the challenges in this generation, I hope we can come together. I also want people to know that when they encounter me, I care about them.

Jewish Journal: What is your favorite Jewish food?

Adam Kligfeld: My synagogues vegetarian cholent.

JJ: How about your favorite non-Jewish food?

AK: Almost anything on the menu at Nics on Beverly. Its vegan, and Im plant-based.

JJ: What job would you be doing if you werent a rabbi?

AK: Id be a play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees.

JJ: Whats your perfect Shabbat look like?

AK: We have a nice crowd in shul and there is lots of singing and harmony. I eat meals with my family and friends, take a long nap and have the opportunity to teach.

See more here:

Rabbi Adam Kligfeld: Marrying Tradition With Spiritual Innovation - Jewish Journal