#Torah study

[penguicorns-are-cool]

I'm pretty sure Avraham failed the test

like if I was given a test and the person giving the test very obviously told me that I was wrong and not to actually do the thing, I would assume I failed the test

also, that's about where the torah switches focus from Avraham to Yitzchak. There were no more tests after that, his story just kind of ends. His next big task is to just marry off his son and that's it he's done.

Like, I really don't think he passed that test I think he failed for refusing to question God for giving him a very unreasonable task.

And it's not like others haven't been rewarded for questioning or even fighting authority

like Yaakov is very definitely rewarding for tricking his Dad cause like right after it says he has a dream where God basically told him good job you will have many descendents. Then later on he literally fights an angel and it's a good thing cause he got renamed Israel as part of a blessing and now we're B'nei Israel

And Moshe definitely questioned authority that was like his whole thing. And even beyond Pharoah, he also had to reason with God to get them to not kill everyone.

Even Avraham that time he convinces God to not kill everyone in Sodom and Gomorrah if there are ten good people. There aren't but Avraham's questioning and reasoning with God is portrayed as a good thing.

Also, Judaism is generally very supportive of questioning authority and child sacrifices are very specifically banned in the torah, so It makes no sense that Avraham passed the test because he would've obeyed God even to kill his child. Like that moral is pretty inconsistent with the rest of the Torah.

so I definitely think Avraham failed that test.

[mermaidadjacent]

obsessed with how in today's Torah reading Moshe said "Be still and listen, Israel. This day you have become a people to the LORD your G-d." and in Exodus it was encountering G-d at Sinai that made the people into G-d's people and yet without the rabbis of the Talmud Judaism wouldn't be Judaism today and isn't Judaism just becoming G-d's people over and over again, in new contexts and with new ways of witnessing and understanding and relating to G-d?

[wrestlingwithtorah]

Radical Inclusion has lived within Jewish texts from the most ancient of our beloved stories, and has been a value that we've been learning from for centuries. Come join the conversation of the ages, inspired by our texts to make our Jewish Family a safer, more inclusive, kinder, and more loving for every last member of our community.

This text study will explore wisdom from the Torah, Medieval Commentators, and Contemporary Jewish leaders and clergy. This text study is partially inspired by Rabbi Gischner's senior sermon on the topic of inclusion vis-a-vis the priestly garments, as well as other stories from the Torah and from Jewish leaders who inspire him to co-create a more inclusive Jewish community.

Rabbi Josh Gischner (he/him) is passionate about inclusion, accessible Jewish learning, justice, and artistic expressions of Jewish life and was ordained from the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in May of 2021. Rabbi Gischner is one of the founders of Wrestling with Torah, and proudly serves as the rabbi educator at Temple Shalom in the DC area. Rabbi Gischner is excited to help you to discover your Torah.

Wrestling with Torah is a radically inclusive online Jewish learning community created by Rabbi Josh Gischner and Rachel Abrams in the Summer of 2020 to serve as a community for Jews and non-Jews, interested in exploring Judaism and their spirituality. WWT is dedicated to radically inclusive and financially accessible Jewish learning. Please email Rabbi Gischner at JoshuaGischner@gmail.com in advance of this session regarding your accessibility needs and to introduce yourself!

[fromgoy2joy]

I asked my handy Jewish theology student friend, @bubbbeleh , who I always keep in my back-pocket - “Is it a somewhat accurate statement to say that David was G-D’s problematic fav?”

The response- “yes. but David is everyone’s problematic fav.”

[jewish-microwave-laser]

jews who reject the longing for yerushalayim and eretz yisrael and believe there is no need for a jewish community in that land, i have a question—

what is your relationship with davening? what do you think about when you recite the amidah's texts of longing for redemption to the holy land, or when you shift between asking for dew to asking for rain that occurs on the last day of sukkos, or when you debate shmita (the law to stop agriculture in eretz yisrael every seven years to let the land rest), or other similar things? how do you feel about our religious holidays being tied to the climate cycle of eretz yisrael? is there a tension that you feel, and if so, how have you navigated it?

please feel free to respond to this post or send me an ask or a dm, i'm very interested in what you have to say

[miguelinileugim]

Next time you even begin to feel that some fandom is reading too much into something, please remember the multi-millenial tradition of the religion fandom to spend an entire lifetime pouring over the words of some book they call holy for nobody's benefit.

[torahapologetics]

Stop spamming Jewish tags. Flagged as spam.

Are you crazy or playing CRAZY, I can tag whatever I want and more when I'm Jewish, if you don't like it, stay AWAY FROM posts And channel that's all.

IF YOU ARE NOT ANTI SEMITIC PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO TORAH APOLOGETICS

[lesbianlenses]

Sinister Wisdom 29: the Jewish womens issue.

[isadora-b-l-e]

i think my favorite part of making shabbos with my friends is when we pull up sefaria on the tv to answer our questions about the torah portion.

this week it was “why couldn’t we have garlic flavored manna that’s so lame”

anyways shavua tov!

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אַבְרָ֜ם אֶל־ל֗וֹט אַל־נָ֨א תְהִ֤י מְרִיבָה֙ בֵּינִ֣י וּבֵינֶ֔ךָ וּבֵ֥ין רֹעַ֖י וּבֵ֣ין רֹעֶ֑יךָ כִּֽי־אֲנָשִׁ֥ים אַחִ֖ים אֲנָֽחְנוּ׃

Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, between my herders and yours, for we are kin.

- Bereshit 13:8

This verse, which I will be chanting as part of my aliyah next week has been haunting me since October 7th. "Ki anashim achim anachnu" - because we are family.

I hate what's happening right now so much. I wish there were an answer as simple as just giving each other space, which is how Lot and Avram solve their issue here. If only.

There's a bracha that is in some bentchers near the end of birkat hamazon that prays for peace between the children of Hagar and the children of Sarah. I couldn't find it directly, but I found this drash, which has some words of wisdom from 2014 - as relevant today as ever:

[thegreatandpowerfulversy]

I need to get even more Jewish.

We will outlive them. We always do. But some of us need to be visible with our Judaism and our Jewish joy, to give others the courage and the strength to endure all the hatred being thrown at us from both right and left.

What do people think of the idea of jumblr chevrutas? I've been trying to get into more regular study anyway and I feel like it would probably help to have a group together, both for discussion and just to keep each other on track, and given what this site has turned into these past two weeks I just need something positive for once.

Personally, I'd be looking for weekly parashah mostly, with someone who has at least moderate Hebrew knowledge (I'm far from fluent and still need translation alongside, but I can usually read). But of course, if other jumblrites with different needs find each other via this post, that's great too!

Reblogs/replies are open, and so are my messages and asks, though of course, antisemites and idiots randomly bringing up a conflict half a world away from me on an unrelated post will be blocked.

[whatlieswithintheorchard]

okay, this post might be a bit ramble-y because i haven't sorted out my thoughts completely yet, but i've been thinking a lot about the golden calf. there are quite a few commentaries that link the incident of the golden calf with adam and even in gan eden and eating the fruit.

but there are also plenty of commentaries that expound on how eating from the fruit was a good thing! so a straightforward comparison of the two brings up the question of whether the incident of the golden calf was indeed as tantamount to losing the garden (ie all the other commentaries that explain how if it hadn't been for the golden calf, meshiach would have come, etc.)

i think what i take away learning from the incident is that holding on steadfastly to the traditions of your ancestors is tantamount to sin an idolatry. that our prayers and our traditions MUST change with time to avoid it becoming a calf. if we all were there at sinai, and have inherited this tradition, then why not have fun with it. go out and create trans prayers and rituals, explore what jewish magic is and can be, and how your ideas can help fulfill our communities.

[wrestlingwithtorah]

All are welcome! Jewish! Not Jewish! Kind of Jewish! Jewish-adjacent! All are welcome!

Financially Accessible Option Available via the Wrestling with Torah Discord.

Contribute and Register here!

In Jewish Tradition, the concept of 'sin' doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means: and it can be a transformational concept that helps us to become better versions of ourselves.

In Hebrew, the words often translated as "sin" does mean all of the negative things our culture associates with the word, but it also means so much more. Everything from a "misstep" or an "oops," to a spiritual moment to make amends and learn from this particular experience.

Come join Rabbi Gischner as we begin the spiritual process of reflecting on our year as we celebrate the first of Elul together, to reflect on who we have been and who we are becoming as we enter the new year of 5784 together.

[bendrownedbodypillow]

Reading the Torah and understanding why G-d was so mad all the time, everyone was a hoe, no one listened then he had to make a flood AND THEN THE HUMANS FUCKING DID IT AGAIN

[nonsensical-raw-material]

Does anyone else like annotating their Chumash? Or even your Siddur?

I know it can be a bit of a cultural taboos but I find it so beneficial to my studying plus it's so much fun! Like I don't see much from Christianity and think "man if only" but I gotta say the girly pop Bible annotations and journaling is kinda iconic.

I won't even lie my ADHD is crazy too like I know I always have my TaNaKh with me. But my study TaNaKhs, a journal, my Siddur, or anything else it comes to be a lot. Plus it saves me from blanking when my Rabbi inevitably asks "Do you have any questions or thoughts" of course I do! But man if I don't be forgetting. Now BOOM! Not only do I have all my questions. Theyre right by the scripture that spurred them.

I love crafting it's so much fun adding pages of notes and what not while I read my study TaNaKhs along side it. Or little additions about the Hebrew as I try to learn and get better. Plus it honestly keeps me more active in my TaNaKh it makes it more engaging to me.

I also like the idea of future generations being able to connect to me through seeing my thoughts and notes. It's also a great way to chronical my own religious learning for myself.

Do yall have anything specific you like to add to your books if you do?