#parshat

[edenfenixblogs]

hey i saw the post about your cousin's bar mitzvah, and well first of all congrats to her. but also uh one thing you mentioned made me curious- what *am* i supposed to do should i find a dead body on the side of the road, if it's no problem for me to ask? not to worry you or anything like that but i guess it'd be useful to know if i pass a car crash on a road trip again.

Ah! What a good ask!!!! I see you committing to the act of learning more about Judaism as an act of allyship, and I appreciate you! Thanks so much for taking an interest.

Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a biblical scholar or a Talmudic expert. I’m just a Jew who likes being a Jew.

So my Torah portion was in Leviticus. For those who don’t know, Leviticus and Numbers are often considered the doldrums of Torah books. It’s not where a lot of the well-known exciting parts happen. Those books generally contain a lot of lists of rules and mitzvot.

But this is actually why I like the way Judaism reads the whole Torah in order. It forces us to confront the “boring” stuff. And in so doing, we have to think harder about why that stuff is included in our books.

So that’s why my assigned portion was interesting to me.

The actual text basically says “don’t touch dead bodies.” But I remember reading the Talmudic scholarship which was especially interesting because its focus was to elaborate on all the exceptions and then talked about the importance of doing good deeds without a reward and not punishing those who need to do things like touch dead bodies.

The point of the text isn’t to condemn people who are doing the “forbidden” thing without any cause. The text outlines a lot of rules (many of which are not relevant anymore) and, frankly excessive punishments for breaking the rules.

But Judaism doesn’t end at the literal text. Talmud (rabbinical interpretation) is equally important.

My take on the material was this:

There are some things that, on the whole, we shouldn’t do. We shouldn’t touch dead bodies. We shouldn’t come to synagogue when we are sick. We shouldn’t cheat on our spouses. Etc.

But sometimes, you do need to break the rules. And for some things, someone must always break the rules. There must be someone in any community whose job it is to touch dead bodies. Someone must bury the dead. At the very least.

For people in that position, it is so vitally important that we do not throw the literal text in their face. It is important that we do not condemn them or shun them or otherwise exclude them from our community. Judaism is about community. And you cannot have a community that is based upon excluding people who do essential jobs. Rather, thank them. Because they are doing a good thing with no inherent reward. Quite the opposite. Those people should be celebrated. They take on the hard work knowing it carries risk of exclusion and judgment, but they do it anyway. Because it’s right.

Back in the day, if you saw a dead body on the side of the road and no one seemed available to bury it? Bury it. Give that fallen soul dignity. Then pray about it. Physically and emotionally wash the sin* away. (*sin in Judaism is not the same as the Christian idea of sin. Sin is more akin to an “oops” or “missing the mark.”) And take pleasure in doing something good for humanity and knowing that nobody else had to take on that sin for you.

So, nowadays, if you see a dead body on the side of the road? Call the person whose job it is to deal with that. And thank them for doing this very emotionally difficult work. Welcome that person into your community. Be kind to them. It matters. Because there is no community at all without them and people like them.

And in general? The more broad lesson to this is to of course be kind to people who do unglamorous but necessary work. And to take on that unglamorous work ourselves when necessary. That’s how we keep our community functional and healthy. Do good deeds without expecting a reward. Do what’s right even when you expect a bad outcome. Do good and right things for their own sake, because that’s what we exist to do. Create goodness in the world. The reward is the better world we create.

Thanks for asking @clawdia-houyhnhnm

[girlactionfigure]

Guard Your Gates! - Parshat Shoftim

Rabbi Benny's weekly Torah thought... keeping it short, meaningful and contemporary.

[eretzyisrael]

Mitzvah grocery shopping Parshat Kedoshim 

[catboymoses]

No you don't get it!!!! Marvin meeting Whizzer was what made the men's exodus from falsettoland possible in the first place!!! Jason, the most mature of the men, is leading the way on their long journey through the desert of toxic masculinity and internalized homophia!!! My brain is switching into matzo mode. More Passover motif analysis to follow

[magnetothemagnificent]

This week's Parsha is Parshat B'Shalach, which is my B' Mitzvah Parsha. In this Parsha we recognize the bravery and faith of the Jewish women as they were freed from Egypt, and how they took musical instruments with them knowing they would have a reason to praise Hashem. I couldn't help but think about how people must have thought they were crazy- taking time to pack instruments while everyone else was hurriedly leaving. Today, Jewish women and girls continue this legacy. There are brave women donning Tefillin and reading from the Torah at the Kotel while surrounded by hateful protestors, brave women demonstrating against Get abusers and against erasure. These women embody the spirit of Miriam and the rest of the Jewish women at the banks of Yam Suf. I have always had immense respect and awe for Jewish women and the incredible things they've done despite adversity.

[id in alt text]

[anonymousdandelion]

צדק צדק תרדף

justice, justice

it is somewhere ahead

just out of sight

around the bend in the arc of the universe

close enough to dream of

but too far to see

let alone to touch

or to hold

we have been chasing this

(this dream;

this hope;

this future)

for lifetimes

yet still

it escapes us

~

I am not, by nature, a hunter

my vision is poor

my heart is weak

and my legs tire easily

yet the quarry is out there

somewhere just ahead

I shall not give up

the pursuit

[ofshivelight]

the rhythm of someone reading the torah is so beautiful and i can't really explain to other people why i prefer it sometimes over listening to music, it just has this lovely lilting musicality to it that soothes the mind

[zhabe]

parshat chayei sarah tells us not to give into despair and to maintain our revolutionary optimism

[thejewishlink]

Zera Shimshon - Parshat Terumah

[worfsbarmitzvah]

in light of parshat vaetchanan i would like to reiterate how bullshit it is that people tried to call the shema a colonialist chant or whatever. its shema YISRAEL it has never been directed at anybody but ourselves and our fellow jews. its not for you leave us alone!!!!!!

[slyandthefamilybook]

https://www.tumblr.com/slyandthefamilybook/748831434453745664/seeing-that-jewish-rules-lawyering-post-going

I was raised Christian so sorry if this comes off wrong, but it’s not even Rules Lawyering at this point, it just seems like Judiasm has a better understanding of what free will is meant to be. It’s just mutual respect, which is nice

yeah 100%. "Rules lawyering" implies some degree of doing something you're not supposed to

in Parshat Netzavim Moshe Rabbeinu says of the Torah "לא בשמיים היא"; "it is not in the heavens". He adds that it is "בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו"; "in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it."

In Mesechet Baba Metzia Rabbi Eliezer asks for a bat kol, a heavenly voice, to prove him right against his detractors. A voice is indeed heard and says Rabbi Eliezer is right, but the sages repeat the words of Moshe: לא בשמיים היא. It's no longer up to G-d to decide. The Torah and all its teachings belong to us now. This is a fundamental principle and anyone who doesn't understand it doesn't understand Judaism

[girlactionfigure]

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know What I was walling in or walling out.

And to whom I was like to give offence.

(Robert Frost, ‘Mending Wall’) What is this beautiful poem’s connection to the Torah? Find out in this week’s

  #PieceofParasha on Vaetchanan.

More: Here

Rabbi Benji

[eretzyisrael]

“You shall not have pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” - Parshat Shoftim

Jewish Press Cartoons- Asher Schwartz

[astriiformes]

My rabbi told me he likes my choice of Hebrew name and that when we reach the relevant parshat he'd love to have me teach some Torah on the particular reading that lead me to choose it, so I am currently feeling very "I am getting a good grade in Judaism, something that is both normal to want and possible to achieve"