"A Life Worth Living" + 15% Off

The Derusha Update This Weekend's Portion:  "If You Will Go Within My Rules..."   [ Lev 26:3-27:34 ] read on Sat May 21, Shabbath Iyyar 17   [ get candle-lighting times for your home ] Shalom to all, This week's Torah portion, "If You Will Go Within My Rules," contains twelve biblical precepts, spelled out over two main narratives. The first narrative is an outline of a covenant between the people of Israel and God. If we cherish and follow God's instructions, then we'll enjoy security, stability, and the bounty of the land. If we despise and dismiss God's instructions, then we'll face war, terror, and utter poverty. The second narrative explains the Torah's system for supporting the Sanctuary, mainly through tithing and personal endowments. What is the connection between these two segments - and why does the third book of the Torah conclude with them? Click here for an answer. Wishing you a Shabbath Shalom, Gil & Elana Derusha Publishing LLC www.DerushaPublishing.com PS - Looking for a good book? For the next six days only, enter coupon code BHUQ5771 at checkout and get 15% off your order on DerushaPublishing.com! News and Views Why Jews need to talk about the Nakba [ memories @ 972mag ] Kevin Schultz's Tri-Faith America [ review @ Book of Beliefs and Opinions ] In defense of autonomy [ reaction @ Jewschool ] Independence and mourning [ reflections @ Velveteen Rabbi] RHR Celebrates in Chan El Achmar with PA Prime Minister Salam Fayad [ schools @ Rabbis for Human Rights ] When Pigs Fly: Firing Up the Grill at a Kosher BBQ Competition [ summertime @ the Jew & the Carrot ] Looking for Something Good to Read? Try WE ARE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN by Joseph Haddad: "An American-Israeli businessman explores what it means for every human being to be a child of God. In the Hebrew Bible, humanity is asked to live according to a sound moral code, and the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are further called upon to live according to a highly-structured format — in order to be role models and teach their fellow human beings. Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, We Are All God’s Children takes a modern look at an ancient book. After reading it, you will never look at the Bible the same way again." Enter coupon code BHUQ5771 at checkout and get 15% off your order! Would your friends like this Update? Then do us (and your friends) a favor and forward this email to them!

A Life Worth Living

לק"י

This week's Torah portion, "If You Will Go Within My Rules," contains twelve biblical precepts, spelled out over two main narratives.  The first narrative is an outline of a covenant between the people of Israel and God.  If we cherish and follow God's instructions, then we'll enjoy security, stability, and the bounty of the land.  If we despise and dismiss God's instructions, then we'll face war, terror, and utter poverty.  The second narrative explains the Torah's system for supporting the Sanctuary, mainly through tithing and personal endowments.  What is the connection between these two segments - and why does the third book of the Torah conclude with them?

The first narrative of this week's portion references the covenant made on Mt. Sinai in giving us a choice.  We need only value the instructions given to us - instructions for living with integrity, for realizing human potential, for embracing reality - and dedicate ourselves to fulfilling them in everyday life, in order to experience a life truly worth living.  When we abandon those instructions - or worse, hold them in contempt - then we experience a life of frustration, fright, and suffocation.  The difference isn't found in God's turning away from us, but in our choice of trust in the source of all things or trust in something else, our turning to or away from God. When we choose to hide from God, we only bring upon ourselves our own misery, a fog of frustration through which the skies seem frozen and the earth seems barren.  When we confront God with a sincere heart, our world lights up in a dazzling spectrum of spiritual and material gifts.

After this outline of the choice before us and the value of dedication to fulfilling God's will, the Torah "brings it home" with a concrete social program for dedication to God.  In the ancient world, it was common for human beings to be dedicated to manual labor within the central religious and military institutions.  This form of "soft" slavery was publicly justified as a worthy way of sanctifying the lives of the dedicated, serving the heavenly rulers here on Earth.  On the one hand, the ideal is noble: human beings giving of themselves in service of spiritual values in the earthly realm - is this not the very basis of charity? Don't the institutions which engage in and promote these activities deserve society's support? On another hand, the reality of this ancient arrangement is barbaric - human beings held in bondage, sacrificed by powerful rulers on questionable grounds.

The Torah's answer to the dilemma is profound.  It's true that charity is a laudable act, a sincere imitation of the compassionate God who sustains all life, and in whose house all may find shelter and sanctuary - and therefore you can and should give of your flocks and your fields to support those who are dedicated to those ideals.  Yet the manual labor God desires is not in the Sanctuary itself but out in the world, labor in the marketplace and in the courthouse, a labor of social justice and fulfillment of God's instructions.  If you want to dedicate yourself to God, you may contribute some money to the public Sanctuary funds - and then promptly dedicate yourself to doing God's work in the world, to revering the word of God, to respecting the sanctity of God's home, land, and children.  It's for this service that the people of Israel were selected to receive God's instructions - that those instructions should be fulfilled and appreciated among human beings.

In this way, these two narratives are a fitting end to the third book of the Torah, which outlines the different facets of the Sanctuary, its services and its staff, and its place in the heritage of the people of Israel.  When all is said and done, all the rituals, institutions, and spiritual tools we're given won't help us sanctify our lives without a key ingredient - personal dedication.  What's more, this dedication is found in our attitudes and in our actions, in the degree of their connection to God's instructions for us.  Whether we choose to love or despise God and the gifts given to us, God's request of us remains the same: to be holy people, charitable and compassionate, worthy partners with God in creating the world every day.

We hope that this weekend we'll all find strength and renewed dedication in our spiritual and worldly lives.

Shabbath Shalom!

Independence Day + "Godly Ecology & Economics" + 15% Off Any Order

The Derusha Update This Weekend's Portion:  "On Mt. Sinai..."   [ Lev 25:1-26:2 ] read on Sat May 14, Shabbath Iyyar 10   [ get candle-lighting times for your home ] Shalom to all, On the 4th of Iyyar (this past Monday) many Israelis observed Yom ha-Zikaron (Memorial Day) - a time dedicated to recalling those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending their families and neighbors.  This somber day was immediately followed by the joyous festivities of Independence Day, a day fixed in most Israelis' minds as a time to celebrate life, freedom, and national achievement.  Rav Shu Eliovson, a close friend of ours and the director of In-Reach, likened the experience of these two holidays to the experience of the emotionally tense Fast of Esther followed by the cathartic exuberance of Purim.  Without the preceding day of sober reflection, the day of communal celebration would lose some of its depth and meaning. This week's Torah portion, "On Mt. Sinai," contains 24 biblical precepts and discusses three themes in tandem - ecology, property rights, and workers' rights. Unlike other portions which discuss each of these issues independently (or in connection with other subjects), this week's portion treats all three as a single, organic unity. While many economists have linked workers' rights and property rights through the principle of (self-)ownership, philosophies of private capital ownership often seem at odds with ecological concerns which affect the entire community. To further complicate matters, this week's concluding reading from the book of Jeremiah (32:6-22) - giving the details of a specific acquisition which God advised the prophet to make - seems at best only loosely connected to the issues of this week's portion. What is the unifying element of this week's Torah portion, and why did the members of the Great Assembly conclude the reading with this particular narrative from Jeremiah? Click here for an answer. Wishing you a Shabbath Shalom, Gil & Elana Derusha Publishing LLC www.DerushaPublishing.com PS - Looking for a good book? For the next six days only, enter coupon code BHAR5771 at checkout and get 15% off your order on DerushaPublishing.com! News and Views Kate Braestrup on marriage, God, and love [ book review @ Velveteen Rabbi ] Women in Jewish Media [ public opinion @ Hirhurim ] Happy Independence Day wishes from a Palestinian [ outreach @ 972mag ] Eretz Yisrael / The Land of Israel In Rabbinic Thought [ audio @ YUTOPIA ] Our Future is Where our Past is [ reflections @ Lazer Beams ] Future of Legendary Essex Street Market Uncertain [ community @ the Jew & the Carrot ] Looking for Something Good to Read? Try WE ARE ALL GOD'S CHILDREN by Joseph Haddad: "An American-Israeli businessman explores what it means for every human being to be a child of God. In the Hebrew Bible, humanity is asked to live according to a sound moral code, and the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are further called upon to live according to a highly-structured format — in order to be role models and teach their fellow human beings. Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, We Are All God’s Children takes a modern look at an ancient book. After reading it, you will never look at the Bible the same way again." Enter coupon code BHAR5771 at checkout and get 15% off your order! Would your friends like this Update? Then do us (and your friends) a favor and forward this email to them!