Embodying Torah within Halakha

Divre Harav – September, 2026

Posted by

0

I’ve started listening to a new podcast, called The Daily Derekh (path). It is produced by my colleague Rabbi Marcus Rubenstein of Temple of Aaron, St. Paul, MN, and cosponsored by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, along with ExploringJudaism.org. Each episode, normally 17-20 minutes, contains three brief segments: a teaching on the weekly Torah portion, a selection from Maimonides Mishnah Torah on practical Halakha, and and a selection from Menorah Hama’or on Jewish spiritual development. It is a daily dose of Jewish learning, practice, and character development.

The amount of high quality material for Jewish learning, available for no charge, is amazing. It has never been easier to engage in serious Jewish engagement on one’s own. The period leading into Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur has long been a time when we are encouraged to do a spiritual assessment of our lives. Who are we? What are our good points? What are we missing in our lives? How can we be more loving spouses, parents, children, or friends? The Jewish way is to look at ourselves through the reflection of Torah and see where we measure up and where we fall short.

This introspection need not be a major time commitment. Who doesn’t have 15-20 minutes in the morning, perhaps right after waking up in the morning, while traveling to work, or while preparing dinner, to slip in a morsel of Torah learning? The doors of of the Jewish experience are open wider than they’ve ever book. Sefaria.org is a Jewish library of more than 388 million words in Hebrew and translation, encompassing classical texts and commentaries from the Bible right up to contemporary times.

One of my high holiday sermon topics might address different kinds of Jews: Jews who like Jewish observance, Jews who like synagogue prayer, Jews who like Jewish learning, Jews who like Jewish culture, Jews who like socializing with Jews, and perhaps other categories. I’m interested in exploring how Ahavas Israel might expand opportunities for non-traditional Jews to find places to explore different types of Jewish expressions. This short podcast seems to address only the first three categories of Jews listed above, and certainly the Torah study and Halakha might primarily appeal to those who are attracted to learning and observance, but if you are a person who values personal growth, the final segment of the podcast might interest you.

I hope you’ll make it a point to pop into Ahavas Israel for at least some part of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We blow the Shofar the second day’s (Sunday’s) service. We incorporate a memorial service during the Yom Kippur morning service. We’ll have a full set of shelves of free books in the sanctuary. The lounge in the office wing will be streaming the service and the library is always open, so if you are more comfortable outside the sanctuary, you have places to hang out in the building and meet new friends.

L’Shana Tova — May it be a good year, full of amazing Jewish experiences!

Divre Harav – September, 2022

Posted by

0

Having a Jewish consciousness means that when the summer days get noticeably shorter, you begin thinking about Rosh Hashanah. And when you begin thinking about Rosh Hashanah, you start thinking about buying a lulav and etrog or building a Sukkah or at least eating a meal in a Sukkah. Being mindfully Jewish means that the rhythm of your year is connected with the natural world. Changes in temperature associated with transitions from summer to fall, fall to winter, to spring, and back to summer will remind you of Hanukkah as the winter begins, Tu Bishvat as you pass the midpoint of winter, Purim at the very end of winter, Pesah as spring begins to push its way onto the scene, Shavuot as summer breaks through, Tisha b’Av at the peak of summer, and then we begin anew.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik described this kind of conscious exhibited by “The Halakhic Man” in the book of that name. The person who embodies Jewish consciousness views the world through the lens of Torah, Jewish commentaries and teachings, and Jewish practice. If there is a tree hanging over a deck, you might consider that the branches of the tree would make fine cover (“Skhakh”) for a Sukkah, but you can’t put the Sukkah on the deck because you can’t build a Sukkah under a tree. You might look at a banana and see a fruit from a plant (… “borei p’ri ha’adama”), and look at an apple and see a fruit from a tree (“borei p’ri ha’etz”).

I had a moment of this kind of Jewish consciousness when I heard the late comedian Buddy Hackett’s duck story. Have you heard his duck story? If not, you can watch it here (beginning at 2:55): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aww4HT5g7ig (if you’re reading the print version of this column, you can either google “Buddy Hackett Duck story” or go AhavasIsraelGR.org, find my column online, and click the link). When I heard the story, I immediately put it into the context of a teaching from the Mishnah of Baba Metzia (1:4) regarding claiming found property. A person who sees a bird that cannot fly or a lame deer on his property can claim, “My field has acquired it for me” and take possession over someone who had been tracking the deer or chasing the bird. A much better solution than the farmer’s in Buddy’s story, right? The principles in the first couple of chapters of this tractate help to adjudicated disputes over who has taken possession of various kinds of property in different situations. Essentially, the goal of this order of Mishnah (“damages,” covering many topics of civil and criminal law) is to serve as a guide to creating a harmonious society.

Our holidays and our sacred texts can give us that same kind of elevated consciousness, nudging us towards living in harmony with the world and the people around us. Rosh Hashanah begins with the fundamental premise that our first step is to do the internal work to align our behavior in order to resolve conflict with others. May you use the sacred time of Elul, the month in advance of Rosh Hashanah, to reach out and restore relationships, and may you enter the new year of 5783 with peace and harmony.

Hebrew Words of the Month:

  • Mishnah – A second century collection of material describing Jewish life in a post-Temple world.
  • Talmud – The Mishnah plus a commentary on mishnah called Gemara, the major source of halakha, the system of Jewish law that created post-Biblical Judaism.
    • Seder – “order” or section. The Mishnah has six primary sections.
    • Masekhet – Each Seder is divided into many Tractates on a broad topic.
    • Perek – Each Tractate is divided into chapters, and each chapter, into mishnayot.