Shabbat Table Talk for Chol Ha-Moeid Sukkot

We are so blessed in this season because it is just so full of holidays!  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have passed and we are now in the midst of one of my favorite holidays: Sukkot! 


Sukkot, much like the American holiday of Thanksgiving, is a harvest holiday when we thank God for providing food for our tables and a roof over our heads. 


Now, probably very few of us have our own sukkot ("sukkot" is the plural of "sukkah") at our homes.  But we have one here at Temple that everyone can make use of, and in Israel, if you walked around Jerusalem now you would see SO many sukkot!  Even restaurants have their own sukkot so people can eat out at a restaurant, but still observe the mitzvah of eating inside the sukkah.


There are a number of wonderful mitzvahs that we do on Sukkot:


(1) Shaking the lulav and the etrog
(2) Spending time in the sukkah (sleeping in the sukkah even!)
(3) Eating in the Sukkah
(4) Inviting guests into the sukkah.


I would like to fovus on that last mitzvah:  Inviting guests into the sukkah.  This is one of my very favorite traditions of Sukkot.  This is called "Ushpizin," or "Hachnasat Orchim," welcoming guests.  It is traditional to invite people into the sukkah to share a meal and a great conversation. 


So my question to all of you this week, that I hope you can take some time with your family to talk about (around your Shabbat dinner table, or in your Sukkah, or just sitting on the couch on Shabbat afternoon):


If you could invite anyone, from any time period (past, present, or future), into your Sukkah to share a meal and have a conversation, who would you invite?  What would you want to talk about?  Why?


Or, if you have lots of ideas, there are 7 days of Sukkot.  Who are your top 7 people you'd like to invite into your Sukkah?






Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach!

Table Talk for Haazinu, Shabbat Shuvah, September 10-11, 2010

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova!  I hope that everyone had an uplifting, inspiring Rosh Hashanah and I wish everyone a happy, healthy year. 

As our fall holidays progress, we are nearing the end of the book of Deuteronomy, and this week we have our second-to-last Torah portion in the entire Torah:  Haazinu.  Haazinu contains Moses's very last speech to the Israelites before they enter the Promised Land and Moses dies, and this speech is in the form of a poem or a song.  (The words for poem and song are the same in Hebrew:  Shira.)  This poem talks about the same central theme that we find over and over again throughout the entire book of Deuteronomy:  Good deeds and mitzvot will lead to blessing and life, evil deeds and disobeying God will lead to curse and death.   This poem also says that in the future, when the Israleites doubt God or veer off of the path of leading a good life, they could look back at this poem and be reminded of God's power, majesty, goodness, and truth. 

There is one verse in this week's Torah portion that seems particularly important to me this week. Chapter 32 verse 7 reads:

Remember the days of old, consider the years of ages past.
Ask your parent, who will inform you, Your elders, who will tell you.


This verse teaches us the importance of listening to our parents and grandparents and all those who are older than us, because they have more wisdom than we do and there is a lot we can learn from them.  They have been alive much longer than we have so we should ask them to teach us.

In the spirit of this verse, this week's Table Talk questions are for children to ask their parents.  Kids, please ask your parents these and any other questions that come to mind.  After asking them these questions and having your discussion, let your parents (and/or grandparents) know how much you love them and appreciate them, and say "thank you" to them for teaching you.


Discussion Questions:
(1)  What does being Jewish mean to you?  What did it mean to you when you were a kid?  When you were a teenager? 
(2)  Do you have memories of Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur from when you were growing up?  What were they like?  What were services like?  Did your family have any special traditions?
(3) What is your favorite part of the High Holy Days?  What is your favorite prayer (or line from a prayer)?
(4) What kind of blessings do you hope for in the year to come?   What are you thankful for?
(5)  Was there anything that happened in the last year that you want to let go of in the year to come?
(6)  What is your New Year's resolution?  Why?

Table Talk for Shabbat Nitzavim-Vayeilech, September 3rd-4th, 2010

This week we are blessed with a double Torah portion, Nitzavim-Vayeilech.  These portions often appear as a pair on the Shabbat that falls right before Rosh Hashana, as it does this year.  Why do we have double portions sometimes?  In the Jewish calendar, different years have different numbers of weeks, and different numbers of Shabbatot, so there is a kind of flexibility built into the schedule of Torah readings to make sure that we always get through the entire Torah ever year.  In a year with fewer weeks, we have double portions like this one, but in a year with more weeks, Nitzavim and Vayeilech could each have their own week.


Yet another fun fact that has to do with this week's Torah portion is that when it stands alone, Vayeilech is the very shortest Torah portion that there is!


As we have mentioned in the past few weeks here on our Shabbat Sha-blog, we are in the book of Deuteronomy which is the last book in the Torah.  And the book of Deuteronomy is mainly made up of a string of very long speeches given by Moses to the people of Israel right before Moses dies and the Israelites enter the land of Israel, the Promised land.  This week's Torah portion is no different.


The very first words of this week's Torah portion are, "Atem Nitzavim Hayom Kulchem..." "You stand this day, all of you."  The wording of the Hebrew, which we can see in translation in the phrase "all of you," lets us know that Moses is not just addressing a few leaders of the people of Israel, but rather he is speaking to the entire people of Israel as one big group.


But interestingly, the verse continues to say, "and those who are not with us here this day."   It seems like the words of God, being spoken by Moses, are intended not only for all the people to whom Moses is talking at that very moment, but also to the descendants of those people.  Meaning, not just them, but their children, and their children's children.  The laws that God gives the people through Moses, the teachings and rules--all of these are not just meant for the ancient Israelites, but they also apply to the generations to follow--including us!


In fact, Midrash Tanchuma takes this a step further to say that not only were the ancient Israelites physically present, not only were they actually there, both at Sinai and then hearing this series of speeches by Moses at the entryway to the Promised Land.  But that we, too, were there.  The children of those people at Sinai and hearing Moses, then their children, and their children... all the way down to us.  You were.  Your brothers and sisters were.  Your parents, your grandparents.  Even people who are not born Jewish but convert to Judaism later in life, they were there because they have Jewish souls just like people who were born Jewish.  And everyone with a Jewish soul was there.


This can remind us that we still have a responsibility to learn the Torah, to live righteous and ethical lives, and to do mitzvot.  Not just because our parents tell us to, and not just because our religious school teachers and cantor and rabbis tell us to.  Because we were there, our souls were there, listening to Moses.  Shaking because of the powerful moment.  With butterflies in our stomachs because we are so eager and nervous and excited to enter the promised land.  Because this is a big responsibility we are being given by God through Moses--to take care of the earth.  To live peacefully and help bring justice and righteousness into the world.  We were there.




Discussion questions:
(1) How do you think the Israelites felt as they were listening to Moses?  How did they feel at Sinai when they were given the Torah?  How did they feel right before going into the Promised Land?


(2)  We just learned that each of us were there at Sinai and there listening to Moses's final speeches.  Close your eyes and imagine yourself there.  What is it like?  Use all of your senses.  What do you hear?  What do you see?  what do you smell?  What do you taste?  Think about reaching out--what do you touch and what do you feel with your hands?


(3)  Do you believe that you were there, or your soul was there?  Why or why not?


(4)  If Moses was speaking to all of us, to all the generations of Israelites and Jews, what does it change?  How would it be different if Moses was only speaking to the ancient Israelites at that moment?


(5)  Is it fair that the speech Moses gave told not just the Israelites what their responsibilities were, but also tells us what ours are, too?  Tradition teaches that when the Israelites accepted the covenant, they accepted it for future generations too, meaning us.  Is that fair?  Did anyone ever agree that you would do something without checking with you?  Is that okay?  How did it feel?  How would it feel?


(6)  Is there anyone who decides things for your or tells you what to do?  Who?  Why?  What do they decide for you?  Is it fair?  How does it make you feel?

Table Talk for Shabbat Ki Tavo, August 27-28, 2010

This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tavo, like the rest of Deuteronomy, continues Moses’s series of speeches to the Israelites before the Israelites enter the Promised Land without Moses.  And just like the Torah portions for the last several weeks, this week’s Torah portion contains many, many laws that Moses gives the Israelites to help them create and continue living in a caring, peaceful community once they are settled in the Promised Land.

In the very beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Moses teaches the Israelites the laws about what to do with the very first fruits or products in their harvests.  When the Israelites settle the land, a great number of them will become farmers, growing fruits, vegetables, and grain in their fields and raising farm animals both to eat and to work the land.   

Every third year, Moses teaches the Israelites, they should set aside a tenth of their entire crop to be given to the priests, widows, orphans, and strangers living with them, so they can have food to eat.  And when you do that, Moses tells the Israelites, you should say, “I have cleared out the special portion from the house, and I have given it to the Priest, the stranger, the orphan, and the widow, just as you commanded me to do.  I have not sinned or forgotten to do any of your commandments.” 

This Torah portion reminds us not only to remember to say “thank you” – to our parents, siblings, friends, and neighbors, when they have done something nice for us or cared for us, but it also reminds us that we need to be kind to those whose lives are not as easy as our own.  No matter how much we have or how little we have, no matter how rich or poor we are, there will always be someone who is in need, there will always be someone who has less than us and needs our help. 

In Pirke Avot (“The Wisdom of our Fathers”), Rabbi Tarfon teaches:  “It is not our job to finish the task, neither are we free to desist from it.”  This means, that we should not have to feel like we need to personally do all the work to make the world a better place, because that would be impossible.  But at the same time, we cannot allow ourselves to feel upset and defeated, thinking that with so much to fix in the world, so many poor people in need of help and food, that our small amount of help we can give will never make a difference.  Any amount of help we can give, any money we can give to tzedakah, any clothing we can give to the poor, any food we can give to the hungry—it makes a difference.

This week’s Torah portion, viewed through the eyes of Rabbi Tarfon and Pirke Avot, teaches us that not only must we be thankful for what we have, but we also must do our very best to help those in need, and we must have faith that our work in this world makes a difference.

There is a story of an old man who was strolling on the beach one day when he walked by a little boy who was reaching down to the sand and one by one, picking up starfish and throwing them abck into the ocean.  The old man was curious and asked the boy, “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”  The boy said, “The sun is up and the tide is going out, and if I don’t throw them then they’ll die!”  The old man replied, “But don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it?  You can’t possibly make a difference!”   The young man listened politely, then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, and said, “Well, I made a difference for that one.”

Discussion Questions:

(1)    When was the last time you said thank you?  Who did you say it to?  Why?  How did you say it?

(2)    If you get an allowance, could you give a tenth of it (10 cents from every dollar) to charity?  How would that make you feel?  Would it change your life?  Would it change someone else’s life?  Ask your parents to help you figure out how much money you could give in a year if you gave 10% (or a tenth) of your allowance to charity.

(3)    What is one thing you can do this week to help someone?  What is one thing you did last week to help someone?

(4)    Have you ever made a difference in someone’s life?  When and how?

(5)    Does change happen slowly or quickly?  What kind of change happens slowly?  What kind of change happens quickly?  Give examples of each.  

Table talk for Shabbat Ki Teitzei, August 20-21, 2010

In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Teitzei, we find a long list of commandments.  Much of the book of Deuteronomy is devoted to several speeches Moses gives to the Israelites, as we mentioned last week, in the hopes that the commandments and rules he presents help the Israelites to establish a peaceful, harmonious, happy society once they enter the Promised Land and become established. 

Many of the rules in this week’s Torah portion have to do with being kind and nice to our families and friends and members of our community.  But not all of the members of the community that this week’s Torah portion reminds us to protect and be kind to are human—they are animals! 

A few commandments in particular teach us about how to be kind to animals.

"If an animal has fallen on the road, you must help its owner lift it up."  (This means that even if you are not friends with the animal’s owner, even if the animal’s owner is mean to you, you have to think of the pain of the animal and help for the animal’s sake.)

"If you see a mother bird on her nest, you must let her go before you can take her eggs or baby birds."  (This means that you must show kindness to the feelings of animals—even birds.  Many scholars have studied and thought about this commandment, and many think that letting a mother bird go free before taking her eggs or baby birds, you make sure the mother is not sad or pained to see her eggs or baby birds go.)

"You shouldn’t plow using two different kinds of animals."  (This commandment is talking about farm animals.  If two are tied together doing farm work, and one is stronger than the other, it can be really hard or even painful for the weaker, smaller animal to keep up, and it causes discomfort to the bigger, stronger animal that has to work harder.)

"Do not muzzle an ox when it is threshing."  (This is also talking about a farm animal that is helping to collect the crops at harvest time.   Essentially an animal is tied to a post or a pivot and walks in circles treading, or walking, on the corn to break it up.  If the animal has to wear a muzzle, that covers its mouth, this means that it can’t eat, even though oxen love corn.  Picture being in room, full of your very favorite food but you aren’t allowed to eat any of it!  This would be very unkind to an animal, working hard to help with the harvest, but not allowed to eat any of its favorite food.  Therefore we should, in a way, be kind to an animal, especially an animal that helps us.)

This week's Torah portion, among many other important lessons, reminds us that our actions toward other people remain very important, but our actions toward animals under our care and other animals we encounter, are also very important and can teach us about how we treat all beings, including humans.

Discussion Questions:

• How do these commandments show us how to be kind to animals?  How do you show kindness to animals?  To your friends?  To your family (parents, siblings, grandparents)?  Talk about a time you went out of your way to be kind to someone you know, or even someone you didn’t know.
  
  
• How do you behave toward animals—your pets, your friends’ pets, or animals you see in other places?

Some scholars have called these commandments—the commandments that show us how to be kind to animals—“easy” commandments, because they don’t take any preparation.  You do not have to prepare in advance in order to help your neighbor lift her fallen animal.  Rather, you would happen to see your neighbor in the road and rush to her aid without having do prepare in any special way.

• Do you agree that commandments that show us how to be nice to animals are "easy"?  Why or why not?
  
  
• If a commandment is “easy,” does this mean that it is not as good or as valuable as commandments that are hard to do?  Why or Why not?
  
  
• What are other easy commandments?  Are they important or less important than commandments that are hard or challenging to do?
  
  
• Can commandments about animals teach us about how we should treat people?  What can they teach us about how we should treat our families, friends, neighbors, and even strangers?  

Table Talk for Shabbat Shoftim, August 13th-14th, 2010

This week’s parashah (Torah portion) is called Shoftim, which means “Judges” (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9). In this part of the story of the Israelites, Moses is talking to them about what will happen when they enter the Promised Land, Israel. He is giving them many laws and rules that tell them what they should or should not do when they finally get to enter the Promised Land.

Moses warns the people not to break any rules or laws, including the rule to not practice idolatry (worshipping or believing in other gods than our God, Adonai, the God of the Israelites). Then Moses tells them about how justice should be carried out. Moses says judges have to be fair and not biased; they can’t make their friend win just because they are friends or make a rich person win because they hope to get a present or bribe from them.

This Torah portion also discusses appropriate punishments and contains the phrase “a tooth for a tooth, an eye for an eye” when talking about how a punishment should fit the crime. While many believe that this describes a very harsh way of punishing people for what they did wrong (as in, if you knock someone’s tooth out, someone should knock your tooth out), it really means that the punishment should make sense based on what a person did wrong. It doesn’t mean that if your brother hits you, you should hit him back because he deserves it. It means, he should have to do something to make up for it. It doesn’t mean that if you lie, people should just lie to you because you deserve it. Instead, it means that you should have to do something to earn their trust again.

By giving the Israelites all of these rules and laws to follow, Moses hopes to help them create a peaceful wise, and moral community that runs smoothly.



Table Talk Questions:


(1) Have you ever had to figure out who to believe or whose side to be on when two of your friends had a fight? What happened? Was it hard to be fair or was it easy? Why?

(2) Has there ever been a case when your mom or dad had to decide who to believe or who was right when you had a fight with your sister/brother? Do you think it was hard for him/her to be fair? Why?

(3) Can you think of a time when a teacher was fair or not fair? What happened?

(4) How are punishments or consequences chosen in your family? How does the punishment fit the misbehavior? How do you think punishments should be chosen or given?

(5) What do you think a judge—or any person who has to listen and decide between two people—should do to make sure to be fair? How can you tell if someone is being fair?

(6) If you were Moses, what rules would you tell the Israelites to follow when they entered the Promised Land?


Shabbat Shalom!

Welcome to Shabbat Sha-blog!

Hello Temple Jeremiah family!  I am excited to welcome you to our new Shabbat Sha-blog, where each week I will be posting a brief description of the Torah portion, or excerpt from the Torah portion, with a few thoughts and guiding questions.  I hope you and your family will use this blog to bring a bit of learning to your Shabbat dinner table each week.   I would love to hear about how you celebrate Shabbat, anything special that happened on your Shabbat, and what shape your dinnertable discussion took.  So each week, please feel free to post a comment telling me about your Shabbat and your discussion!

In this way, I hope we can deepen our connection to Torah, to Shabbat, to our families, and to each other. 

If you would like to review the blessings traditionally recited at the Shabbat dinner table (over candles, wine, and challah), I encourage you to click here where you will find the blessings written in Hebrew, transliteration, and English, and on audio recording. 

If you would like to learn a bit about the traditions of Shabbat and see a list of wonderful resources on Shabbat for your family, click here.

I am looking forward to sharing this Shabbat journey with you!