The Jealous Lover
G-d talks to us in many voices: benevolent, authoritative, wrathful,
romantic. Just listen to Him reminsice on our honeymoon: "I remember the
kindness of your youth, your bridal love, following after me in the desert, in
an unsown land..."
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Naso
Numbers 4:21 - 7:89
Torah Reading for Week of May 27 - June 2, 2001
8,580 holy movers, the wayward wife, the life of the Nazir (no grape
products, long hair, no contact with the dead), blessing priests and donor
princes... Plus what it all means according to sages and mystics from Moses to
today.
The Parshah in a Nutshell
Full Parshah summary with Commentary
More on the Parshah from the Chassidic Masters
 Shavout Torah Readings
The Children of Israel camp opposite Mount Sinai, where they are told that G-d has chosen them to be His "kingdom of priests" and "holy nation." The people respond by proclaiming, "All that G-d has spoken, we shall do."
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The Survivor
It was a cold night in Brooklyn. The brick houses in the background were slowly
fading away. The parked jeep and lamppost were already gone. The voices were
getting louder. “Work Jew! Work!” The solders barked at me from under their
warm fur hats. “C’mon Moshe hurry up or I’ll make you use your hands.”
My name is not Moshe.
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There’s so much hypocrisy!
Have you ever done any carpentry or one of those Ikea do-it-yourself jobs?
They always tell you not to tighten the bolts until the whole thing’s been put
together.
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Echoes
They entered and nested in a place that was waiting for them, like
tiny pieces of a puzzle that found the space, or impression, that was carved
exactly to fit their dimensions. Then they would snap together like little lego pieces, forming sentences and paragraphs and concepts. Mini-explosions would occur, small releases of energy that made my
mind and body zing.
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Finding One’s Way
Many people assumed that it must be difficult for me to believe in G-d or to
practice one religion exclusively. They thought studying and teaching comparative religion promotes a relativistic morality wherein all beliefs and practices are equal.
I had learned to look at the larger patterns which many religions seem to
have--for example, similar symbolism, common ways of marking off sacred space or
sacred time. Traditional Jewish thought simply didn’t recognize such parallels
as having significance. It took me some time to understand why.
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