Along with most of you, I am sheltered at home. Despite quite a number of Zoom meetings, happy hours, and educational opportunities, I probably have more extra time in my life than usual. So, it is fitting that I would choose to write about the longest Torah.
You are very familiar with this week’s Torah portion, because we retell the story every year at Pesach! Nonetheless, this Shabbat, we read the second portion in the Book of Exodus. Exodus, by the way, from the Greek word meaning “departure from Egypt,” is called Sh’mot in Hebrew, meaning “names.” There are so many names—including women’s names—in both last week’s portion and in Va-eira. This is notable, since the names of our female Biblical predecessors are often not mentioned in Torah. But here, we have many specific names and specific explanations of their personality traits and their relationships. LET MY PEOPLE GO! This is the refrain from the familiar story we read in Parashat Va-eira (“I appeared”). Moses and Aaron are dispatched to Pharaoh to prevail upon him to let the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt. The first seven of the 10 plagues occur in this portion.
Non-Stop Zionism is the theme of this 37th World Zionist Congress and you might think that's a straightforward concept and easily defined. If you think that, you would be completely wrong! The Congress theme, as well as almost every issue with which the Congress deals, is incredibly involved, complex and confusing! So in an effort to clarify, I will divide the entire three days of the WZO Congress into three separate categories.
As Dr. Seuss wrote in one of my favorite books, "Oh the places you"ll go!" Yesterday, this phrase kept resonating with me. We began the day at Beit Shmuel, the Reform Movement’s terrific guest-house in Jerusalem. In fact, visiting this gorgeous piece of real estate in Jerusalem is absolutely worth a trip! But I digress... We began the day in a meeting room recently refurbished by a generous grant from WRJ. A beautiful plaque honoring WRJ hangs on the wall and as Reform Jews from around the world gather, I feel very proud. But I digress...