Entries for January 2013

I am about to do what more than 100 generations – untold millions – of Jews could not: help shape the future of a sovereign, democratic Jewish nation. As an American lawyer and historian, when I head to the polls in the US I think not only about the issues and candidates, and my choices, but more generally about the great privilege and responsibility of voting in American elections.  Still, voting for the first time as a citizen of Israel is sure to be profoundly moving.  How should I vote?  ...

This week we read the Torah portion B’shallah, in which, most famously, G-d splits the sea and the Israelites are saved from destruction.  We celebrate the “holiday of trees” -- Tu B’shevat (the 15^th day of the month of Shevat) and, here in Israel, we voted in national elections.  Coincidentally, this week I also learned, in Ulpan (Hebrew language school), that the word for “consult” is: להתייעץ  (“l’heet-ya-etz”).  Because the last two letters – etz -- are the word for “tree,” our teacher suggested that we remember the word for “consult” with the sentence:  “I consult with a tree.” ...

A couple of years ago I read about a group of American Jewish teens on a Birthright or similar trip to Israel.  After a meal, one of them apparently said: “It’s time to say the Birkat.”  One of the soldiers guarding them said: “You must not even know what that word means; you can’t say “the Birkat;” it’s not a word you can use by itself.  (The subtext to the remark was, “You think you are superior Jews because you say a prayer in Hebrew, but you don’t even understand what you are saying!”   The kids responded ...

The first seven plagues upon Egypt are recounted in this week’s Torah portion, Va-Era.   The seventh plague is a hail storm so destructive that it “struck down all that were in the open, both man and beast; the hail also struck down all the grasses of the field and shattered all the trees of the field.” (Exodus 9:25).   A few verses later, though, we learn that “the flax and barley were ruined, for the barley was in the ear and flax was in bud; but the wheat and the emmer were not hurt, for they ripen late.”  (Exodus 9:31-32).  But if ....  

In this week’s Torah portion of Sh’mot, the first in the Book of Exodus, a new Pharaoh arises after Joseph’s death who (in)famously “did not know Joseph.” (Ex. 1:8).  Of course, this new Pharaoh could not actually have been ignorant that Joseph both saved Egypt from famine and, in the process, obtained for Pharaoh title to all Egyptian land except the priestly holdings.  So, “did not know Joseph” must mean that Pharaoh chose to ignore Joseph’s contributions and legacy.