by katie@betalef.org | Sep 15, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Ha’azinu: Deuteronomy 32:1 – 52 “The Chutzpah of the Separate Self” Chutzpah. Whether Jewish or not, most everyone knows this Hebrew/Yiddish word. The dictionary defines it as “unmitigated effrontery or impudence, gall, nerve, courage...
by katie@betalef.org | Sep 10, 2021 | Torah Reflections
VaYelech: Deuteronomy 31:1 – 30 “Giving up the Future” Moses went and spoke these things to all Israel. He said to them: “I am, today, a hundred and twenty years old. I am no longer able to go forth and enter. And the Eternal has said to me,...
by katie@betalef.org | Aug 31, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Nitzavim: Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20 “How to Find God” The three letters, tzadi, vav, vav, form the root of the word Mitzvah, usually translated as “commandment.” Yet the Hebrew, or the Aramaic in this case, has much more granularity than a...
by katie@betalef.org | Aug 25, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Ki Tavo: Deuteronomy 26:1 – 29:8 “Let Your Heart Crack Open” This week’s Torah portion begins: When you enter the land that the Eternal your God is giving your as a heritage, and you possess it and settle in it, you shall take some...
by katie@betalef.org | Aug 18, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Ki Teitzei: Deuteronomy 21:10 – 25:19 “On Being Commanded” This week’s Torah portion is the last in Deuteronomy to present us with a collection of laws. With this kind of portion, we find ourselves struggling with some aspects of the text and...
by katie@betalef.org | Aug 11, 2021 | Torah Reflections
Shof’tim: Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9 “The Unexamined Life…” In the middle of this week’s Torah portion is one of the pithiest yet most powerful verses: “Tamim tih’yeh im YHVH Eloheicha – Be whole with the Eternal One your God.”...