Torah Reflections
Each week, Rabbi Olivier prepares a written reflection on the weekly Torah portion. These provide yet another way to discover the texts sacred to Judaism and to prepare for Shabbat each week.
Torah Reflections – January 26 – February 1, 2014
T'rumah Exodus 25:1 - 27:19 Temples Within Temples Within Temples We find, in this week's Parashah the Divine injunction that adorns Bet Alef's new ark: "V'asu Li Mik'dash, v'Shachan'ti b'tocham - Let them make Me a Sanctuary...
Torah Reflections – January 19 – 25, 2014
Mishpatim Exodus 21:1 - 24:18 The Angel Within Can you imagine what it must have been like the day after? Just yesterday we were at the foot of Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. It was big. It was thunderous. Our bodies...
Torah Reflections – January 12 – 18, 2014
Yitro Exodus 18:1 - 20:23 One With The One Now Moses went up to God. The Eternal One called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus shall you say to the house of Jacob and declare to the children of Israel: 'You have seen what I...
Torah Reflections – December 22 – 28, 2013
VaEira Exodus 6:2 - 9:35 Know Thyself to be Enslaved Every year, as I meet the text narrating the plagues of Egypt, I am confronted with the same paradox. God commends Moses to ask Pharaoh to free the Hebrews. Pharaoh refuses. God brings down a plague. Pharaoh yields...
Torah Reflections – December 15 – 21, 2013
Shemot Exodus 1:1 - 6:1 Beyond Fear And Morality This week we open the Book of Exodus. Jacob and his sons settled in Egypt as Joseph, then Viceroy, invited them to. After that generation dies out we are told, "the Israelites were fertile and prolific; they multiplied...
Torah Reflections – Dec. 8 – 14, 2013
Vayechi Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 Conditioned Happiness Last week as I studied the Torah portion, after reading numerous rabbinic commentaries, an image emerged of Jacob's soul-to soul connection to his son, Benjamin. Upon reading this week's...
Torah Reflections – Dec. 1 – 7, 2013
Vayigash Genesis 44:18 - 47:27 Joseph: Accountability and Free Will Chapter 45 is pivotal in the Book of Genesis. Joseph, Jacob's favored son, who had been second-in-command of Egypt for the past nine years, reveals himself to his...
Torah Reflections – November 17 – 23, 2013
Vayeishev Genesis 37:1 - 40:23 Embracing Imbalance Vayeishev, the name and first word of this week's Torah portion has caused much ink to be spilled. Vayeishev is translated in English to mean: "And he settled," referring to Jacob...
Torah Reflections – November 10 – 16th, 2013
Vayish'lach Genesis 32:4 - 36:43 Awakening Beyond Silence One of the first revelations that meditation allows is one's encounter with the unbelievable noise which lies within us, right behind our closed eyes. As if by magic, as soon as...
Torah Reflections – Nov. 3 – 9th, 2013
Vayeitzei Genesis 28:10 - 32:3 God Was in This Place There is one verse in this week's Torah portion which encompasses the entirety of the Kabbalistic endeavor: "Waking from his sleep, Jacob said, 'Truly, the Eternal is in this place, and I did not know it!'" [Gen....
Torah Reflections – Oct. 27 – Nov. 2, 2013
Toledot Genesis 25:19 - 28:9 Breaking Free From The Great Teachers At the opening of our Torah portion, we find Isaac pleading with God, in the presence of his barren wife Rebecca, that she might -- after twenty years of waiting -- finally...
Torah Reflections – Oct. 20 – 26th, 2013
Chayei Sarah Genesis 23:1 - 25:18 Where Life Hangs by a Thread The cry of the shofar is the tears of Sarah, says a midrash. This midrash comes to fill-in the blank space between the end of last week's Torah portion and the beginning of...