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: March 4 – 10, 2012
Parashah (portion) Ki Tissa – When You Lift Up The People Exodus 30:11 - 34:35 The holy day of Purim is this Thursday. The main commandment that our tradition calls us to fulfill on Purim is that of reading the relatively short tale recounted in the Book of Esther....
Torah Reflections February 26 – March 3, 2012
Parashah (portion) Mishpatim – You Are The Eternal One Exodus 27:20 - 30:10 This week's Torah portion speaks of the ordination of Aaron and his sons into the priesthood. Ornate garments are designed by the artists among the people for the ceremony, sewn together and...
Torah Reflections: February 5 – 11, 2012
Parashah (portion) Yitro – One With The One Exodus 18:1 - 20:23 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 did to the...
Torah Reflections: January 29 – February 4, 2012
Parashah (portion) B'shalach – At The Edge of The Wilderness Exodus 13:17 - 19:16 Our Torah portion opens with liberation: "Now when Pharaoh let the people go..." [Exod. 13:17] As we approach biblical stories as myth, we no longer read the text literally; but see it,...
Torah Reflections: January 22 – 28, 2012
Parashah (portion) Bo – God Acts in Wondrous Ways Exodus 10:1 - 13:16 Our Torah portion opens, this week, with the last four plagues to befall Egypt. "Then the Eternal One said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh. For I have hardened his heart... so that I may display My signs...
Torah Reflections: January 15 – 21, 2012
Parashah (portion) VaEira – Know Thyself To Be Enslaved Exodus 6:2 - 9:35 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...
Torah Reflections: January 8 – 14, 2012
Parashah (portion) Shemot – You Can Take Moses Out of Egypt, But... Exodus 1:1 - 6:1 This week marks the beginning of the Exodus story with Moses as its central character. At its core, this story is one of liberation. And beneath its literal level, it is about...
Torah Reflections: January 1 – 7, 2012
Parashah (portion) Vayechi – Conditioned Happiness Genesis 47:28 - 50:26 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...
Torah Reflections: December 25 – December 31, 2011
Parashah (portion) Vayigash – Soul To Soul Genesis 44:18 - 47:27 This week's Torah portion opens in Pharaoh's quarters where Joseph, who has yet to reveal himself to his brothers, is receiving them after a "stolen" goblet (planted by Joseph) was discovered in...
Torah Reflections: December 18 – December 24, 2011
On the Holiday of Chanukkah - The Next Messiah The holiday of Chanukkah is a celebration of light, the commemoration of an ancient miracle. It is a time for us to reflect on the light in our life, and be reminded of the miracle that is life. Chanukkah means...
Torah Reflections: December 11 – December 17, 2011
Parashah (portion) Vayeishev – The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Joseph Genesis 37:1 - 40:23 Meet Joseph. Joseph is Jacob's favorite son, to whom he gave the famous coat of many colors. Though we meet him at seventeen as our Torah portion opens, Joseph is described...
Torah Reflections: December 4 – December 10, 2011
Parashah (portion) Vayishlach – Being Present to Our Fear Genesis 32:4 - 36:43 In the previous Torah portion we read about Jacob's vision of the ladder that came to him in a dream. At the end of that vision God appears to him to say: "And here I am, with you. I will...