Sign up using this link to receive the weekly Moishe Moment email!
January 12, 2023 / 19 Tevet 5783
Parashat Shemot “These are the Names”
Title: Lost in Translation
By Rabbi Loren Berman, Jewish Life Specialist, Moishe Pods
The book of Exodus, or Shemot (Names), begins with an ominous observation: “A new king arose in Egypt who did not know Joseph.” This new king, Pharoah, is the one who pushes for the enslavement of the Israelites, after hundreds of years of which they ultimately escape from and head towards the Promised Land.
The terrifying experience of a new king ascending to power is too familiar to us today, no matter where we live. Threats to democracy, to human rights, to the wash-cold-only-with-like-colors delicate fabric that barely keeps our communities together.
Now enters baby Moses! The Torah says that Moses’ mother, Yocheved, “saw him, that he was good,” and she did everything in her power to protect him when his life was in danger. Rashi, an 11th century Torah scholar, points out that “[Yocheved] saw the whole house was filled with light.” Despite the darkness that was felt and would continue to be felt, Moses’ mom saw hope and light in her child, rather than fear or darkness.
Rashi noticed that “[Yocheved] saw him, that he was good” echos the beginning of the Torah where God sees light, and that it was good. For Yocheved, Moses entering the world was like the act of creation – a beacon of hope and light in a world of darkness. Just as the world was dark and chaotic, then God created light and saw that it was good, so too did Yocheved see that there was goodness born and its light could overwhelm the darkness.
Where can you find that light - that bud, that baby Moses – which will bring forth light? Where do you need to look? What do you think you might find if you look closely?
Our world faces tragedy and uncertainty constantly, and it can be easy to despair. Yocheved and our parashah say that we must strive to look around and see that no matter how bad things can seem, there is good.
January 19, 2023 / 26 Tevet 5783
Parashat Vaera "And I Appeared"
Title: Relatable Heroicness
Faustine Sigal, International Director of Jewish Education
Our parashah, Vaera, is about ordinary people making an extraordinary impact. The Book of Shemot starts with two midwives, Shifra and Puah, who defy Pharaoh’s orders and capitalize on their talents to adapt how they help Jewish women bring new life in the world. If there’s one main feature of power in patriarchal society, it is masculinity. Another few women step up to change history (Miriam, Tzipporah, and Pharaoh’s daughter) - and then comes Moses.
And then Moses enters the stage. He is repeatedly shown as struggling with his anxiety, speech impediment, outsider-ness, and overall impostor syndrome. He doesn’t spontaneously perceive himself as a leader and therefore struggles to project that image. In our parashah, we repeatedly see his authority questioned by himself, the Israelites, and Pharaoh. And yet, he’s the main leader and hero of the great Jewish story. The Torah even tells us upon his death that his stance was and will remain unparalleled.
At Moishe House, we build “grassroots” communities, aka communities that rise from the ground. We don’t start with big speeches, big powers, or big threats. Our leaders (you!) look around themselves, identify who their people are, what these people need, and how they can make a concrete difference. It might not seem huge now, but this parashah teaches us that one person has potential to change the story and maybe even to change history.
January 26, 2023 / 4 Shvat 5783
Parashat Bo
Title: Light in Darkness”
Jessica Herrmann, Director of Jewish Service Learning
We have just come back from intermission and the curtain opens for the final act of the Passover story. The last three plagues: locust, darkness, and the slaying of the first born, are brought down upon the Egyptians leading Pharoah to finally let the Israelites go free.
A unique turning point occurred when "Moses held out his arm toward the sky and thick darkness descended upon all the land of Egypt for three days.” While experiencing the first eight plagues the Egyptians were able to come together as a community to respond/reflect/complain about the plague. However, during the darkness “People could not see their fellow.” For the first time the Egyptians couldn’t come together as a community, they had to deal with the suffering alone which was the true plague of darkness.
Suffering is always challenging but having the support of your fellows can help make it a little less awful. The power of community is the light in the darkness. How can you organize your community to be a light in the darkness?
February 2, 2023 / 11 Shvat 5783
Parashat Beshalach “When He Let Go”
Title: Into The Unknown
By: Yulia Bezrukova, RSJ Jewish Educator
From Pharaoh chasing the Israelites to an epic crossing of the Sea of Reeds, we see part of the Israelites complicated journey. Throughout all the challenges towards freedom, the Israelites continue to ask if they made the right choice by leaving Egypt. In modernity, we may be puzzled by that and ask ourselves: why would they even ask that?
A few answers are: Trust takes time. Going into the unknown is hard. The Almighty knew that, so among other miracles, God created the Pillars of Cloud and Fire.
“The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people” (Exodus 13:21).
This supernatural image is a symbol of the leading force, direction. It is impossible to ignore, it is just there, always.
After a while, the Jews face the enemy behind them, and they are scared. We see a meaningful change in the text: “And the pillar of cloud shifted from in front of them and took up a place behind them” (Exodus 14:19).
It becomes a protector. It creates a division between the Israelites and the Egyptians, and reminds them all of G-d's love and omnipotence.
We too need various kinds of guidance and support. We benefit from reminders even if we already think we don’t need them. Sometimes it is enough to see the goal in front of us, but in other instances we need to feel like someone is in our corner.
What motivates you to continue your journey towards freedom (emotional, professional, mental, etc.)? Where in life do you need to be more patient with yourself? What is no longer serving you? How can you create a sense of support and safety in your community?
February 9, 2023 / Shvat 18 5783
Parashat Yitro
Title: Valuing People
By Dan Hammerman, Senior Administrative Assistant
At the core of Moishe House’s mission and Jewish tradition, is the need to value people. Numerous times throughout the Jewish year, the texts we read and the rituals we perform request that we welcome the stranger, as we were once strangers in the Land of Egypt.
This week’s parashah, Yitro, presents a clear demonstration of this principle. Jethro, this parashah’s namesake, is Moses’ father-in-law and a priest of a Midian tribe. In the beginning of the parashah, Moses sits with Jethro and describes all of the miracles God performed for the Israelites as they were fleeing captivity in Egypt. Jethro enthusiastically rejoiced over “all the kindness that God had shown Israel when delivering them from the Egyptians” (Exodus 18:9), which the commentator Or HaChaim says prompted such a “physical response [that] his skin broke out in goose-pimples” (Or HaChaim on Exodus 18:9).
Jethro is an example of someone who displays immense warmth and empathy toward those with different life experiences from him, and his actions should be admired and emulated, especially in our work. As community builders, we are tasked with engaging a wide array of individuals who enter our spaces, as well as and guiding them on the needs of their individual Jewish journeys whether we are hosting a Shabbat meal, a tikkun olam activity, or an informal social gathering. We may not get goosebumps every time we interact with our community members, but we do have a responsibility to invest in building relationships and making people feel welcomed in by demonstrating empathy and compassion.
In your experience as a Moishe House community builder, how have you succeeded in catering to community members from different backgrounds? How do you think you can welcome more new voices and perspectives to your community’s programs this year?
February 16, 2023 / Shvat 25 5783
Parashat Mishpatim “Laws”
Title: When Rules Are Imperfect
By Rachel Dubowe, Jewish Life Specialist, West Coast Region
In Parashat Mishpatim, we read of the infamous rule not to mistreat the stranger…and we also read that God will slowly drive out the people of the Promised Land. The juxtaposition of these texts is hard to ignore as they’re right next to each other. With this contrast, we are reminded that our texts aren’t as neat as we’d like them to be, even if many of them are the basis for our rituals and traditions today. However, they do get us to dig a little deeper when we think about strangers, or groups of strangers. It is easier to write off a group of people than it is to write off one person. We fail to see details in a group, and they just become one mass.
Rabbi Sarah Bassin writes, “Parashat Mishpatim sets before us a choice: Will we see people as the stranger we are obligated to protect, or will we group them together and see them as a collective that we are sanctioned to separate from for our own protection?” Both options exist and the Torah has put them right next to each other in a written wrestling match. While our texts might be difficult to read, Judaism teaches us to engage and interact with what is challenging and different. With these contradictory narratives, Parashat Mishpatim forces us to think about how we treat strangers, whether they’re alone or in a group. Our texts are not always easy to digest and nor are the questions we must ask ourselves. We are not perfect, and our texts remind us to step back and observe our actions to see how we’re living in the world around us. Our Torah can act as a guidebook, and a mirror to who we are.
How can you use Jewish texts as a mirror for your actions? What tough questions will you ask yourself today?
February 24, 2023 / 3 Adar 5783
Parashat Terumah “Donation”
Title: Mikdash for Ukraine
By Yulia Bezrukova, Global RSJ Jewish Educator
This week’s parashah includes God’s instructions for the Israelites to give their valued possessions from their hearts in order to create a place of dwelling for God. The Torah’s wisdom shows us what Israelites needed at that time of spiritual growth: Willingness to give, sincerity of letting go, honoring space where the Divine can dwell, and the importance of being present with the God, who is among us.
Today, to grow spiritually and feel God’s presence in our global community, we need something similar: Willingness to give our effort and time and funds, sincerity in letting go of the past and embracing the unknown new reality, honoring each other, creating a safe and inclusive environment, and being present in the moment for God, ourselves, and those in our community who need help.
The war in Ukraine has already continued for 1 year, and while Moishe House community held numerous projects, initiatives, donations, Jewish rituals, and educational sessions to bring support to those who need it, we need to continue to find strength and do more. This week build a space in your heart for Ukrainian people, and spend some of your time considering these questions:
Do you know of Ukrainians who can share their stories with your community? Is there a local organization helping Ukrainian refugees you can partner with? How can you bring more awareness about the war in Ukraine to your community, while celebrating beautiful Ukrainian culture?
March 2, 2023 / 9 Adar 5783
Parashat Tetzaveh “You Shall Command”, Shabbat Zachor
Title: For Dignity and Adornment
By Frankie Sandmel
In the past few weeks we’ve seen God as an architect designing the Mishkan, a trip leader guiding Israel through the desert, and a performance artist delivering the commandments amidst pomp and circumstance at Sinai.
This week we meet God, the fashion designer:
וְעָשִׂ֥יתָ בִגְדֵי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֑יךָ לְכָב֖וֹד וּלְתִפְאָֽרֶת׃
Make holy clothing for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. (Exodus 28:2)
As someone who has spent a lot of my life agonizing about what clothes to wear, this dalliance into the world of fashion, framing clothes as a means “for dignity and adornment,” touches a particular part of my heart. For me, coming into my power and my confidence as a person and into my voice as a rabbi, was integrally tied with coming into my identity as a trans person, which was intimately tied with the process of finding the clothes that felt right to wear in the world.
When God hands down a detailed uniform for the Priests, God recognizes the power that clothes can have for us—the way that a costume can transform what we feel capable of and what the world sees us as capable of. Dignity and adornment need not be found just in clothes—honor and beauty can manifest in so many different ways in our lives. But feeling beautiful, feeling dignified and feeling like the word can see that—that is holy.
What makes you feel dignified and beautiful?
How do you cultivate those feelings in yourself?
How do you communicate that feeling to the world?
March 9, 2023 / 16 Adar 5783
Parashat Ki Tissa “When You Take a Census”
Title: Opportunities from Brokenness
By Rabbi Jesse Paikin, Executive Director, Base
This week’s parashah features one of the Torah’s most infamous scenes: Moses shattering the tablets of the Ten Commandments in the wake of the golden calf incident:
וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר קָרַב אֶל־הַמַּחֲנֶה וַיַּרְא אֶת־הָעֵגֶל וּמְחֹלֹת
וַיִּחַר־אַף מֹשֶׁה וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ מִיָּדָו אֶת־הַלֻּחֹת וַיְשַׁבֵּר אֹתָם תַּחַת הָהָר׃
“As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of
the mountain.” (Exodus 32:19)
It’s harrowing: the Israelites indulge their bacchanalian side. Aaron is powerless to take up the mantle of leadership in his brother Moses’s absence. And an enraged Moses destroys the very word of God. It’s the low point of the entire Exodus narrative.
In grappling with the story, the rabbis audaciously recontextualize its meaning: In one poignant Midrash, God understands Moses’ anger and comforts him, saying: “Don’t feel bad about the tablets.” The Talmud goes even further, imagining that God congratulated Moses for shattering the tablets, saying: “Yasher Koach (great job) that you broke them!”
This rabbinic creativity shifts a destructive moment into a transformative one. And it invites us to ask eternally some relevant questions:
What opportunities does brokenness afford?
What are the stories we tell about ourselves and our communities
that need shattering?
When is anger destructive, and when can it be a tool for change?
March 16, 2023 / 23 Adar 5783
Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei “And He Assembled-Accountings Of”
Title: Wisdom of the Heart
By Rachel Raz, Jewish Life Specialist, Eastern Region
What does it take to build a spiritual center constructed with great care from precious materials? After Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the Israelites built a portable shrine for their worship, the Mishkan. In this week’s parashah, the people of Israel receive detailed instructions and guidance of how to build the Mishkan, the spiritual center in the desert.
Unlike the story of the world's creation in Genesis, where God was the sole Creator, here the people are asked to be active. They are asked to contribute to it, and to “take from among your gifts….everyone whose heart so moves [them] shall bring them….gold, silver, copper….yarn, fine linen…oil for lighting….” (Exodus 35:4-9). The people are asked to give donations of their will - they are partners in the creation and the running of this spiritual center.
At Moishe House, we aspire to become a Jewish spiritual center for local communities.
What can we learn from this text about community members’ involvement and their contributions?
What can you do to make Moishe House even more special and as a spiritual center for you and your community?