As much of our country continues to seek justice in the wake of cases like George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless more throughout our history, we ask you to join us in holding these words in your heart for those families and communities affected, for those striving for humanity amongst the madness, and for people working to facilitate lasting cultural and political change.

Last night at sundown began Shavuot, translated as ‘festival of weeks’. During the time of the Temple, Shavuot was a harvest festival where all the Israelites would bring the first fruits of their harvest to Jerusalem and pay tribute to Hashem at the Temple. Shavuot was also selected as the time to celebrate the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. In fact, one of the original names for the holiday was Chag Matan Toratenu, literally translated as the ‘holiday of the giving of the Torah’.

We’re often asked for our position on how to navigate the diverse denominational and political terrain of the Jewish world? Where we might find examples for how to do Judaism ‘right’? If you said the Torah, you might just be correct. (You are.) This week’s portion in particular.

Here the Torah teaches us of the commandments around Sh'mitah, which literally means ‘release’. The primary commandment that we’ll focus on is to pause all agricultural work and allow the land to rest for one year, every seven years. The others are: all produce in that seventh year is free and ownerless, we are to forgive any outstanding debts, and that we are to sanctify the produce in the seventh year. 

Within it we receive ‘The Callings of Holiness’, a list of the festivals in the Jewish calendar. It’s a syllabus for how we are to organize our time, when we turn towards each other, and when we turn inwardly. Rabbi Amy Wallk Katz adds “In Judaism, time brings focus, structure and meaning to our weeks (Shabbat), our years (Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot) and our lives (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).” And the structure of our days is established by traditional prayer times and blessings.

“This concept is simple at its surface, but belies a complex and powerful idea. He doesn’t take value away from the rest of the teachings of the Torah, though it seems that way. What he is saying is the essence of Judaism is to love others as you love yourself. It’s a lens that informs the rest of Jewish learning and Jewish life.”

This chag (festival) obscures the lines of past, present, and future through the power of story. We’re taught to remember we were the ones who were enslaved and crossed the Red Sea. A deeper reading suggests that we celebrate to remember that we are in fact making a spiritual exodus from our own internal Mitzrayim (Egypt) throughout our lives.

In this week’s Torah portion (parsha) Tzav, it is commanded that a small fire be placed on the altar - a fire that must never be extinguished. Rabbi Moshe Becker commentates “this small flame also reminds each of us that we have a spark to learn and improve within us. It is our responsibility to nurture our spark by feeding it through continued learning.”

While the Torah portion details the specific causes and protocols for impurities, it only briefly alludes to the process of healing. We, as readers of the Torah, are left to imagine the healing process and recognize that it differs from person to person. Perhaps it is even beneficial and renewing!

Rituals create value for each of us and our families, even if we do not immediately realize: morning coffee, yoga before work, how we get dressed. Ritual is a powerful tool to stay healthy during ‘normal life’ as well as challenging and unusual times.

In this week’s Torah portion Shemini, the laws Kosher are laid out. While we often think of Kashrut (or keeping Kosher) as ritual restrictions for Jewish diets, the biblical framing of the laws of keeping Kosher are stated in positive and affirmative language-- “These are the creatures that you may eat among all the animals on the earth.”