Sinai Update – May 11-17, 2008
Parashat B’har Sinai (Leviticus 21:1-24:23)
Reflections on the Torah Portion – Rabbi Andy Vogel

In 1753, the Liberty Bell was delivered by ship from London to Philadelphia, bearing an inscription meant to characterize the spirit of the American colonies.  Ordered by the State Assembly of Pennsylvania a few years earlier in 1745, it had been commissioned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the charter of William Penn for a colony that would be based on democratic representation of the will of the people (not royal privilege), limited religious freedom (i.e., for all expressions of Christianity only) and would also prohibit slavery.  The inscription was verse found in this week’s Torah portion:  “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the Inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10).  To the shock and dismay of witnesses, it sustained a crack the very first time it was rung, and from then on stood as a symbol of freedom.  
   

Rabbi Lance Sussman writes that the Liberty Bell informs our experience as American Jews.  “The Liberty Bell ideally represents the possibility of Jewish life in the United States unencumbered by governmental decree,” he writes in his article “Let Freedom Ring” (CCAR Journal, Fall 2004).  But the bell also contains some paradoxes:  Christian practices of religion was protected, not all religious expressions, under the Pennsylvania charter, one; and two, the silence of the bell, which cannot ring out sound because of its crack, has been said by some to symbolize the persistence of American racism and xenophobia.  This week, as we Jews read this verse again, we can recommit ourselves to achieve a society in which “all the land’s inhabitants” may truly experience freedom of religion, be assured of our civil and human rights, and realize our hopes for a more perfect and just society for everyone.
 - Rabbi Andy Vogel

Sinai Update – April 27-May 3, 2008
Parashat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27)
Reflections on the Torah Portion – Rabbi Andy Vogel

Stunning and dramatic words begin this week’s Torah reading:  “You shall be holy, for I, Adonai your God, am holy!” (Leviticus 19:2)  The Torah obligates us to imitate God, who is holy, that we, too, might become holy people.  For some, this would seem out of reach; living the holy life seems to be reserved for “hermits, saints, monks and gurus,” as Rabbi Chaim Stern has written.  But what the Torah reading and all of Judaism, in general, make clear is that living the holy life is attainable by every person.  Striving for the highest level of ethical behavior is one direction toward holiness.  Paying a certain type of attention and mindfulness to one’s daily acts in this very real world is another direction toward living in the realm of the holy. 

One Midrash asks a similar question about holiness and imitating God.  The Torah says, “You shall walk in God’s ways” (Deut. 28:9), and the Midrash asks, “What are God’s ways?  Just as it is God’s way to be merciful and forgiving to sinners, and to accept them when they repent, so should you be merciful to those around you.  Just as God is gracious, and gives freely to all, so should you give freely to those around you.  Just as God is patient with those who sin, so should you be patient with those around you.”  The role of the Jew is to endlessly explore paths toward holy living, and always strive for higher levels of holy experiences in our lives.
 - Rabbi Andy Vogel