For too many Jewish young people, bar/bat mitzvah has been the beginning of the end of their Jewish journeys. When students perceive the Torah as incomprehensible or irrelevant, many form the false impression that Judaism has nothing to say to them. Enter the game-changer: the JPS B’nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. The narrative summaries, “big” ideas, model divrei Torah, haftarot commentaries, and discussion questions will engage teens in studying the Torah and haftarot, in writing divrei Torah, and in continuing to learn Torah throughout their lives—making it the book every rabbi, cantor, parent, and tutor will also want to have. Jewish learning—for young people and adults—will never be the same. Weekly portion pamphlets are now available for every parasha of The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary!
For too many Jewish young people, bar/bat mitzvah has been the beginning of the end of their Jewish journeys. When students perceive the Torah as incomprehensible or irrelevant, many form the false impression that Judaism has nothing to say to them. Enter the game-changer: the JPS B’nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. The narrative summaries, “big” ideas, model divrei Torah, haftarot commentaries, and discussion questions will engage teens in studying the Torah and haftarot, in writing divrei Torah, and in continuing to learn Torah throughout their lives—making it the book every rabbi, cantor, parent, and tutor will also want to have. Jewish learning—for young people and adults—will never be the same. Weekly portion pamphlets are now available for every parasha of The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary!
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Overview
For too many Jewish young people, bar/bat mitzvah has been the beginning of the end of their Jewish journeys. When students perceive the Torah as incomprehensible or irrelevant, many form the false impression that Judaism has nothing to say to them. Enter the game-changer: the JPS B’nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary shows teens in their own language how Torah addresses the issues in their world. The conversational tone is inviting and dignified, concise and substantial, direct and informative. The narrative summaries, “big” ideas, model divrei Torah, haftarot commentaries, and discussion questions will engage teens in studying the Torah and haftarot, in writing divrei Torah, and in continuing to learn Torah throughout their lives—making it the book every rabbi, cantor, parent, and tutor will also want to have. Jewish learning—for young people and adults—will never be the same. Weekly portion pamphlets are now available for every parasha of The JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780827612525 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | The Jewish Publication Society |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2017 |
| Series: | JPS Study Bible |
| Pages: | 432 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d) |
| Age Range: | 8 - 12 Years |
About the Author
Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin serves as the senior rabbi of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Florida. He is the author of Putting God on the Guest List: How to Reclaim the Spiritual Meaning of Your Child’s Bar or Bat Mitzvah, winner of the 1993 Benjamin Franklin Award for the best religion book published in the United States, and The Gods Are Broken: The Hidden Legacy of Abraham (JPS, 2013).
Read an Excerpt
JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary
By Jeffrey K. Salkin
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS
Copyright © 2017 Rabbi Jeffrey K. SalkinAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8276-1252-5
CHAPTER 1
Genesis
* Bere'shit: Genesis 1:1–6:8
This is how it all starts — with a Torah portion that poses a lot of questions. God creates the world in six days (right, but how long was a day?). God rests on the seventh day, which is how Shabbat gets started. God then creates Adam and Eve and places them in the Garden of Eden.
Things are going great until Adam and Eve disobey God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God kicks them out of the garden. Just when you think things are bad enough, Cain kills his brother, Abel. As punishment, Cain is condemned to wander the earth. And over the next several generations, humanity increasingly descends into violence.
Maybe the whole "humanity" project isn't working out as well as God had planned. Stay tuned for God's solution to the problem.
Summary
* God creates the universe as we know it in a series of six days. (1:1–29)
* Human beings are created in the image of God. (1:26–28)
* The seventh day of creation is a day of rest — Shabbat — and God declares it holy. (2:1–3)
* Human beings had a special role in the Garden of Eden, and God commands them not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The snake convinces Adam and Eve to disobey God's command, with severe consequences that include expulsion from the garden. (2:4–3:24)
* Cain kills his brother, Abel, and God confronts him. From there, things go downhill fast and humanity increasingly descends into violence. (4:1–6:8)
The Big Ideas
* The story of creation in Genesis is a moral story, about the nature of the world and of humanity itself. It contains ethical teachings about the pattern of creation and the meaning of the world itself.
* God created order out of chaos. We don't know how long a day was, but the most important thing is that there is a rhythm and pattern to creation, and that things do not simply happen in a random way.
* Language is a tool of creation. That is precisely how God uses language: "Let there be ..." The words that we say have the power to create worlds, or, if we use words irresponsibly, they can destroy worlds — and people — as well.
* Nature must be respected. We are not free to do whatever we want to the earth, its living things, and its resources. Because the earth is God's creation, we must respect it and take care of it, which was one of God's commandments to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
* Special times can be holy. The first thing declared holy in the Torah is not a place nor a person, but a time. The seventh day is holy and set apart because God rested on that day. When we rest on Shabbat we too make it a holy — a special — day.
* Human beings are responsible for one another. The Torah tells us that humanity is made in God's image, and one way of interpreting this is that there is a piece of God within us all. In some deep way, we are all connected to each other and to God, and we should treat one other as we want to be treated, and as God would want to be treated.
Divrei Torah
In God's Image: What Does It Mean?
The last thing that God creates is humanity. The Torah suggests that perhaps God saved the best for last. We are uniquely described as created in God's image: "And God created humankind in the divine image, creating it in the image of God — creating them male and female" (1:27).
This is perhaps the greatest idea that Judaism ever gave to the world — that every person has the spark of divinity within him or her. The great sage Rabbi Akiba recognized that our awareness of this spark makes us even more special: "Beloved are human beings, because they were created in the divine image. But it was through a special love that they became aware that they were created in the divine image."
What does this really mean — "in the divine image"?
On its most basic level, it means that while we are certainly not God, in some way we resemble God. It means that we should try to imitate God. A large part of our human responsibilities flow from the various things that God does in the Torah. Our tradition teaches that as God creates, we can create. As God clothes Adam and Eve, so we can clothe the needy. As God gives life, so we strive to heal the sick.
Being made in God's image means that we have special tasks and opportunities in the world. We have a special responsibility to care for all of God's creation. Because God created the world and all living things within it, we must avoid destruction of the earth and its plant life (ba'al tashhit). Because God created and blessed animals (1:22), we must avoid cruelty to animals (tza'ar ba'alei chayyim). Because God created, blessed, and made human beings in the divine image, we must recognize the sacred in all human beings and cherish them. Yes, to avoid destruction, and yes, to avoid cruelty — but also to create ways of helping people through acts of kindness (gemilut chasadim).
Note that the Torah teaches that both man and woman are made in the divine image. All people are equal in dignity and deserve equal respect and opportunity. In the words of Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, in an imitation of the American Declaration of Independence, which also speaks of basic rights: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all human beings are created in the image of God, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain fundamental dignities, that among these are infinite value, equality and uniqueness. Our faith calls on all humanity to join in a covenant with God and a partnership between the generations for tikkun olam (the repair of the world) so that all forms of life are sustained in the fullest of dignity."
So, that is the Jewish task: to work toward a world where everyone knows that he or she is created in the divine image. And a world where everyone else knows it as well!
Where Is Your Brother?
In one sense, Cain was the first and worst murderer in the world. When he killed his brother, Abel, he essentially wiped out one-quarter of all humanity, because the Torah claims that at that time there were only four people in the world: Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel.
Both Cain and Abel brought offerings to God. God accepted Abel's offering of a lamb, but rejected Cain's offering of grain. Cain is very jealous, and very angry.
God warned Cain that "sin crouches at the door" — that we have to be careful of our feelings of anger and jealousy. It was too late for Cain to engage in "anger management." Cain killed Abel. God asked Cain: "Where is your brother Abel?" (4:9). To which Cain responded: "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
Of course, God knew where Abel was. (God is, after all, God, who knows everything.) God simply wanted Cain to own up to what he had done, and to learn the lesson of moral responsibility.
More than this: God wanted Cain to know that he had not only killed Abel. The text says that Abel's bloods (demei) cried out from the ground — a strange way of putting it, especially since "blood" is one of those words that has no plural form. A midrash explains it this way: "It is not written, 'Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!' but 'your brother's bloods' — not only his blood, but also the blood of his descendants."
The tragedy of it all is that Cain not only took his brother's life, but also cut off his brother's line forever, and then evaded responsibility. God spared Cain's life, however, while putting a mark on him. One wonders: Did Cain learn his lesson in any way? As Rabbi Marshall Meyer said: "True hope is born when I learn to scream NO to injustice, to bribery, to corruption; when I scream that I will be involved; when I scream that I won't stay frozen in my ways. True hope is born when I can scream with all my being: YES to honesty; YES, I am my brother's keeper!"
Connections
* In many places in the United States, people think that schools should teach the biblical version of creation, as well as the theory of evolution. How do you feel about this?
* Why is Shabbat important to the Jewish people? Is it important to you and your family? How do you make it so? What do you think an ideal Shabbat would be like?
* What does being created in the divine image mean to you? What are some examples of ways that we can show that people are made in the divine image?
* What are some of the implications of the way that we are supposed to care for the earth? For animals? Is it a violation of tza'ar ba'alei chayyim (avoid cruelty to animals) to experiment on animals for medical research? What about for cosmetic research?
* We might think of the entire Torah as the answer to God's question to Cain: "Where is Abel your brother?" What are some ways this is so?
* Noah: Genesis 6:9–11:32
There is an old comedy bit that includes these famous words: "Hey, Noah — how long can you tread water?" That's a good question for this Torah portion, because it contains the story of Noah and the Flood.
Noah is a good man, living in a terrible time. Everyone's doing corrupt things, except for him. God tells Noah that a great flood is coming that will destroy the world, and Noah should build an ark and take two of every animal, and his own family, into the ark. It rains — for forty days.
After the Flood subsides, Noah and his wife, his sons, and their wives emerge from the ark. Noah's sons become the ancestors of the nations of the ancient world. But things don't get better. People become arrogant, and they build the Tower of Babel, trying in vain to reach the heavens and become famous. God is just about ready to give up on the whole humanity thing.
Summary
* Because the earth has become corrupt and lawless, God decrees that there will be a flood, and commands Noah to build an ark, and to take his family and animals into it. (6:9–7:5)
* God unleashes the Flood, which lasts for forty days. When a dove returns to the ark with an olive leaf, Noah knows that the Flood has subsided. God promises never again to destroy the earth. (7:10–8:22)
* Noah's sons and daughters-in-law have many children and become the ancestors of the nations of the ancient world. (10:1–32)
* The people of the world, unified by a single language, build the Tower of Babel. (11:1–9)
The Big Ideas
* The Bible portrays God as having "human" feelings — disappointment, anger, etc. God is not detached from creation and from human beings; to the contrary, in this Torah portion and elsewhere in the Bible, God is very much affected by what people do — especially by evil.
* God is also "human" because God "changes" and "grows." God grows from the experience of the Flood and makes a covenant with Noah, in which God promises to never again destroy the earth. The rainbow is the sign of that covenant.
* Civilization needs basic ethical laws. The ancient sages suggest that as a result of the Flood, God demanded that humanity follow certain basic laws: to abstain from blasphemy (misusing God's name), idolatry (worshiping false gods), incest, murder, robbery, and mistreating animals; and to establish courts of law to make sure that these laws are observed. This code of laws is called the Noahide Laws.
* All human beings are part of the same "extended family." Genesis 9 contains the famous "table of nations," which imagines that all the nations of the ancient world are descended from Noah's three sons. While this chapter's geographic understanding of the world is very limited (it doesn't mention the peoples of North America, eastern Asia, or Australia, for example), it demonstrates that all human beings are connected and part of the same huge family.
* Multiculturalism is good. All the nations have their own territories, languages, and cultures. Human diversity is part of God's plan. Then, when the nations gather together, united by one common language, to build the Tower of Babel, it is not only an act of massive chutzpah (building a tower to go into the heavens!); it is also contrary to God's wishes for different languages, and therefore, different and diverse peoples.
Divrei Torah
How Good Was Noah — Really?
No doubt about it — Noah was a good person. In fact, the Torah tells us that he was the most righteous person in his generation. But, perhaps that's like praising someone for being the best player on a losing team!
Let's look more closely at Noah.
Noah saved his family and the animals. This is all good. But something is missing. Nowhere do we read that Noah tried to persuade his friends, neighbors, and anyone who would listen to repent and change their ways. He didn't utter a word of concern for all the people who were about to drown in the waters of the Flood. While it's true that God commanded Noah to bring just his family and the animals aboard, you would think he would have argued with God about the death sentence for humanity.
The Hasidic master, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, once referred to a certain rabbi (in Yiddish) as a tzadik in peltz — "a righteous person in a fur coat." Here is what he meant: "When it is freezing cold outside, you can build a fire, or you can wrap yourself in a fur coat. If you wear a fur coat, you're the only one who gets warm. But, if you build a fire, everyone else can get warm, as well."
While Noah didn't wear a fur coat during the Flood, he certainly remained content with saving just his family. This is precisely why, in the opinion of many of the sages, even though Noah was a good person, he was not great. When the decree of the Flood came, Noah did as he was told, but didn't intercede on behalf of all those who would lose their lives. As the Torah says simply, "Noah did so; just as God commanded him, so he did" (6:22).
Unlike Noah, Abraham, ten generations later, stands up to God. As soon as God tells Abraham that Sodom and Gomorrah are to be destroyed, Abraham approaches God and famously says: "Will You sweep away the innocent along with the guilty?" (18:23). In a huge debate, Abraham asks God how many innocent people it would take to spare the city. It's all there in 18:16–33. For many sages, God chooses to make Abraham the first Jew precisely because of his concern for others.
Righteous people cannot merely care about themselves and their families; they have to care about others as well. This is why, for example, we honor the righteous gentiles who saved Jewish lives during the Holocaust, often at the risk of their own lives. The greatest heroes in history have been those who have gone beyond their own needs and their own safety to save others.
God Cares About More Than Big Buildings
Was the Tower of Babel "real?" Maybe, maybe not; but the story has something to teach us. The tower may well have been modeled on the ziggurat, the sacred tower located in Ur, in what is now southwestern Iraq, which according to the Bible was Abraham's birthplace. Some early sages thought that Abraham might actually have seen the ziggurat when he was growing up.
As towers go, it was relatively short — only three stories high. It had monumental staircases, however — reminding us of the sulam, the "staircase" (or, as it is usually translated, "ladder") that figured prominently in Jacob's famous dream (Genesis 28). It was constructed from raw bricks surrounded by baked bricks.
It sounds like a great building. What could possibly have been wrong with it?
First, there is something troubling about the project itself. In Genesis 10, the chapter before the building of the Tower of Babel, we read that every nation has its own location — and, presumably, its own language. God wanted every national group to have its own place, its own culture, and its own language. God never needed diversity training; God invented diversity!
But instead, what happened with the building of the Tower of Babel? According to the sages, the people ignored their own languages and local cultures. The builders united under one language, but that unity came at a price. As Rabbi Daniel Gordis suggests: "Dispersion is part of the divine plan. It is only thus that human beings may fully realize their own unique potential. The tower builders of Babel sought to sustain uniformity. That is why they had to be stopped."
Second, the building of the Tower of Babel was basically an ego trip on the part of the builders. The Bible makes it very clear that the people wanted to make a "name for themselves" (11:4). They wanted bragging rights for having the biggest, tallest building in the world. They believed that this would make them famous. They may have even thought that it would bring them closer to God. Yet, apparently the builders did not consult God!
But the worst part, according to a midrash, is that the builders became so absorbed in their project that they forgot the rules of a decent society. They neglected their basic responsibilities to other people, and in the process, they lost their humanity: "If a man felloff the tower, they paid no attention to him, but if a brick fell they sat down and wept, and said: "Woe is us! When will another brick come and replace it?"
(Continues...)
Excerpted from JPS B'nai Mitzvah Torah Commentary by Jeffrey K. Salkin. Copyright © 2017 Rabbi Jeffrey K. Salkin. Excerpted by permission of UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments Introduction Part 1. The Torah 1. Genesis Bere’shit 1:1–6:8 Noaḥ 6:9–11:32 Lekh Lekha 12:1–17:27 Va-yera’ 18:1–22:24 Ḥayyei Sarah 23:1–25:18 Toledot 25:19–28:9 Va-yetse’ 28:10–32:3 Va-yishlah 32:4–36:43 Va-yeshev 37:1–40:23 Mikkets 41:1–44:17 Va-yiggash 44:18–47:27 Va-yeḥi 47:28–50:26 2. Exodus Shemot 1:1–6:1 Va-’era’ 6:2–9:34 Bo’ 10:1–13:16 Be-shallah 13:17–17:16 Yitro 18:1–20:23 Mishpatim 21:1–24:18 Terumah 25:1–27:19 Tetsavveh 27:20–30:10 Ki Tissa’ 30:11–34:35 Va-yakhel 35:1–38:20 Pekudei 38:21–40:38 3. Leviticus Va-yikra’ 1:1–5:26 Tsav 6:1–8:36 Shemini 9:1–11:47 Tazria‘ 12:1–13:59 Metsora‘ 14:1–15:33 ’Aḥarei Mot 16:1–18:30 Kedoshim 19:1–20:27 ’Emor 21:1–24:23 Be-har 25:1–26:2 Be-ḥukkotai 26:3–27:34 4. Numbers Be-midbar 1:1–4:20 Naso’ 4:21–7:89 Be-ha‘alotekha 8:1–12:16 Shelaḥ-Lekha 13:1–15:41 Koraḥ 16:1–18:32 Ḥukkat 19:1–22:1 Balak 22:2–25:9 Pinḥas 25:10–30:1 Mattot 30:2–32:43 Mase‘ei 33:1–36:13 5. Deuteronomy Devarim 1:1–3:22 Va-etḥannan 3:23–7:11 ‘Ekev 7:12–11:25 Re’eh 11:26–16:17 Shofetim 16:18–21:9 Ki Tetse’ 21:10–25:19 Ki Tavo’ 26:1–29:8 Nitsavim 29:9–30:20 Va-yelekh 31:1–31:30 Ha’azinu 32:1–32:52 Ve-zo’t ha-berakhah 33:1–34:12 Part 2. The Haftarot 6. Genesis Bere’shit: Isaiah 42:5–43:10 Noaḥ: Isaiah 54:1–55:5 Lekh Lekha: Isaiah 40:27–41:16 Va-yera’: 2 Kings 4:1–37 Ḥayyei Sarah: 1 Kings 1:1–31 Toledot: Malachi 1:1–2:7 Va-yetse’: Hosea 12:13–14:10 Va-yishlaḥ: Obadiah 1:1–21 Va-yeshev: Amos 2:6–3:8 Shabbat Hanukkah: Zechariah 2:14–4:7 Mikkets: 1 Kings 3:15–28; 4:1 Va-yiggash: Ezekiel 37:15–28 Va-yeḥi: 1 Kings 2:1–12 7. Exodus Shemot: Isaiah 27:6–28:13; 29:22–23 Va-’era’: Ezekiel 28:25–29:21 Bo’: Jeremiah 46:13–28 Be-shallaḥ: Judges 4:4–5:31 Yitro: Isaiah 6:1–7:6; 9:5–6 Mishpatim: Jeremiah 34:8–22; 33:25–26 Terumah: 1 Kings 5:26–6:13 Tetsavveh: Ezekiel 43:10–27 Ki Tissa’: 1 Kings 18:1–39 Va-yakhel–Pekudei: 1 Kings 7:40–50 8. Leviticus Va-yikra’ Isaiah 43:21–44:23 Tsav Jeremiah 7:21–8:3; 9:22–23 Shemini 2 Samuel 6:1–7:17 Tazria‘2 Kings 4:42–5:19 Metsora‘ 2 Kings 7:3–20 ’Aḥarei Mot: Ezekiel 22:1–19 Kedoshim: Amos 9:7–15 ’Emor: Ezekiel 44:15–31 Be-har: Jeremiah 32:6–27 Be-ḥukkotai: Jeremiah 16:19–17:14 9. Numbers Be-midbar: Hosea 2:1–22 Naso’: Judges 13:2–25 Be-ha‘alotekha: Zechariah 2:14–4:7 Shelaḥ-Lekha: Joshua 2:1–24 Koraḥ: 1 Samuel 11:14–12:22 Ḥukkat: Judges 11:1–33 Balak: Micah 5:6–6:8 Pinḥas: 1 Kings 18:46–19:21 Mattot: Jeremiah 1:1–2:3 Mase‘ei: Jeremiah 2:4–28; 3:4 10. Deuteronomy Devarim: Isaiah 1:1–27 Va-etḥannan: Isaiah 40:1–26 ‘Ekev: Isaiah 49:14–51:3 Re’eh: Isaiah 54:11–55:5 Shofetim: Isaiah 51:12–52:12 Ki Tetse’: Isaiah 54:1–10 Ki Tavo’: Isaiah 60:1–22 Nitsavim–Va-yelekh: Isaiah 61:10–63:9 Ha’azinu: 2 Samuel 22:1–51 11. Special Haftarot for Major Holidays Maḥar Ḥodesh: 1 Samuel 20:18–42 Shabbat Parah: Ezekiel 36:16–38 Shabbat Shekalim: 2 Kings 12:1–17 Rosh Ḥodesh: Isaiah 66:1–24 Notes