Shabbat Gathering: Torah study: Choose your own adventure.

Gud Shabbos Khaveyrim, tonight we will skip the usual Shabbat Gathering so we can participate in Rabbi Firestone's Shabbaton. We will resume next week.

(To unsubscribe from the newsletter, click the link at the very bottom of this email.)

Here we go.

In this week’s Torah portion, two of Aaron’s sons decide they want to be high priests like their dad. According to the portion, they kindled “strange fire,” fire that wasn’t sanctioned by Hashem. (And, according to some readings, they may have been drunk.) Hashem doesn’t look kindly on this breech of protocol and immediately slays them, ... or not.

This past year, I’ve been studying Bible commentary inspired by the founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov. And, according to one of his interpretations for this week's portion, Aaron’s sons weren’t punished for their transgression, but were rather rewarded for their initiative and taken up to be with Hashem.

One of the many things I like about studying Torah is the range of commentary available to the student. Finding a uniform opinion across all the commentaries is impossible. And, if one hasn’t come across wildly divergent points of view, then one simply hasn’t done sufficient research.

This doesn’t mean we have a free pass to make up our own meaning with out first looking at relevant texts. Instead, we are enjoined to study widely and construct a framework of understanding that is coherent, at least to ourselves. This is why Torah Study resembles a “choose your own adventure” story. Every week, a new layer of learning is added. Sometimes it contradicts and sometimes it doesn't.

And may it be for all of us a blessing.

See you tonight!
Mit vareme grusn,
(With warm regards,)

All my love,
brian.

PS

How to calm anxiety with Jewish mindfulness: Shiviti practice

Welcome to Soulful Jewish Living: Mindful Practices for Every Day with me, Josh Feigelson. I’m grateful you’re here, and I hope you benefit from our time

UnpackedJosh Feigelson

The Jewish Bund Was Popular — But It Couldn’t Save Lives Like a Jewish State Could

Participants with Israeli flags look at the landmark Birkenau extermination camp gate in Auschwitz Museum – former Nazi German Concentration …

Algemeiner.comThe Algemeiner

Meet the City’s Most In-Demand Mohel

Few rabbis perform brises full-time. He has ten a week.

IntelligencerAlina Cohen

Why Mikveh Isn’t Mentioned in the Torah | My Jewish Learning

Ritual purification didn’t always involve immersion.

My Jewish LearningRabbi Dr. Zev Farber

How a young woman smuggled weapons into the Warsaw Ghetto

Vladka Meed’s memoir ‘On Both Sides of the Wall’ challenges the myth of Jewish passivity during the Holocaust

The ForwardMikhail Krutikov

DuoYid

-30-