Jewish Religion

Seacrest Village through a resident’s camera lens

Jeanne Shenkman,  83, a retired teacher with the Grossmont High School District,  moved to Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas last May to live near her daughter.  Throughout her life, she has always been a busy person with varied interests.  For example, in addition to her teaching duties, she played violin in the Tifereth Israel Community Orchestra for 42 years and served as a docent at the San Diego Natural History Museum for 15 years. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA

Remembering that we were strangers

On the heels of last week’s revelation and the Ten Commandments, our Torah portion this week, Mishpatim, provides us with more laws and policies, advising us on how to live a Jewish life. One of these assertions can be found in Exodus 22, when the Torah instructs us not to “wrong or oppress a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” [Rabbi Joshua Dorsch]

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Jewish Religion

A Word of Torah: Mishpatim-Judgments

This week’s Torah portion is titled Mishpatim, which means judgments. In this portion a whopping 53 commandments (out of a total 613 in the entire Torah) are mentioned. Twenty of the commandments mentioned are positive (thou shalt), and thirty-three are negative (thou shalt not). The portion begins by stating, “And these are the judgments that were placed before you.” The word, “And,” is of critical importance we are told by the commentaries, as it demonstrates that this week’s portion is a continuation of last week’s portion. This means in order to properly understand the portion of Mishpatim we have to look back at the portion of Yitro. [Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, Yeruchem Eilfort-Rabbi

Was the Prophet Isaiah one or three people?

Most people think that since Jewish ancestors placed certain books in the Hebrew Bible, this means that they are significant in some way, and this way is clear to even the average reader. Nothing is further from the truth. All of the biblical books have deep messages. Some are even obscure and difficult to understand. The book of Isaiah is an example. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

On female slaves, cities of refuge, hospitality

This parasha contains the first body of legislation in the Torah, and is called in English the”Book of the Covenant.” It is by no means complete. In general, it emphasizes humanitarian considerations, provoked by and promised, by the divine. I have chosen three passages, with regard to seeking, via the internet, similarities with other ancient literature. [Mishpatim commentary by Irv Jacobs, M.D.]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Hadassah Magazine article prompted OH! San Diego

The March 6-8 Open House San Diego in which 93 venues will open their doors to visitors can trace its origin to an article in the Winter 2012 edition of Hadassah Magazine, which featured an article about the Open House programs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Susanne Friestedt said the article so resonated with her that she traveled to London, headquarters for the Open House architectural movement, to learn what she would need to do to add San Diego (and environs) to the list of cities in the Open House program. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Travel and Food, USA

It’s not the creed, it’s the deed

In our Parasha, Mishpatim, laws, are two of more than 30 times that the Torah warns us against mistreating the sojourner, V’ger lo teelchatz “Do not oppress the stranger”(Shemot, 23:9). We learn about the value of treating others properly, equitably, impartially and what the way we treat others reveals about ourselves. These are certainly universal values that are essential to a healthy, fair, society. How do you live, not just profess, these values? [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell

Moses did not write the entire Torah

The rational Spanish sage Abraham ibn Ezra (1089–1164), whose views are included in most rabbinical Bibles with commentaries, stated that Moses did not write the entire Torah. Realizing that Moses was on top of the mountain alone where he died and did not descend to report what happened there even before he died, Abraham ibn Ezra states that Moses did not write all twelve passages in this chapter. He suggests that the chapter was written by Joshua who knew what occurred through prophecy. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazin]

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Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion

Wrap group learns at Tifereth Israel

The national Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs (FJMC) has a tradition called “World Wide Wrap,” in which Jews around the world are taught traditional ways of wrapping tefillin (phylacteries) on their arms and placing a prayer box on their heads. Rabbi Joshua Dorsch, instructing a learning session sponsored by the Tifereth Israel Synagogue Men’s Club, an FJMC affiliate, on Sunday, explained that the custom derives from a literal interpretation of the v’ahavta prayer (Deuteronomy 6:5-9), … [Donald H. Harrison}

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish Religion, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education

Orlanskys spend their 71st Valentine’s Day together

Danny and Arlene (Addleson) Orlansky, who celebrated their 71st Valentine’s Day as a married couple on Friday, say the man who was their Cupid was the late Rabbi Morton Cohn of Congregation Beth Israel. Two years after the end of World War II, on a Sunday when Arlene was being installed as president of the Temple Youth League, Rabbi Cohn suggested that because the teens of the only three synagogues in the county (Beth Israel, Tifereth Israel, and Beth Jacob) didn’t know each other, they should have the occasion double as a dance in his Reform congregation’s social hall. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, San Diego County, USA

Sinai revelation not just in past

Amidst a majestical display of thunder and lighting, through the fog of a cloud, the Israelites are given the Torah, by God. Right before most of the action takes place, the Torah tells us when the revelation was going to take place. It says that the Israelites arrived at Sinai on “this” day. Rashi points out that this is an unusual word choice. By telling us a story of events that took place in the past, the Torah should have said “that” day. But, by switching the tense, the Torah is teaching us a very important lesson. It is teaching us that, despite some of us believing that the revelation on Mount Sinai was one moment in time, a thing of the past, Revelation can and does take place in the present, today, and whenever else we choose to experience it.  [Rabbi Joshua Dorsch]

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Jewish Religion

How Maimonides dissected the Exodus account

Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel’s books on Maimonides’ interpretations of the biblical book Exodus, Maimonides Hidden Torah Commentary: Exodus 1-20, reveals much that many people do not know and does so in a clear and easy to read fashion. While 448 pages long, and filled with information, it is only the first of his two books on Exodus. It is superb. His two books on Genesis have already been published. [Rabbi Dr. Israel Drazinl]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel Drazin-Rabbi Dr., Jewish Religion, Michael Leo Samuel-Rabbi

Judicial systems and the 10 Commandments

This parasha deals with a complimentary visit by Moses’ father-in-law Yitro to the Israelite camp; his offer of advice to Moses to delegate judicial duties on a hierarchical basis, rather than exhaust himself doing it all himself; Israelites then move toward Sinai amid God’s instructions; and there receive the Ten Commandments and instructions to build an altar. I have chosen two passages, with regard to seeking similarities, from the Internet, with other ancient literature. [Irv Jacobs, M.D.]

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Irv Jacobs, MD, Jewish Religion

Prohibition against coveting an anchor commandment

In this week’s parasha, Yitro, one of the six portions named for an individual, the Ten Commandments, the Aseret HaDib’rot, are revealed to Moses and to the Israelites in the wilderness. We may learn from this pinnacle experience that the Torah can be learned anywhere, even in the wilderness, by anyone with a receptive heart and open mind. [Michael Mantell, Ph.D]

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Jewish Religion, Michael Mantell