Shabbat Noach Genesis 6:9-11:2

Rabbi Denise L. Eger

A Midrash:

The earth became a wicked place. People were harsh to one another. They spoke cruelly. They stole from one another. There was no such thing as human kindness. They bullied each other and drove some to murder and others to suicide. They humanity forgot that they were made in the Divine Image. The world that God had made and once said, "This is very good." was anything but good. It was brutal and violent.

God was so upset that God decided the world needed a make-over. It was time to tear the house down to the foundations and rebuild. And to help in that process God chose Noah.

Parshat Bereshit Genesis 1:1 – 6:9

Rabbi Denise L. Eger

We begin again. The cycle of reading the Torah begins again. Simchat Torah, the holiday of rejoicing in the Torah that ends Sukkot and the flurry of holy days of Tishrei is the time we end and begin the cycle of reading our most sacred literature, the Torah over again. And this Shabbat is Shabbat Bereshit. The Sabbath of the beginning. The Sabbath of Creation. The Sabbath of the first Sabbaths. This week we read the stories of the universe’s creation. “When God began to create….” (Gen. 1:1)

There is so much to say and think about the myths of the world’s beginning. But the stories of the creation of the Universe are not fact but myth. Grand stories to help us contemplate and imagine the way the universe began but more importantly our role in the world. These are not just questions that we have today but ancient questions of meaning as well.

Prayer for the New Year 5771

Rabbi Denise L. Eger

O Ancient of Days on this New Year Eve let Your abundance of love and blessing and goodness flow down upon my soul and the souls of my loved ones. As we enter 5771 take note of our lives and give us the strength and courage to change that which need changed. Forgive us our sins and errors and help us to turn to You in repentance and love. During these Days of Awe and Wonder help me to look at my deeds and words and actions with clarity and honesty Sustain me during difficult days and lift me up when life is hard.

Parshat Haazinu Deuteronomy 32:1 - 52

Rabbi Denise L. Eger

This week’s Torah portion comes on a special Shabbat—Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This is as it should be because the Torah portion itself is a special poem known as the Song of Moses and is an accounting of the sins of Israel and their ultimate redemption! What glorious hope for us! Even the ancient Israelites whose great sin of the Golden Calf and their sins of idolatry kept them from the Promised Land for awhile eventually made it across the Jordan River to experience the wonder and joy of living in the Holy Land.

For all of us at this season of introspection and accounting we too have the promise of redemption and living out our days in a holy space. But to cross over that metaphoric Jordan River we have work to do. That is the work of repentance, of examination of our deeds and actions and words and the even harder work of learning from our mistakes and errors. This is no small task. And our Torah portion reinforces this message. Moses calls out to the heaven and earth as witness. Moses wants us to know that this is an eternal message, an eternal covenant with eternal witnesses. Even though we humans are mortal, we are born and we die, the covenant that Israel made with the Holy One of Blessing at Sinai stands beyond time. So as we enter a New Year that covenant is still enforce upon you and I as descendants of those twelve tribes. We shall hear its words and we shall need to grapple with its implications. Especially at this time of year.

Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech Deuteronomy 29:9 – 31:30

Rabbi Denise L. Eger

We are counting down. This is the last Shabbat and the last Torah portion of 5770. We read this double portion Nitzavim-Vayelech as the year draw to a close. We are reminded in these closing verses of the book of Deuteronomy that we can turn away from our sins and return to God. We are reminded even as Moses will soon be gone that God knows that the Children of Israel will stray from the covenant. It is almost as if God expects it. Verse 20 of Chapter 31 says:

When I bring them to the land which I have sworn to their forefathers [to give them], a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat and be satisfied, and live on the fat [of the land]. Then, they will turn to other deities and serve them, provoking Me and violating My covenant.