Shabbat shalom. I would like to thank everyone for being with me at such a special time. A special thank you for those of you who have travelled long distances to be here. I wish to express my gratitude to Rabbi Rosen for helping me write this speech, and working with me on Sundays throughout the year. Thank you, too, to Cantor Friedland for tutoring me on my chanting. I regret that you cannot be here, but thank you to Uncle Kenn and Aunt Susan for all your effort and hard work in making this all happen. Thanks to my wonderful brother. And last, but certainly not least, I do not know how to sufficiently show my appreciation for everything that my parents have done. Thank you, Dada, for all of the time and effort you have put in to this event, and for all of the organizing that you have done. Thank you, Mama, for keeping me on track throughout the process, for making me practice my recitations, and for making such a marvelous tallit. I am especially grateful to both of you for supporting me from before I could say, “Baruch atah adonai”, all the way until this very moment.
My parsha, Kedoshim, is in the book of Leviticus. In this section, God tells Moses to speak to the Israelites. He tells them to be holy, because God is holy. Various commandments are enumerated, including several that are quite well-known. Among these are the decrees to honor one’s father and mother, not to reap all the way to the corners of one’s field, and to love thy neighbor as thyself. There are also listed numerous bans on incest, homosexuality, spirituality and bestiality.
One verse in my parsha is particularly interesting. Leviticus 20:13 says, “And if a man lies with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” What this statement seems to be suggesting entirely undermines our deeply-held beliefs of equality. Gays and lesbians are as important a part of our society as are any other group of people. To say that the passage’s suggested action is “out of the question” would be a terribly vast understatement. Why, then is there a statement that homosexuality is a capital offense in the Torah? How can we deal with the fact that there is, what seems to be, such an unspeakable commandment in the most sacred book of our people?
I, taking on a rather secular viewpoint, have come to terms with this line through the method of Biblical criticism. This treats the Torah as a work written by human hands, for a specific purpose, at a specific time, in the ancient Near East. From this perspective, it is clear that homosexual acts were forbidden in Biblical times. However, by this method, we are not required to affirm this truth today. What was considered an abomination 2,500 years ago, might be completely socially acceptable today.
One may also interpret the text to function with it. Many of the traditional interpretations uphold the plain meaning of the passage. Rashi and Maimonides are two commentators to do so.
The second-century commentator Bar Kapparah, however, states that the rather ambiguous Hebrew, “to’evah,” which is the word used to describe homosexuality, has a different meaning than the conventional translation. He proposes that it does not mean “abomination” as it is usually translated. He argues that it means “To’eh ata ba,” or that “you go astray because of it.” He said that this signifies that homosexuality is not intrinsically bad, but rather that it often leads to evil acts. Bar Kapparah did not specify what this other evil is. Some medieval texts suggest that this wickedness from homosexual acts is that it leads people away from the main purpose of sexual behavior – specifically, procreation.
One modern interpretation of the text, by Arthur Waskow, follows the exact wording of the passage more closely. He says that “do not lay with a man as one would with a woman” is not a ban on gay and lesbian behavior. Instead, he says that it is saying to treat relationships with men different from relationships with women. He states that the Torah simply says not to confuse gay love with straight love.
This lesson is important to me, as an adolescent in the Jewish community. Although this ceremony marks my becoming an adult in Judaism, I am still a relatively young individual. As such, my opinions and beliefs are easily changed and molded. This means that I must use judgment in interpreting what the Scripture means to me. If I do not, then it would be a simple matter to get the wrong idea. With as much homophobia as is encountered in even a single day, any anti-gay feelings that someone my age might have could fester and even be encouraged.
I would like to close with a communal discussion question, relating to the message stated previously. How else may we, both straights and gays, deal with these words of Leviticus that are so harsh to the ears of our society?
Ari Bearman & Seth Bearman — Celebrating Together
5/2/11
Seth's D'Var Torah
While reading my parsha, Kedoshim, I thought of several questions about the confusing words of the Torah. Thinking a little bit deeper, I realized just how much of the Torah is so cryptic that it could be interpreted many different ways. When I reflected further on each of my questions, I found that they all fell back into the topic of my portion – Kedoshim, or holiness. This couldn’t have been a coincidence, though – whoever wrote the Torah must’ve had a clear idea of what people would discover when they looked at the text more closely. Probably the most important idea I had from my questions was exactly what we can do to the words of the Torah to interpret them. By this I mean, how we can read its meaning in different ways so it can make sense and be applied to our daily lives.
I knew that many times in the Torah, Moses literally speaks with God, which, last time I checked, I thought was impossible, (I doubt God is a physical presence who beams down and talks to people). This brought me to come up with several interpretations: 1) When Moses “talks” to God, it really means Moses is doing what I did, reflecting on words of advice he’s been given; 2) When the Torah says God, it means something hard to put into words, or perhaps an elder or friend of Moses’; and 3) Maybe, the Torah uses Moses as a guide to tell people how to become a good person, because Moses has flaws like any other human. Well, these ideas were on the right track, but I couldn’t go anywhere with them individually, so I decided to combine them.
For me, when God and Moses are mentioned throughout this part of the Torah, Moses can be replaced with people, and God can be switched out for the laws. This makes sense, because at the beginning of my portion, you’ll find the words, “The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them…”, which are then proceeded by many different rules God has given to Moses. Translation: “If a person reflects upon the laws, and thinks about them for a while, they will find new meaning in them, to share with others. So think about these laws, and come up with your own understandings of them, and use them as your own moral guide.” But if all of this is true, and if when you think about something, you’re really “discussing it with God,” then was God the one who told me about this, when I reflected on the Torah? This was really interesting to me, and I decided to go back and chat with the Sovereign of the Universe a little more.
A lot of these laws are very specific, rather than modern day rules, which are very general. In fact, some of the instructions are so precise that they seem almost useless. Maybe that’s because they don’t pertain to us as much in this modern time period. Of course, we can’t just disregard the Torah – that would be a bit sacrilegious, wouldn’t it – so the only option left is to interpret these rules a bit.
Let’s start with this one: “When you sacrifice an offering of wellbeing to the Eternal, sacrifice it so that it may be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the day following; but what is left by the third day must be consumed in fire.” As you may have figured out, we don’t do a whole lot of sacrifices these days. While in the time of sacrifices, these specifics may have been important to the priests, we can still find meaning in them today. Maybe it means something about dinner and eating leftovers. Make the dinner so that everyone can enjoy it, not just you. Why? Because it’s being nice to your family. It’s fine to eat the dinner the night you’re supposed to, or for leftovers the next day, but if you eat it on the third day, you’re going to get sick. Although it doesn’t sound very important, it shows that most of these laws are rooted firmly in the idea of holiness – more specifically: respect, common sense, and geniality.
Let’s try something a little more serious: “You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity. You shall have an honest balance, honest weights, an honest measure, and an honest gallon.” Translation: “Don’t lie to your customers or cheat someone to make a quick buck. Be honest in your business. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.”
You may have noticed that all of my interpretations end in me asking why we do these things. Well, that is because almost every law in my Torah portion is followed by, “I am the Eternal, your God and Ruler.” Well, if we are using God to represent laws, does that make sense? “I am the Eternal, your laws.” Nope. Maybe this phrase is used more for emphasis to remind us of why we are doing these things. It’s not because God told you to, it’s because it’s the right thing to do. Remember, about the time the Torah was written, Israelites were the only ones who thought there was just one God, a Sovereign of everything. That was also when they took the laws literally. The reason they followed the laws WAS because God said so. Now that we are bold enough to think of things from a different angle, we can understand that that phrase still means the same thing, but for a different reason. It tells us that all of these rules do not have to be followed, because there are no punishments, but they should be followed, because that is the right, just, and moral thing to do.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all of the people who supported me through this process and helped me write this speech. I’d like to thank my parents and siblings, for encouraging me over the past few months; Naomi Weiss and Cantor Luck for teaching me the prayers, blessings, and cantillations for my Torah and Haftarah portions; Marci Dickman and my mom for helping me write my D’var Torah; and Rabbi London for doing the service with me. Shabbat Shalom.
I knew that many times in the Torah, Moses literally speaks with God, which, last time I checked, I thought was impossible, (I doubt God is a physical presence who beams down and talks to people). This brought me to come up with several interpretations: 1) When Moses “talks” to God, it really means Moses is doing what I did, reflecting on words of advice he’s been given; 2) When the Torah says God, it means something hard to put into words, or perhaps an elder or friend of Moses’; and 3) Maybe, the Torah uses Moses as a guide to tell people how to become a good person, because Moses has flaws like any other human. Well, these ideas were on the right track, but I couldn’t go anywhere with them individually, so I decided to combine them.
For me, when God and Moses are mentioned throughout this part of the Torah, Moses can be replaced with people, and God can be switched out for the laws. This makes sense, because at the beginning of my portion, you’ll find the words, “The Eternal One spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them…”, which are then proceeded by many different rules God has given to Moses. Translation: “If a person reflects upon the laws, and thinks about them for a while, they will find new meaning in them, to share with others. So think about these laws, and come up with your own understandings of them, and use them as your own moral guide.” But if all of this is true, and if when you think about something, you’re really “discussing it with God,” then was God the one who told me about this, when I reflected on the Torah? This was really interesting to me, and I decided to go back and chat with the Sovereign of the Universe a little more.
A lot of these laws are very specific, rather than modern day rules, which are very general. In fact, some of the instructions are so precise that they seem almost useless. Maybe that’s because they don’t pertain to us as much in this modern time period. Of course, we can’t just disregard the Torah – that would be a bit sacrilegious, wouldn’t it – so the only option left is to interpret these rules a bit.
Let’s start with this one: “When you sacrifice an offering of wellbeing to the Eternal, sacrifice it so that it may be accepted on your behalf. It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the day following; but what is left by the third day must be consumed in fire.” As you may have figured out, we don’t do a whole lot of sacrifices these days. While in the time of sacrifices, these specifics may have been important to the priests, we can still find meaning in them today. Maybe it means something about dinner and eating leftovers. Make the dinner so that everyone can enjoy it, not just you. Why? Because it’s being nice to your family. It’s fine to eat the dinner the night you’re supposed to, or for leftovers the next day, but if you eat it on the third day, you’re going to get sick. Although it doesn’t sound very important, it shows that most of these laws are rooted firmly in the idea of holiness – more specifically: respect, common sense, and geniality.
Let’s try something a little more serious: “You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity. You shall have an honest balance, honest weights, an honest measure, and an honest gallon.” Translation: “Don’t lie to your customers or cheat someone to make a quick buck. Be honest in your business. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.”
You may have noticed that all of my interpretations end in me asking why we do these things. Well, that is because almost every law in my Torah portion is followed by, “I am the Eternal, your God and Ruler.” Well, if we are using God to represent laws, does that make sense? “I am the Eternal, your laws.” Nope. Maybe this phrase is used more for emphasis to remind us of why we are doing these things. It’s not because God told you to, it’s because it’s the right thing to do. Remember, about the time the Torah was written, Israelites were the only ones who thought there was just one God, a Sovereign of everything. That was also when they took the laws literally. The reason they followed the laws WAS because God said so. Now that we are bold enough to think of things from a different angle, we can understand that that phrase still means the same thing, but for a different reason. It tells us that all of these rules do not have to be followed, because there are no punishments, but they should be followed, because that is the right, just, and moral thing to do.
In conclusion, I would like to thank all of the people who supported me through this process and helped me write this speech. I’d like to thank my parents and siblings, for encouraging me over the past few months; Naomi Weiss and Cantor Luck for teaching me the prayers, blessings, and cantillations for my Torah and Haftarah portions; Marci Dickman and my mom for helping me write my D’var Torah; and Rabbi London for doing the service with me. Shabbat Shalom.
3/23/11
Figuring Out the Website
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For a short list of fun things to do: click on the Things to Do tab (or this link). This covers a bunch of the biggies in Chicago, but there is more, much more, so if you are interested in something specific, do a Google search or contact us and we'll try to help.
We can't wait to see you all.
To RSVP: click on the RSVP tab above (or this link), complete the simple form and submit.
For Hotel Information: click the Hotel tab above (or this link) for the most current information. Rooms will be available for booking under our group rate early the week of 3/28. We will send an eblast announcing when it is ready.
For a Map and Directions: click on the Map tab (or this link) for a zoomable, clickable, printable map of all our venues over the bar mitzvah weekend.
For a short list of fun things to do: click on the Things to Do tab (or this link). This covers a bunch of the biggies in Chicago, but there is more, much more, so if you are interested in something specific, do a Google search or contact us and we'll try to help.
We can't wait to see you all.
