This guest post is the D’var Torah that CBI member and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson offered at Shabbat Morning Services on Saturday, July 22, 2023.
“…Torah’s list of stops along our journey is a metaphor for the journey of an individual soul. The forty-two stops evoke the twists and turns of every human life: leaving Mitzrayim / places of constriction, seeking sustenance and purpose and our hopes fulfilled. And for us as for our ancient ancestors, the trajectory of the journey probably won’t be linear…”
“…When we despair we need someone to walk with us, to feel with us, and to remind us that when we feel most stuck, change can be waiting in the wings – even (or especially) if we can’t see it….”
“‘And God spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai,’ — the place of revelation; ‘in the ohel mo’ed,’ — both the tent of community meeting, and a sacred fixed point in time. That’s where this verse places us: in the wilderness, in the middle of nowhere — which is where God speaks (or maybe where we hear), where we’re receptive as satellite dishes, at the nexus of holy space and holy time…”
“This week’s Torah portion, Emor, gives us a roadmap for the spiritual flow of the Jewish year….”
This guest post is the D’var Torah that CBI member and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson offered at Shabbat and Pesach Morning Services on Saturday, April 8, 2023.
“…Granted, change may not be easy. Our spiritual ancestors went from Pharaoh’s frying pan into the fire of forty years of wilderness wandering. But the fact of a new path is hopeful even if the path is hard. Because nihilism and despair and paralysis say: nothing’s ever going to be different. What’s broken will always be broken and can never be mended, so it isn’t worth even trying. But it is worth trying…”
“…Those who seek to take away rights tend not to stop after taking rights or self-determination away from a single group…”
Who’s named and who’s not, what it means to remember (and forget) Amalek, and what this week’s Torah portion and Purim ask of us.
This guest post is the D’var Torah that CBI member and cantorial soloist Ziva Larson offered at Shabbat Morning Services on Saturday, February 25, 2023.
Follow us:
