Congregation Beth Mordecai
Congregation Beth Mordecai
An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
An inclusive congregation affiliated with the Conservative Movement.
Your Jewish Home for the Soul!
October 30, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
RABBI SAKS' WEEKLY ONLINE PARASHAH CLASS -- Watch the Latest Episode Here...
Take a "Torah" lunch break and join Rabbi Saks for his weekly Online Parashah class every Friday at 12 pm.
Watch episodes of Rabbi Saks' Online Parashah Class (according to the triennial cycle)
by clicking on this link or "Online Parashah Class" in the menu above
For a listing of classes according to each portion, click this link
Latest class...
Parashat Vayera 2015/5776: Where Is Home?
Beginning with Abraham, the Israelites are in constant search for home. Their existence is predicated upon the constant search for home and the reality of living in the diaspora or exile. Is it possible for the Israelites to truly ever reach home? Is it possible for us[...]
Category : Learning Online Learning Online Parashah Class videos-archive Tag : online learning online parashah class parashah parsha this week this week's episode
By bethmordecai no comments.
LIVE Today at 12 pm -- This Week's Online Parashah Class!
THIS WEEK...
Parashat Vayera 2015/5776: Where Is Home?
Beginning with Abraham, the Israelites are in constant search for home. Their existence is predicated upon the constant search for home and the reality of living in the diaspora or exile. Is it possible for the Israelites to truly ever reach home? Is it possible for us to ever find our true home? Or is life a constant search for it, with lots of stops along the way.
We'll look at this question through Abraham's search for home and in particular his sojourn in the land of the Philistines for "many days" (Genesis 21:34).
Join us for this fascinating class on finding home.
Classes from other years:
2012/5773[...]
Category : Online Parashah Class Tag : online parashah class parasha parsha weekly torah portion
September 25, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Haazinu 2015/5776: The Enemy of My Friend
In Moses' final instruction to Israel, he warns them that if they spurn God, then God will "hide God's countenance from them" (אסתירה פני מהם) (Deuteronomy 32:20). But curiously in addition to this threat of absence, God also warns the Israelites that God's support will be directed in favor of Israel's enemies: "They incensed me with "no-gods" (בלא אל)...I'll incense them with "a no folk" (בלא עם)" (Deuteronomy 32:21).
What is the difference between ABSTAINING from helping your friends versus AIDING your friends' enemies to hurt them? Does the identity of your friends' enemy matter? How does this relate to how we help or hurt our friends in our lives?
Photo is taken from[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : Assyria Chaldea Deuteronomy 32 Deuteronomy 32:20 Deuteronomy 32:21 God Haazinu Isaiah 23:13 Jonah kasdim Masechet Sukkah 52b moses Ninveh online learning online parashah class parsha כשדים
September 4, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Ki Tavo 5775/2015 (Triennial II) -- The Power of Blessing
Blessings are all around us; some are hidden and some are plain to see. It is part of the human condition to search out blessings because we know they have power. But what is that power? What makes us yearn to say "I bless you" and to experience the feeling of being blessed?
Join us to discuss the power of blessing through the lens of four discrete blessings in this week's Torah portion (Deuteronomy 28:3-6).
Photo taken from -- Photo taken by C. Jill Reed on Flickr -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulmatsherm/
Category : home Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : k'li yakar k'li yaqar keli yakar keli yaqar Ki Tavo online learning online parashah class parasha parashah parsha
August 13, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Vaethanan: All of Us Who Live
This week's Torah portion is full of goodies -- the 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 5:6-18) and the Sh'ma (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). By way of introduction, Moses reminds the Israelites that God made a covenant "with us" (עמנו) at Horeb/Sinai (Deuteronomy 5:2). Seems simple enough. But then he follows up by saying that "God did not make a covenant with our fathers" (לא את אבותינו כרת ה' ברית) rather did so "with us" (אתנו) "here today," (פה היום) "all of us who live" (כלנו חיים) (Deuteronomy 5:3). Why the extra language? Don't we know that God made a covenant with the people from verse 2? Isn't verse 3 redundant? Perhaps, but perhaps the extra language gives us[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : online learning online parashah class parsha vaetchanan vaethanan weekly torah portion
July 24, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat D'varim 2015/5775 (Triennial II): Does Financial Success Come From God?
Most people know the biblical account of manna from heaven: God provides food from heaven for the Israelites in the form of "manna," a bread like substance that according to rabbinic tradition tastes how you want it to taste. Likewise, the Israelites often stop in the desert for God to give them water. But In the triennial section of this week's Torah portion, we read something different: the Israelites had to PAY the tribe of Esau for food and water (Deuteronomy 2:6)! Because the food and water are no longer "free," does it mean that God does not provide it for them? This does not seem to be the[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : deuteronomy esau God jacob money online learning online parashah class panim yafot parsha ramban rashbam rashi wealth דברים
July 17, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Matot Ma-asei -- Will You Go to War With Me?
The Iran Deal agreed to this past week calls into question the ways in which regional powers (Israel, Gulf States) relate to their allies abroad (America, France, Great Britain, etc.). Are their allies standing by them or leaving them to deal with potential consequences of the deal?
This week's triennial Torah portion (Numbers 32 and 33) appropriately deal with the issue of whether "allies" (i.e. tribes) will go to war with their brethren if their immediate needs aren't threatened. Likewise, how willing are we to stick our necks out for our friends if we are not affected to the same degree as they are? Will we be present with them or[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : brothers crossing Jordan Gadites God ma'asei ma-asei matot online learning online parashah class or hachayim parsha Reubenites war מטות מעסי
July 10, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Pinhas 2015/5775 (Triennial II) -- Won't You Be My Messiah?
Rabbi Saks' weekly Online Parashah Class will share insight from the Jewish tradition on how YOU can identify the coming of the messiah. The messiah might be right next door...don't you want to find out!?!?
Picture from oren neu dag [Attribution]
Click here for a chronological listing of Rabbi Saks' Online Parashah Classes
Click here for a listing of Rabbi Saks' Online Parashah Classes by Torah Portion
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : abraham joshua heschel Book of Legends God king messiah Midrash online learning online parashah class parashah parsha pinchas pinhas priest prophets values weekly torah portion פנחס
May 8, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Emor 2015/5775 (Triennial II) -- Shabbat Appears Everywhere Shabbat (the day of rest) is mentioned countless times in the Torah, including in this week's Torah portion of Emor (Leviticus 23:3). Why does this command appear so many different times? Isn't once enough? Today we will explore a number of places in which the Torah commands the Israelites to observe Shabbat. We will try to glean meaning from each instance using the interpretive principle of "smikhut parshiyot" (סמיכות פרשיות), which teaches us that the meaning of a text can be gleaned by understanding the context in which it is written. Please join us for this interesting class on the meanings of Shabbat!
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Shabbat Tag : emor Leviticus 23:3 online learning online parashah class parsha shabbat weekly torah portion אמור
March 6, 2015 By bethmordecai no comments.
Parashat Ki Tissa 2015/5775 (Triennial II) -- Can the Chasm Between God and Humanity Be Bridged? In this week's Torah portion we read the famous story of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32) in which the Israelites rebel against God. But more than just a simple rebellion, perhaps this "sin" indicates that the chasm between the holy (God) and the mundane (humanity) is too great to bridge. This issue is also addressed in the verse that opens the Torah portion prior to the story of the Golden Calf in which Moses receives the Torah from God (Exodus 31:18). Does the Torah reflect God's direct word? Or,[...]
Category : Online Learning Online Parashah Class Tag : Allegory Authorship Bridge Cave Chasm Exodus 31:18 Exodus 32 Exodus Rabbah 41 God Golden Calf humanity ki tissa Midrash online learning online parashah class parsha Plato Tablets torah Write כי תשא