strangers

November 7, 2014
By bethmordecai
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Parashat Vayera (וירא) — Raping Foreigners

Parashat Vayera 2014/5775 (Triennial II) -- Raping Foreigners In this week's Parashah, we read how the men of Sodom came to Lot's home to demand that he release the men staying in his home so "v'neid-ah otam, so that they can rape them (Genesis 19:5). This trope of raping foreigners is echoed later in the Bible in Judges 19:22. Why are the men in both of these stories doing this to the foreigners in their midst? What can these stories teach us about the power of rape and attitudes to foreigners? Do these stories have anything to teach us today? Classes from other years: Parshat Vayera[...]

Category : home Online Learning Online Parashah Class
Tag : foreigners Genesis 19:5 home Judges 19:22 land online learning online parashah class power ramban rape sanhedrin sanhedrin 109a strangers talmud vayera weekly torah portion וירא

strangers

September 19, 2014
By bethmordecai
no comments.

Parashat Nitzavim (נצבים)-Vayelekh (וילך) — Stranger Danger

Parashat Nitzavim/Vayelekh 2014/5774 (Triennial I) -- Stranger Danger In this week's Torah portion, Moses tells the Israelites that "you stand this day, all of you, before the LORD your God...even the stranger within the camp, from woodchopper to water drawer" (Deuteronomy 29:9-10). The Hebrew text does not intimate a separation between the "strangers" and the "Israelites," but the rabbinic commentator Panim Yafot (18th Century, Poland & Germany) points to how even in this text the strangers the Israelites must be wary of strangers. As we approach the High Holidays and open our communities to all people who seek Jewish wisdom, how does this text help us (and how does it NOT help us) understand how to welcome strangers into our communities? Join us[...]

Category : home Online Learning Online Parashah Class
Tag : Deuteronomy 29:10-11 high holidays nitzavim online learning online parashah class panim yafot strangers welcoming גרים נצבים פנים יפות