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| Written by Rabbi Gold |
| Friday, 26 March 2010 18:02 |
 PARSHAT NITZAVIM - VAYELECHREADING THE TORAH "When all Israel has come to appear before the Lord your God in the place which he shall choose, you shall read this Torah before all Israel in their hearing." (Deuteronomy 31:11) This portion contains the fundamental law requiring the public reading of the Torah. Once every seven years at the festival of Sukkot, as the entire community gathered in Jerusalem, there was to be a public reading of the Torah. It was to be read in a way that men, women, and children could all hear (and this was before microphones.) Eventually the practice developed to read a portion of the Torah every Shabbat morning and afternoon, on festivals, new moons and fast days, and each Monday and Thursday morning. Eventually the practice developed for a public reading of all five books of Moses on Shabbat. In Babylonia the Torah was read in its entirety over the course of a year; in Palestine it was read over three years. Over the years the entire Jewish world followed the Babylonian practice, with a portion read each Shabbat covering the whole Torah in a year. This was the practice in our synagogue until one year ago. In recent years the majority of Conservative synagogues returned to the Palestinian practice of reading the Torah over a three year period. The reasoning behind that decision is that it made the reading shorter and easier for lay people to follow. Shorter readings made it easier to find Torah readers. And perhaps most important, with less time actually reading through the Hebrew text, more time could be spent learning what the Torah has to say. Every one of our neighboring Conservative synagogues made this change to a triennial reading; we were the last traditional hold out. Then last year we chose to do something unique. For the past year each Shabbat morning our members have been given a choice. In the main sanctuary, we offer fifteen to twenty minutes of Torah learning followed by the public reading of one third of the portion. In the chapel we offer a full traditional reading. Some have complained that we are dividing the congregation, but most of our members seem pleased with the fact that they can select which room to go into. We join back together for the haftarah, the sermon, and musaf. For me as a rabbi, this fulfills an important goal. Although on a personal level I prefer a full reading, I am not convinced that listening to a long Torah reading is the best way to reach most American Jews. Jews need to open the text in English translation, study together, and wrestle with the actually words. Not just Torah reading but Torah learning is now at the heart of our Shabbat morning services. Certainly we have always provided adult education Torah learning classes. But they reach far less people than our weekly learning sessions in the middle of services. This brings me to the heart of the message of this week's Torah reading. The Torah is not simply a scroll kept in the ark, respected but unknown. I know that Jews rise when the Torah is carried through the sanctuary, they bend over and kiss it, and they want the highest respect for these sacred scrolls. But the key issue is for Jews to struggle with what is actually written in the Torah. For the word "Torah" means teaching. At the heart of the Torah is the most profound question a Jew can ask - what is God's teaching? What does God want us to do under the covenant? To be a Jew is to learn Torah. I am searching for opportunities to teach Torah to our congregation. This will involve a variety of different classes in various venues at various times. But at the center of Torah learning in our new building will be the continuation of offering two choices each Shabbat morning. May we Jews continue to be a people who wrestle with Torah, not just on Shabbat but throughout the week. May You and Your Family Have a Joyous and Restful Shabbat. |
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 01 September 2010 10:08 |