The planting of an orchard, or center of hospitality, could be a whole episode, or maybe an entire series, in a serial story. Within the plot-heavy Torah portion Vayera, ([“And he saw”]: Gen 18:1-22:24 — see My Jewish Learning), however, this bit of narrative can be easily overlooked or dismissed -- it seems so small, … Continue reading Planting Trees, Stretching Glitter
Author: vspatz
Virginia blogs on general stuff a vspatz.net and more Jewish topics at "A Song Every Day. Manages WeLuvBooks.org. CommunitythruCovid.com is on hiatus.
Reading Wrong
If we start with the intention of learning to build community, how will the questions we ask of Torah change?
Structure and Blessing
Short note on a connecting root shared by birah and berakha.
Across and Afire
An individual perceived a structure aglow and asked: "Is no one in charge?" God responds: "We are!"
Bent Word of the Week
In the spirit of noticing words with a meaning related to "bending," here are some notes on the root bet-reish-chaf (barakh; berekh)
Purposes and Purpose: Ecclesiastes and Babel
This post looks at the contrast between "every purpose" and "common purpose" in Ecclesiastes and the Babel story and some related matters of language and poetry.
Faith Resources from Gender Spectrum
Among the many useful resources at Gender Spectrum, is this set of responses to "clobber passages" in sacred text, Jewish and Christian. https://www.genderspectrum.org/articles/faith-resources-clobber
Every Purpose, Everywhere, All Day, All Genders
Our brains tend to create a continuum of experience between birth and death, laughing and weeping. Why, then, are we stuck with the binary, with no spectrum, when it comes to male and female?
What God Has Twisted: Sukkot Addendum
"Who can straighten what God has twisted?" The Book of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes), which many communities read during the Shabbat of Sukkot or at other points during the festival, tells us: Consider God’s doing! Who can straighten what [God] has twisted? So in a time of good fortune enjoy the good fortune; and in a time … Continue reading What God Has Twisted: Sukkot Addendum
Haazinu: Crooked, Twisted, Bent, and Wet
Maybe crookedness is, contrary to Moses' perception, part of how we survive, retain, and share essential aspects of Torah and divinity.
Rereading Torah Towards Liberation 