"And they made the…holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it…HOLY TO THE LORD" Ex. 39:30
 

My favorite kippah, or sacred head covering, is black velvet, with a burnished gold woven headband, and Hebrew words inscribed on its metallic clasp. When I place it on my head, I feel some of the awe and power ascribed to the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest described in Exodus 39:30. "And they made the plate of of the holy crown of pure gold and wrote upon it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: Holy to the Lord."

Our Torah portion this week begins this way, “And these are the names.” In beginning the history of the Jewish people in Egypt, Torah recounts the names of all the sons of Jacob, the heads of the tribes, who came into Egypt with him. These names are from more than 3000 years ago.

Ki Tavo- My Mothers and Father Were Wandering Arameans

People are always asking me about my background. “Where did you grow up? What were your parents like? Were they religious?” It seems to be part of a getting-to-know-you ritual. This sense that roots matters seems to be programmed into us, like a spiritually genetic piece of DNA. Judaism understands this well: in fact it commands us to remember our origins—in our daily prayers, in our Shabbat and holiday prayers, and through our rituals.

by Rabbi Alexis Roberts

Moses is now trying to get Pharaoh to let the people go, and it's not going well. His first request was rebuffed and the workload increased. In anguish, Moses turns to God to ask why the people are even worse off than before. As this week's portion begins,
God reaffirms the purpose of Moses' mission and restates the covenant between God and the people. God forewarns Moses of

Simchat Torah is the one of the happiest days in the Jewish calendar, but for me it has an undercurrent of sadness, because my beloved father passed away three days after, in 1990. The weeks before his passing were also painful, and my body remembers this year after year, as I spend one day weeping for no conscious reason, usually between Rosh HaShannah and Yom Kippur.

"And G*d spoke to Moses, and said to him: "I am Adonai (YHVH), and I appeared to Abraham to Isaac, and to Jacob,
as El Shadai, G*d Almighty, but by My name Adonai I made Me not known to them." Exodus, Shemot 6:2.
Have you ever wondered what the Torah means when it says, And G*d spoke..?" As in the quote above, the second Torah portion in the book of Exodus, Va-ayra, begins this way.

Receiving a sacred message

The year after my Bat Mitzvah at age 36, I longed to study as much about Judaism as I could. In those days, there were no "Introduction to Judaism" classes in almost every synagogue, as there are now. The only class that met my needs was one offered to prospective converts— "The Conversion Class," it was called. In that class, no question was too simple, or too naïve. All questions were welcomed. I felt at home.

by Gabby Handler

Gabby Handler participated in Reclaiming Judaism's Bar/Bat Mitzvah Family Adventure Workshop series
which are available to be hosted by congregations and havurot. A new trend is for students to interpret
their Torah portion through the lens of their interests and talents, perhaps art, drama, music and in Gabby's case, beautiful, powerful poetry.

We had been dragging our tired feet along the burning sand
The dread of not knowing where we would end up
tore at our hearts.

Last week my husband and I went to spend a day with a psychologist who has made a career of helping men and women have more loving and lasting relationships. The room was filled with hundreds of people—some single, some young marrieds, some who had been married for twenty or thirty years. All had come because they found it hard, if not impossible, to sustain the intense feelings of romance that had pulled them together in the first place.