Summary:
In our portion, God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that in every seventh year, the land shall observe a Sabbath of complete rest: Fields should not be sown and vines should not be pruned. After forty-nine years, a jubilee year is to be celebrated when all the land that had been sold during that time should be returned to its original owners and slaves are to be freed. God then instructs Moses to tell the Israelites not to make idols, to keep the sabbath, and to venerate the sanctuary of the Eternal.
Lessons from our Haftarah - Jeremiah 32:6-27:
Our Torah portion teaches about the importance of keeping a family’s title to their ancestral land. It commands that if a family member is in financial difficulty, another family member should come and help, so that his family can keep the land. Jeremiah, in our haftarah, actually fulfills this law in a symbolic way and in so doing brings hope to the people who are despairing while under attack by the Babylonians.
What could possibly be the most interesting aspect of our haftarah can be found in the present day Israel Museum in Jerusalem. In verse 12 we learn of a man named Baruch. It’s not often in the Torah or the Haftarah that we learn about people by name and it’s even more infrequent that we learn about someone whom we can prove, through archeology, actually existed.
In the Israel Museum a stamp-seal impression is on display. When a document was sealed, a wax stamp was placed on the closure. In the stamp was the seal of the scribe. In this stamp, we find and impression which reads: “property of Berach-yahu ben Neri-yahu, the scribe. With this ancient stamp impression, we find proof of a scribe named Baruch the son of Neriah – exactly the name of the person described in our haftarah.
Baruch, and Jeremiah, lived in a time when most people did not have the ability to read or write. While rulers and prophets were most likely literate, they always had scribes at their side, who transcribed their documents and kept their records. Baruch served in this role for Jeremiah.
Over the generations legends have been told about Baruch. He is known to have been loyal and steadfast, which earned him the love of the people. Several lesser- known books from the time tell tales of visions and miracles that he performed. While Jeremiah is the name most known, it is Baruch who is beloved by the people. And it is Baruch whom we actually meet, through his stamp, when we visit the Israel Museum.
Are abortions legal according to Judaism? This is a question currently being asked in Italy and the US. Below is a piece written by a friend and colleague, Rabbi Mara Nathan of Temple Beth-El in San Antonio Texas. She gave me permission to share it with the Beth Shalom community.
The content of the leaked Supreme Court Draft Opinion [In the US] regarding Roe vs. Wade, while not surprising, is still quite unsettling. Despite claims from [Judges] Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Coney Barret at their confirmation hearings that they had no interest in contesting Supreme Court precedent regarding legal access to abortion, there can no longer be any question how they feel about the 1970 decision. So, while we wait for an official decision to be issued, it seems likely that the Court will dismantle Federal protections for access to abortion services, reserving that power for individual states.
What might be the Jewish response to this impending reality?
When opponents of abortion access use religious and moral language to inform their arguments, they attempt to speak for all people of faith. Yet, as I have written before, Judaism does not view abortion as a criminal act. Our tradition is clear that until a child is born it is not considered to be an independent being. The health and well-being of the mother always takes precedence over her unborn child. This perspective is not solely a Reform one but is consistent for all branches of Judaism.
[The recent] Torah portion, Kedoshim, offers us a way to think about this dichotomy through one of the most well-known verses in all of Torah: “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your neighbor as yourself, I am Adonai.” (Leviticus 19:18). Read Kedoshim here.
Ramban, the 13th century sage explains, “This commandment is not meant literally, for it is unrealistic to love another to this degree. Likewise, saving one’s own life- the halacha would teach- must take precedence over saving another. So it is written not ‘Love your neighbor- reyacha”’ but’“L’reyacha---Love towardsyour neighbor.’….A person should see himself as reaching towards...never begrudging another the maximum good he, [she or they] hopes for themself.”
In the context of the debate over abortion access, what does it mean to “love your neighbor as yourself”?
I think Ramban is emphasizing the importance of self-care as well as the need for empathy and respect for another person’s autonomous self. Supporting access to abortion does not mean that you would choose one for yourself. It means that you protect other people’s right to make informed, autonomous decisions about their own bodies and their own lives.
All human beings should be entitled to essential health care which, according to Jewish tradition, could include access to a safe and legal abortion. [We must] continue to proactively facilitate conversations about reproductive health, reproductive rights, and reproductive justice. To love your neighbor as yourself does not mean that you can require that they act and believe just as you do, but rather that you protect their welfare and well-being. In this case, it refers to their ability to make autonomous decisions about their own body.
Rabbi Mara Natha
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Don Goor