Category Archives: Parshat HaShavuah

V’Zot HaTorah…This is the Torah

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

(This poetic essay, like so many of the unpublished writings of Rabbi Sager, z”l, is the beginning of a sicha (conversation). Rabbi Sager eloquently likens his aging body to Torah. He has become a living Torah and suggests that others … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry, Torah | 2 Comments

We Are The Text

Posted on October 23, 2020 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Since ancient times, a ritually prescribed Torah reading—a parasha— has been known by a title taken from the prescribed opening biblical verse. In addition to its conventional designation, some sages have given us the precedent of calling a parasha by … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Parshat HaShavuah, Torah | 7 Comments

“I” Witness – The Song At The Sea

Posted on April 24, 2019 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

A fierce wind plowed the sea, piling a wall of water to either side of a seabed blown dry. Miraculously, there was stable footing for weary slaves—notwithstanding the wind that the sea itself could not withstand. Wind, walls of water, … Continue reading →

Posted in Holidays, Parshat HaShavuah, Passover, Poetry, Torah | Leave a comment

Hesed Is The Prayer And The Answer

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

When Sarah died at the age of 127, Abraham’s family lost its hesed, the caring, steadfast acts that connect people and sustain the world. Sarah’s hesed was unfailing, even in difficult times. Let this be your hesed to me, Abraham … Continue reading →

Posted in Blessing, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry, Torah | 2 Comments

Wholly Complete And Holy Incomplete

Posted on October 4, 2018 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

The Torah’s first creation story concludes: Va-yechulu…And the heaven and the earth and all of their ranks were finished. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done and rested on the seventh day from all … Continue reading →

Posted in Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry, Prayer, Shabbat, Talmud | Leave a comment

Naming The Unimaginable

Posted on October 29, 2017 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

At the harrowing end, a ram replaced Yitzhak as the sacrifice; a narrow escape that came only after two divine interventions to divert father Abraham from his unimaginable mission. Generations of rabbinic storytellers imagined even narrower escapes for Yitzhak, placing … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Names, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry, Torah | Leave a comment

Believe it—And Not

Posted on October 16, 2017 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Noah was lacking in belief, taught the 3rd century teacher, Rabbi Yohanan. If not for the water reaching his ankles, he would not have entered the ark. Lacking in belief? Noah, who fulfilled the twin tasks of building the great … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Parshat HaShavuah, Torah | 4 Comments

Forgetting Reminds Me…

Posted on December 14, 2016 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

The national election created in me a deep sense that I wanted to meet and speak with more of my neighbors. In my busy-ness, it’s easy to walk past the community of the every-day. That seems wrong to me now. … Continue reading →

Posted in Names, Parshat HaShavuah, Torah | 5 Comments

Created On The Second Day

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

When was love created? asked a modern Israeli poet. When were the angels made? an ancient sage inquired. Each question contains an essential quest: to read a detail of personal interest both into, and out of, the few verses of … Continue reading →

Posted in Angels, Midrash, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry | 1 Comment

A Branch of the Tree of Life

Posted on January 22, 2015 by Sicha, Continuing the Conversation

Moses’ staff escaped our notice completely until God drew attention to it by asking Moses: What is that in your hand? (Exodus 4:2). That staff is the most animated of all the inanimate objects in the Torah. Jolted from scaly … Continue reading →

Posted in Midrash, Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry | 6 Comments