Deuteronemy Va'etchanan Verses 3:23 - 7:11

We join the Israelites in the Valley of the Jordan River waiting to be allowed into the Promised Land. Moses can not go into the Promised Land though. Moses has not trusted God and has not been honest enough to enter the Promised Land. Anyways Moses is talking to the people about God wants. This makes me think of Palin's recent resignation speech.

Deuteronomy really did review this week. The ten commandments were right in the middle of this parsha. What I liked here is that God did not mention what happened in the desert. He did not mention how the fathers and grandfathers of the people before Him had betrayed God, but God mentions the Ten Commandments and all of the sudden the V'ahavta comes up.

The V'ahavta is a prayer that begins with the Sh'ma and ode to how there is only one God in the heavens and the Earth. Is it just a coincidence the prayer is right after God talks about the Ten Commandments. If you remember the Israelites made a fake idol because they were bored of having no Moses when he was getting the Ten Commandments.

As for Moses resigning, it makes me think of baseball. We all do bad things, but not all of us deceive our people. David Ortiz said in February any person that took steroids should be abolished from baseball. Yesterday, a report was released that David Ortiz took steroids himself. Should the A-Rods, the Manny's and the Papi's of the world get to go into the Hall of Fame? Is the Hall of Fame, the chance of being remember for eternity, their Promised Land?

Deuteronomy Devarim Verse 1:1-3:22

We are in a new book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. I have heard that it is a review and wrap-up of the Torah. We will see if that is true. This week however it was not. We are out of the desert! Finally. No more wandering. Last week, I talked about honesty and respect. This week I will focus on trust. Honesty and trust are like Batman and Robin. If one is missing, the other will not work on its own. Once the Israelites are finally out of the desert for betraying God, they blow it. God tells them that over the mountain in Jordan is the Promised Land, but the Israelites do not believe him. They do not trust him.

Since they do not trust God, they send in a few men to inspect the Promised Land. Obviously, if it was promised it will not be too shabby. God gets very upset at his people. He gives them the freedom and they do not trust him. Sometimes as we experience the hardships of life like the Israelites we lose our sense of trust too.
Only a few of the grown Israelites made it into Israel. The innocent children also make it.

When bad things happen to us, we lose our faith. I have a story. One of the days after my sister's bat mitzvah I asked God a favor. I asked him to keep all four of my grandparents healthy for my bar mitzvah three years later. At times things have been shaky, but God-willing they can all come in good health. What I do when I lose trust with God which does happen when I am upset, is simply say I am sorry. If we all just trusted everyone around us including God, we would feel better. If we all were honesty to everyone around us including God, we would trust each other more. Honesty and trust go hand in hand.

Numbers Matot and Masei Verses 30:2-36:13

Two parshas in one week again! I only had the time to do one, but I thought I should let you know there were two.

Matot-This parsha focused on one thing, how valuble honesty is. It says if a woman breaks her vow while in her father's household and her father has no objection, the father continues to trust the woman. If her father has objection no promises will be trusted again. Does how honest we are depend on our parents? According to the Torah, Honest Abe's dad is the guy that had an objection and Bernie Madoff's dad is the one that let it go.

With honesty comes loyalty. People wonder why God made the Israelites wander in the desert for 40 years. Loyalty. The Israelites did nothing wrong in Egypt, but God felt after being in the desert for a year or two his people had betrayed him. When we leave our mothers and fathers, do we betray them? We have no one telling us rules. Rules our parents were strict about. God, our almighty parent, granted us freedom. Did we betray him? We complained and distrusted God's decisions. We even made a golden idol to replace God. God did not let the same people who crossed the Red Sea into the promised land. He let them wander for 40 years instead. In a way, people who have no respect for their parents after they leave and get involved with drugs or other bad things wander for 40 years too.

Numbers Balak Verses 22:2-25:9

This week's parsha was a story about 2 opposite people. Our first character was Balaam. He is lives by the Euphrates River and must do as the Lord commands. Balak is king of Moab, a land closer to the land of Egypt. He would like to curse the Israelites who are traveling near by to prevent from being conquerred. Balak sends his servants to call Balaam to help with the cursing.

Balaam refuses to go to Moab, relying on his faith. God told him not to go. Balaam's faith is so strong that he would not go for a house full of gold and silver riches as Balak promised. I do not think I would go for a house full of gold and silver riches either.

Then, God tells Balaam he may go. Balak orders Balaam to build seven alters and sacrifice seven rams and seven bulls. Each time God blesses the Israelites, he does not curse them at all. Balak tells Balaam to go home and that he will never get the riches which would have been rewarded to him. Balaam replies that he could not accept the riches unless God would let him. Balaam also tells of the destruction of the city of Ir. As usual,God and faith will conquer any sword.

Think back to the Holocaust. Many people ask how God could of let a thing like that happen. I reply he let it end. One reason I think is because of faith. The Jews of Europe celebrated Shabbat and remained Jewish as much as they could. In turn, the Jews were liberated. The Allies conquered Hitler. Faith conquered the Balak.

Numbers Chukat Verses 19:1-22:1

Last night when I read the parsha I felt a connection. Unfortunately yesterday we lost two very monumental members of the pop culture community. Michael Jackson was an amazing performer who could sing and dance like no one business. Farrah Fawcett was a stupendous actress. Chukat losses to very important people of the Israelite community. I could relate.

The first Israelite was Miriam. She was Moses's sister and helped him figure out he was a Jew. She made sure he was safe when they sent him down the river. The people were very sad to see her go. I would compare Farrah to Miriam because they were both not healthy. Farrah was going to die of cancer and Miriam was not the youngest Israelites in the desert. Miriam was the first death and made people quite upset.

I do not know if this is still true about people, but the Israelites were quite cranky after her death. Does the human spirit know how to cope with death? Maybe the passing just opened their eyes because the Israelites realized they are in the desert. They will not live forever. They ordered Moses ands Aaron speed the process up. They did not believe in God.

As a punishment for their loss of faith, God would not allow the brothers to enter the promised land. This got me thinking, do we die from loss of our faith? Faith is always a priority for me.

I would compare Aaron to Michael Jackson because it was a little more spontaneous. Aaron was a bigger name to. Michael Jackson was the king of pop, Aaron spoke for Moses when he faced Pharaoh.

We all deal with death different ways, but however we do it is not the joyous event ever. Whether its an Aaron and a Michael or a Farrah and a Miriam, death is an experience that Judaism or just faith can heal and I think prevent.

Numbers Behaalotchah Verse 8:1-12:16

When I read the Torah, I always try to have current events in mind. Behaalotchah brought the economy into discussion. God says that an Israelite should work from age twenty to age fifty. I do not know of ANY average American citizen who can retire at age fifty.

Although, there are some things that have changed since these times. Life expectancy was shorter back then. That shouldn't matter as much as it does. The economy may be bad, but I know people who have to work until their seventy just to have a stable retirement. Another change is that ancient Israelites did not have bills. Moses never had an electric bill or an insurance bill. Still, that is not worth twenty years of work. Israelites never paid for college! Aaron never had to think how expensive the ivy league schools were. Inflation also did not exist. There is ONE thing that I find unacceptable about our society.

When the Israelites were in the desert, God did not have celebrities in mind. Actors,athletes, and executives should not be the only ones who could retire by age fifty. God had the teachers in mind. The doctors, the pharmacist, and the single mom!

The reason that this economy is unstable like it is because we worship celebrities. You do not see six-year old talking about our founding fathers. Teenagers do not go home and turn on PBS. It is not a crime to watch television or play sports, but this is what I mean.

If a twelve year old met Derek Jeter, he would cherish that moment forever and RESPECT the athlete. The same child would be bored with a teacher on his first day of classes. It may not be that extreme, but are the baseball player and educator not both adults? All adults should get the same respect. Right?

Numbers Naso Verses 4:21-7:89

In the parsha this week, we set up the Jewish Judicial System. One similarity between the US and the ancient Israelite judicial systems is that EVERYBODY is equal. No man or woman is preferred over another. This seems like nothing to my generation because its been taught, but for an ancient civilization this was a huge feat. Woman were pretty equal in ancient Egypt because they got into power,but to get their power they usually murdered their brothers. Cleopatra had to "love" Caesar and Anthony just for power. In Greece, women were depicted as beautiful in mythology, but had NO rights. Rome, women were pictured as maids, chefs, and nannies. Although in ancient Israel, if you were a man you were punished, if you were a woman you were punished. WOMEN are in the Torah. We do not just have Adam, Cain, Abel, Abraham, Issac,Jacob and Moses. We have Eve, Sarah, Rebbecca, Leah, Rachel, and Miriam. God is not sexist. Why do we live in a sexist world?

Numbers Bamidbar Verses 1:1-4:20

As I start the book of Numbers, I realize it is the least known book of the Torah. Almost everyone knows Genesis and Exodus. Leviticus is well known too and Deuteronomy is just a review of it all. Is it really about numbers? Instead of trying to get one of my own points or interpretations across, my first goal will be to get the point of the story across.

We start in the desert. Israelites are traveling for only the second out of forty years. We now have all the laws written and all at Sinai is the past. God commands Moses to take a census of the sons of Israel, but not the Levites. Levites are the nobles of the Israelites.

Why is it that the under 2000 Levites rule of the 74,000 Judahs. Is that right? Slaves outnumbered the Spartans in ancient Greece. 2% of Ancient Rome was the Roman Elite. We don't call it Levitism. It is Judaism.

One thing I like about Ancient Israel is money does not rule everything. The sign of nobility in Biblical times was to guard the tabernacle. Similar to my beliefs, the Israelites believed that there was nothing more important than being true to God. You could be the sneakiest, dealer on Wall Street, but getting that money leaves out time for family and religion. No Torah or Avodah and the world can not stand. This dealer definitely had to do something in order to get his money and from what I know it is not always fair in the finacial world. Torah, Avodah, and Gemulit Hasadim (Torah, Worship, and Acts of Love and Kindness) is what the world stands on. To conclude, we may be in a cracked economy, but when you lose faith (this includes being with your family) we live in a cracked world. We hold the puzzle pieces.

Grandma's Prayer

Hi Everyone,

My grandma is going in for a serious surgery tommorrow and I just wanted to say I love you grandma.

"Mi Sheberach"

May the One who blessed our ancestors, Sarah and Abraham, Rebecca and Isaac, Leah, Rachel and Jacob bless all the ill among us. Grant insight to those who bring healing, courage and faith to those who are sick, and love and strength to all of us. God, let Your spirit rest upon all who are ill and comfort us. May we soon know a time of complete healing, a healing of the body and a healing of the spirit, and let us say, Amen.

If you know how to comment, please comment amen.

If not, just please say amen or email me at agraubart@msn.com and I will let my grandma know.

I love you grandma. Good luck!

Leviticus 25:1-27:34 Behar and Bechukotai

Another week of double trouble. Two portions one week! What I will do is interpret each parsha and then do both.


Behar- In this portion, God finishes his decree of laws. The people are just about in Israel when God says this phrase and I love it. It sums up Judaism.


" You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you set up a statue or a monument for yourselves. And in your land you shall not place a pavement stone on which to prostrate yourselves, for I am the Lord, your God. You shall keep My Sabbaths and fear My Sanctuary. I am the Lord." (Leviticus 261-26:2)


This basically says the Sh'ma which is one of Judaism's most beloved prayers and that said you have one God. This says you can not have other gods. If there is one thing I can say about Judaism it is this. The principal of one God. We may have gotten into trouble (Story of Purim http://www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/645995/jewish/The-Basic-Purim-Story.htm) Basically, we will not bow even to the highest king. A Jew's highest king is God. My follow up is "Why does God put the second commandment as we enter ancient Israel?"


Bechukotai- In this portion, God says the consequences of not following his laws. Throughout, Leviticus each law had its own consequence, but the overall laws have a group of consequences. Now, I do not follow every Jewish law, but as a good Jew I try to follow some. I have never killed, but also I have tried to ease my way into Kosher. Being Kosher are the Jewish food laws. I have given up shrimp because I don't like them. Even though I am on the tip of the iceberg, it feels fantastic to following a law.


I was reading the portion this week, and some consequences seemed familiar. Although, I know what they are I am not going to say them, but anyone can read the parsha here
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?AID=15585&p=complete
You can tell me the ways Jews have been punished that are in Leviticus parsha Bechukotai. Leviticus does not end like this though. It ends with these are the laws Moses was given on Mount Sinai. That is where the book of Numbers comes up.


Both-I think these go together because God gives you laws and then gives you the punishments. Cause and effect.

Leviticus Emor Verses 21:1-24:23

This parsha tells of 6 holidays. Although some people would say 5. The 5 people would say are Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Passover, and Shavout. I also count Shabbat. The debate I had this week was if Shabbat was a holiday or a commandment. I truly enjoy Shabbat and take it as a holiday, but technically it is our fourth commandment.


My parents always tell me never do something I will not put my mind to. Honestly, I give Orthodox Jews a TON of credit because I could never live that life style. I could never put my mind to it to be that strict and somewhere in my strict lifestyle I would stop enjoying Shabbat. I am not trying to say Orthodox Jews are too strict, but too strict for me. My parents also always tell me stick with your comfort level.



I do think it is important to celebrate Shabbat. I know that when you have fun with Shabbat you do it more often. I enjoy Shabbat and take it as a holiday. Let me know your opinion!

Leviticus Tazria and Metzorah Verses 12:1-15:33

Originally, I had no idea why there were TWO Torah portions this week. I was going to write an interpretation for Tazria and one for Metzora, but they go hand in hand. Both talk about hygiene and so far I'm getting really sick of hygiene. Every law is pretty much to keep the body clean. Some apply today, but some are for Ancient Israelites. Some are still used today like the Kashrut. Yet, some have disappeared like sacrifice. Jews were the cleanest of all ancient civilizations, but if you were super unclean you would be banished. Maybe it is not to spread disease, but think if that was you.

This past week I have been sick as a dog and although it was just a cold in ancient Israel I could be kicked out if it went on for weeks and weeks and weeks. Do you think that is fair?]

Leviticus Shemini Verses 9:1-11:47

This week's Torah portion began right where last week's left off. God is in the process of describing the sacrificial laws. I began reading and had not a clue of how to interpret what is already been told. It was the same as last week! All of the sudden God moves into how to consume the sacrificial animals and right then and there I realized this is what I was looking for.
I have been dying to know what it really means to be kosher! Personally, I know nothing about Leviticus and it hit me like a bus that these are the Kashrut or laws for being Kosher. I never knew they came from sacrifice. Repeating last week's interpretation, why do we keep the Kashrut laws, but never think of sacrifice?

I'm not going to say the Kashrut laws, but at the end of each it says the same thing. "He is unclean unto you". God never says you will be punished for breaking Kashrut. Just that you are unclean. Not being Kosher is not sin just unsanitary. God will punish you if you stay unclean, but not if you become unclean. The Kashrut were all designed with hygiene in mind. I recommend being Kosher because it shows your pride and respect towards God and his laws. My opposing point is today NO RESTAURANT IS KOHSER UNLESS THEY ARE MEANT FOR THE STRICTLY KOSHER. To conclude, do orthodox kids go to a kosher cafeteria in school? Do they have to go to a Jewish school because a cafeteria is not kosher? I can tell you my cafeteria is not Kosher.

Holocaust Essay Contest Winner

Zvi's Adventure

Dear journal

Wow 2000! It's a new millennium. I am Zvi and I never really cared about writing stories of my life, but its January 1, 2000 and now that I am turning 77 years old I thought I might as well tell you a little something. Where do I start anyways? I don't want to give you the talk. Whoa there, hold your horses! I guess I'll start on my seventh birthday……………..

The year is 1935. People crowd in Warsaw to greet the New Year. Being almost seven, I was as excited as lion about to catch its prey. The last few menorahs were coming out of the windows. I watch the clock strike twelve and I know that today is my birthday. I'm seven now and no one in the world could change that. As always my family sings happy birthday and we go to sleep. This ritual was my favorite. That is, until those despicable people
came.

When I was eleven, I was naïve. I felt tall and proud to be a man. I was working in my dad's bakery. I got up each morning at 5, ready to bake the fresh breads. During this quiet time in the city, I would enjoy watching beautiful sunrises. There was no hustle, no bustle, and it seemed that all tranquility met in that bakery. One day something peculiar happened, something very peculiar.

I thought I was tall until I saw this man. He stood firmly still. He had gigantic black boots and sleek black hair. His uniform was mustard and he never looked down at me. This man stood forward glaring at the dark horizon. Behind him were trucks and tanks. Fully loaded, I'm guessing. Soldier after soldier trudged onto the city streets. My mother pulled me away. In the house, my father was home from the bakery boarding the windows. My mother was rushing hiding prayer books, Haggadahs, and our menorahs. I queried, "Father what's going on?"

"Son, quiet!" he gave me shout and a glare." Looking at my mother with puppy dog eyes he quietly whispered, "They're coming." Glancing back at me he began to shout again, "Now I'm going to tell you to do this and nothing other than this. Whatever they ask you just say you cannot remember or you're not sure. And WHATEVER you do never reveal you are Jewish. Just say you do not know your religion," my father snarled.

"But why-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!!" my father screamed to the skies.

They burst down the door without even breaking a sweat and had some weird device. They pushed my father to the ground and measured his nose then the five men disappeared into the pouring rain.

All of us looked confused. At first, we all just sat there taking deep breaths. I didn't though. I looked outside and listened.

It was horrible. Horrible I say! Rain pouring down against the roof. People screaming rang throughout the city. Doors of houses were being charged down. The evening was August 31, 1939; the absolute worst evening of my life.

My father went to work the next morning along with myself and we were shocked. Each and every window was cracked down the middle. Not a single grain of yeast was to be found. Worst of all, no money was left in the locked cash register.

My friends Jim Smith and John Brown were nowhere to be found in the city. Their house was empty of all their belongings. Both of them were quite tall and had blonde hair and blue eyes. It wasn't just them. It was family after family; all who I knew for a fact weren't Jewish.

Nazi planes were always flying around. Sometimes they would fire a missile or two. Many people left. I wanted to get out of there as quick as possible, but my mother could not bear leaving the homeland. On Saturday of that week my father was questioned and as he described it harassed for wearing a tallis.

September was ok, but by October all was lost. My dad could not pay to repair the bakery windows and he had to close down until further notice. I was bummed not to smell the fresh breads, but unfortunately there were laws that our friends could not buy our baked goods.

Warsaw was blocked by a Nazi soldier wall. All with guns pointed at us. My father and I went into town quite surprised. At one point, a boy sold us armbands that had a Star of David on them. He claimed it was a decree. I did not understand this concept, but I afraid of my father being grumpier each day. My dad had to purchase one for my mom too. My brother Avi got a pass since he's only one year old. I did not because I was eleven.

Then, we saw our bank accounts sink down to the lowest valley. All our funds by law were held to 250 zlotys a week which I think is about $74 in US. On top of all this, I think a caught a glance of the Nazis building a wall, but I never saw any progress all winter. Worse was up ahead.

Soon, Nazi soldiers took away my father's bakery along with all the stores next to it. All of the owners were Jewish. Then, a week later they gave them to new owners. My dad really wanted work for we were a starving family, but the government never permitted it.

On December 1, the few Jewish stores that were not bought by Nazis had a Star of David on the window. Law after law was coming out. All of them were ridiculous and all anti-Semitic. We couldn't even take the train anymore. Days of torture went on and our house got messier. My parents were too miserable to cook or clean.

Nobody remembered to sing happy birthday to me this year. This was my favorite ritual.

When March rolled along, some more peculiar acts were presented to the Jews. Just about a month ago, wall construction began again, but this time it was really taking off. Then, people in gangs came along. Everyone in a gang wore the same uniform. They waved a Nazi flag and then out of the blue just started attacking people. One gang member was Braun. Braun moved here a very long time ago from Germany. He had blonde hair and blue eyes much taller than me. We went to pre-school together. We were practically best friends. That is until he killed my mother. Massacres happened in the village just after Purim. Authorities tried to stop it, but they had liar's eyes.

People were getting depressed although I was try to see some light at the end of the tunnel! My dad would just sit home all day crying over my mom. I called ZTOS who helped me through tough times. The Jewish Mutual Care helped families like mine. They gave us soups, breads, and pretty much anything to survive over the summer.

Yom Kippur came quicker than I thought it would. People died for God fasting. They passed out from starvation. Warsaw's Jews no longer had a chief rabbi. The ones who were left standing were told hideous news. Remember the wall I telling you about? That wall was going to replace soldiers by trapping us in this miserable place. The ghetto trapped us by barbed wire in November of 1940.

People started dropping like flies. Friends, congregants, teachers, and relatives were left in the street to die. Laying there stripped of everything they owned. Some died of starvation. Although, some like my father died of broken heart suicides. My brother and I were all alone to take on the world.

As criminal as it may be, I smuggled things into the ghetto. I had to. They only gave us Jews 184 calories a day. I had more than that this morning with eggs and a glass of milk. I needed more. I was thin as a rail, but I didn't care I gave my brother as much as he needed. Avi was the hope of the future.

Judaism by the way was fading quickly in Warsaw. Prayer services were banned and any speck of culture left was underground.

I fell asleep one Tuesday afternoon. I was starving. I woke up the next morning my brother was dead. I thought I might have killed my brother, and eventually I couldn't take it anymore.

I was on the verge of depression. I was going to become my father though. I was motivated to be free. It was midnight.

I dressed in all black and went to the fence like I was going to do my smuggling ritual for food. Instead, this time I just ran. I was free of Nazi oppression for this moment.

A month in the woods. I carried one thing. That one thing was my brother. I was destined to bury him in America. Have his eyes see the land of the freedom. Where else can a Jew can be a Jew! I lived off of the land eating berries and leaves. I think I had even more food than what they would have given me in the ghetto.

Soon enough, I'd say about one day at noon I reached the coast of Holland. I had heard of horrible tales of being stranded here for financial reasons. I certainly couldn't stay here and I certainly couldn't pay to board that boat. I boarded a cargo ship heading to New York City and when were clearly off shore I introduce myself.

At first, they were a little hostile towards me, but as I told them my story they changed. I told of my first night and of my family and finally I showed my brother. They said they would go right into to Ellis Island. I smiled as we travelled the Atlantic Ocean.

After that, life got better than ever. I went through Ellis Island. I became not Zvi Goldenstein, but Zachary Goldfarb. Times were tough. Stories of death camps floated around, but I was adopted into a loving family. They taught me to speak English and on January 1^st, 1942, I was sung "Happy Birthday" to again. I was free, I was free to be a Jew!

Works Cited (Order of Used Most)

• "Warsaw Ghetto." Aktion Reinhard Camps. 9 Mar 2009
  
• "Life in the Ghettos." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 5 Feb 2009 <http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/lghetto.htm>.
  
• "The Warsaw Ghetto." Warsaw-Life. 5 Feb 2009 <http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/warsaw-ghetto>.
  
• "Introduction." Dignity and Defiance The Confrontation of Life and Death In The Warsaw Ghetto. 5 Feb 2009 <http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.aspx?c=ivKVLcMVIsG&b=476119>.
  

Tzav Interpetation Verses 6:1-8:36

Sacrifice! This week's parsha was all about sacrifice. God said to Moses to tell Aaron and his sons that they should bathe and sacrifice to an altar. We always hear about holy sacrifice in the Torah, but we never read about it later in Jewish history. We hear lies in blood libel of Passover human sacrifice. It must of been important if a whole parsha about it is in Leviticus, the book of Jewish law. If it is God's law,why don't we do it? Did it just disappear? Was it a trend? Things fade out very quickly like the Yankees playoff probability in July of last season as the Rays and Sox started winning more and more. Then again, things do come back. Parish, McHale, and Bird came and gone. We now have Garnett, Pierce and Allen. I wondered if sacrifice is like my homework. It should be done, but it is not easy to get in and takes over life. When you go back to work today think about this, did sacrifice disappear for no reason? Will it come back? Would you do it if it was easy and not out of place?

NOTE: This week is Passover so there is no parsha. You can start reading next week's on this website: http://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/15576
Shemini Verses 9:1-11:47