Voices of WRJ

by Ellen Bick Earlier in Exodus, the Israelites are told that God expects them to be a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” And thus, in this Torah portion, Parashat T’tzaveh, God appoints Aaron and his sons as priests, and depicts the strong male-dominated society in which Aaron lived.

by Rona Weinstein In Parashat T’rumah, our ancestors are still in the desert leading what I imagine to be physically-challenging lives. It comes as a startling surprise, at least to me, when God proposes that Moses take charge of one of the most complex building projects of all time.

by Dara Amram Parashat Mishpatim begins a section of the Torah, the Book of the Covenant. It expands upon last week’s Parashat Yitro and presents the basic laws comprising a just society.  This includes laws, ritual instructions, and moral exhortation. It starts by going right into the social justice code of the Torah. There are two understandings of our relationship between us and God. We undertake to accept God's laws, but we also accept a responsibility for the welfare of our fellow Jew. This week's parashah is the focus on that second responsibility, that of caring for each other. If we don't care for the welfare of the other, then we've failed to maintain our own social justice. The Torah is clearly telling us that we have a responsibility to include anyone into society even a Jew that we would have a reason to exclude.

by Sharon Zydney This week’s Torah portion, Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23) is by many considered the classic leadership parashah, outlining just how important it was (and still is) to share the burden and, as a leader, to not act alone. Yitro, after observing his son-in-law Moses being overwhelmed by the number of people coming to him for advice, proclaims that the “task is too heavy for you, you cannot do it alone (18:18).” To ease his burden, Yitro proposes a hierarchy with groupings in “thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens” and instructs Moses to find “capable men who fear God, trustworthy men who spurn ill-gotten gain (18:21).”