Finally we got to hear God’s response to Bnot Zelophechad’s (Zelophechad’s daughters) request to be able to inherit their father’s land! Spoiler: God agrees with them and thinks their request is completely just. We dove deeper into the situation of women in the Torah and discovered that men had autonomy in the Torah but that women, children, and slaves did…
Makom Community News & Blog
Makom Community News & Blog
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Everyone Counts – Justice and the Census
Who counts? We all do! Or at least, we think we all should. Last week we began looking at the story of Bnot Zelophechad (the daughters of Zelophechad). In this story, a man named Zelophechad died, leaving behind 5 daughters and no sons. At this point, women could not own land or property. With no men in the family to…
Physical Reminders and Making Good Choices
How do we remember things? What kinds of reminders do we use to help us? Last week we unpacked the text of the third paragraph of the Shema prayer that we say every day during tefilah. “That shall be your tzitzit (fringe); look at it and recall all the mitzvot (commandments) of God and observe them, so that you do…
Criticize Torah, but Make it Justice
Last week we explored a story in Torah which dealt with some pretty challenging themes of punishment and justice. Some people in Bnei Yisrael had relationships with people in another community that weren’t healthy and that God didn’t like. Those relationships led people in Bnei Yisrael to pray to idols instead of God. God, in a fury, sent a plague…
BMitzvah Builds for the Chaggim!
“It takes a village!” This was the refrain the day BMitzvah headed to Makom Community to build our sukkah. “There’s a catch,” I told them. “There are no instructions.” Nathan and Leo were thrilled! Nathan reminded me that he’s been building from Legos without instructions for years and Leo said that building without instructions is his favorite way to build…
Consequences and Punishments and Justice – Oh My!
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Is this justice in general? Is it how we do justice at Makom Community? What kind of justice system do we want reflected in our brit (two-way promise) for this year? Keep reading to find out! Garinim What’s a punishment? How is it different from a consequence? Which should…