Pikuach Nefesh
The
Life
Mitzvah
One who saves
a life
is as one
who saved
the entire world |
Bal Tash-hit
The Environmental Mitzvah
Tolerating
no wanton destruction
of the
planet! |
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Think about this: The Patriarchs had
multiple wives and concubines, which is no longer a Jewish practice. Just over a
thousand years ago the studenet's of a sage known as Rabeynu Gershom instituted new guidelines requiring
polygamy, requiring only monogramy.
Also this: The bible gives the penalty of stoning to death for a
rebellious child. Capital punishment is a regular feature of the Torah. Whole
peoples are commanded to be annihilated if they get in the way of Jewish
sovereignty over
the land of Israel.
None of the practices above have emerged as
acceptable guidelines for contemporary Jewish living. We have consciously
amended our traditions, sometimes through decisions of our rabbis, judges and leaders and
sometimes through the collective determination of a given grouping within our people.
We are co-creators with The Source. This is one of
the most exciting times to be Jewish in the history of our people.
Today it is possible to live a Judaism which is deep,
joyful, respectful, healing, spiritual, pro-active, contemporary and grounded in
tradition.
The mitzvot offer spiritual lenses for our lives. The ideological
frame through which we interpret them will vary (Conservative, Reform,
Reconstructionist, Orthodox, renewal, post-denominational). Diversity is good, it takes all kinds
of Jews to fill out the potential of the mitzvot!
All this focused consciousness will accrue and lead, I believe
with perfect faith, to a better human future. This is what our sages mean by
describing the ways of Torah as darkhei shalom, pathways of peace.
B'shalom, Reb Goldie
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We learn through observation, the wisdom of HaShem in
creating the many varieties of flowers, animals, plants, fish, humans
and Jews.
May we respect and cultivate our diversity as has The One within which we co-create the
future.
Among many mysterious possibilities,
the one truth
we know for sure
is that the World to Come
is the one
we leave to our children.
Consider a visit to my son, Mark Beitman's
CyBar Mitzvah web site
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