Month: August 2023

The Torah portion כִּי-תָבוֹא (Ki Tavo – When you enter)¹ addresses the themes of offerings and ceremonies associated with entering the Promised Land. This portion highlights the importance of committing to God and respecting His commandments in order to merit His blessings.

Verse 26:2 designates the place dedicated to offerings:

וְלָקַחְתָּ מֵרֵאשִׁית כָּל-פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר תָּבִיא מֵאַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר יי אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ וְשַׂמְתָּ בַּטֵּנֶא וְהָלַכְתָּ אֶל-הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יי אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם
You shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the Lord your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses to make His name dwell there.

This chosen place is Jerusalem. The two Temples were erected there before being destroyed. At the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, near the Knesset and the Supreme Court, an outstanding 1:50 scale model² of the city during the time of the Second Temple is exhibited. Spanning over 2,000 square meters, it was meticulously designed under the supervision of the Israeli historian and geographer Michael Avi-Yonah³ for the Holyland Hotel⁴. Inaugurated in 1966, it was transferred to the Israel Museum in 2006. This 1:50 scale model accurately represents the Second Temple and the entire Old City of Jerusalem..

¹ Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8
² Elaborated primarily based on the writings of Flavius Josephus.
³ Michael Avi-Yonah (1904 in Lviv, Ukraine – 1974 in Jerusalem) was an Israeli archaeologist and historian. In 1919, during the Third Aliyah, he immigrated with his parents to Mandatory Palestine.
⁴ This initiative came to fruition in 1966 through the commission of banker Hans Kroch (1887-1970), owner of the Holyland Hotel, who had it constructed in memory of his son Yaakov, who fell in combat during the 1948 War of Independence.

The Torah portion כי תצא (Ki Tetzé – When you go out)¹ addresses a variety of laws and moral instructions, highlighting the importance of inclusion, social justice, and respect for nature. It provides guidelines for living in harmony with others and putting the ethical principles of Judaism into practice in daily life.

Verse 24:19 emphasizes the significance of kindness, solidarity, and love towards those in need, in alignment with the principles of Judaism:

כִּי תִקְצֹר קְצִירְךָ בְשָׂדֶךָ וְשָׁכַחְתָּ עֹמֶר בַּשָּׂדֶה, לֹא תָשׁוּב לְקַחְתּוֹ–לַגֵּר לַיָּתוֹם וְלָאַלְמָנָה, יִהְיֶה
When you reap the harvest of your field and forget a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to retrieve it; it shall be for the stranger, the orphan, and the widow.

The organization Urban Adamah embodies these values by intertwining agricultural practice, Jewish tradition, and Torah teachings. It promotes sustainable agricultural methods while fostering individual growth, social justice, and solidarity within the community. Located in West Berkeley, this faith-based community farm welcomes participants for a three-month program. They receive agricultural training and engage in Jewish spiritual practice rooted in the values of “חסד” (Hessed – kindness), “צדקה” (Tzedakah – justice), and “אהבה” (Ahavah – love).

¹ Deuteronomy 21:10-25:19

The Parsha שופטים (Shoftim – judges)¹ that we read this Sabbath is directly related to justice.

Discovered² in 1979, the Sublime House of Rouen is considered the oldest Jewish monument in France. It is an architectural complex³ of Romanesque style located at the heart of the Rouen Palace of Justice. It served as both a synagogue and a rabbinical school. The significance of the medieval Jewish community in Rouen suggests that the building likely functioned as a rabbinical tribunal⁴. A deeper double cavity was certainly the mikveh.

The inscription וְהַבַּיִת הַזֶּה יִהְיֶה עֶלְיוֹן (And let this house be sublime)⁴, engraved on a wall, connects the idea of grandeur, dignity, and justice.

For a visit 👉

¹ Deuteronomy 16:18 – 21:9.
² Norman Golb, an American paleographer specializing in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic manuscripts, had foreseen this discovery after studying Hebrew parchments from the Genizah of Cairo. Today, we know that the first Jewish settlement in Normandy dates back to the Gallo-Roman era and that the Carolingian Empire established a “Jewish Kingdom” in Rouen.
³ The theory of a building with mixed usage is advocated by the French medievalist and paleographer Judith Olszowy-Schlanger.
⁴ The designation of an Israelite king is mentioned in the Parsha, and the inscription giving his name to the building is extracted from 1 Kings 9:8.