Shavuot Ketuba Marriage Certificate between God and Israel 5780 2020

This is to certify that on Friday, the sixth of Sivan, the day appointed by Adonai for the revelation of the Torah to God’s beloved people… The Invisible One came forth from Sinai, in the year 2448 since the creation of the world, The Bridegroom, God, Ruler of rulers, Distinguished among the select, Whose mouth is pleasing and all of Whom is delightful, said unto the pious, lovely and virtuous maiden, the people of Israel, who won God’s favor above all women:

Many days wilt thou be Mine and I will be thy Redeemer.

Behold, I have sent thee golden precepts through the lawgiver Moses.

Be thou My mate according to the law of Moses and Israel, and I will honor, support, and maintain thee and be thy shelter and refuge in everlasting mercy. And I will set aside for thee the life-giving Torah by which thou and thy children will live in health and tranquility.

God’s bride, Israel, consented and became God’s spouse. Thus an eternal covenant, binding them forever, was established between them. The Bridegroom then agreed to add to the above, all future expositions of Holy Scripture, including the Oral and Written Law. 

The dowry that God’s bride brought from the house of her parent consists of an understanding heart that understands, ears that hearken, eyes that see and senses that obey.

The Bridegroom, desiring to confer privileges upon God’s people Israel and to transmit these valuable assets to them, took upon Godself the responsibility of God’s marriage contract, to be paid from the best portions of God’s property…

All these conditions are valid and established forever and ever. The Bridegroom has given God’s oath to carry them out in favor of God’s people and to enable those that love God to inherit substance. Thus Adonai has given God’s oath. The Bridegroom has followed the legal formality of symbolic delivery of God’s document, which is bigger than the earth and broader than the seas. Everything, then, is firm, clear, and established.

I invoke Heaven and Earth as reliable witnesses.

May the Bridegroom rejoice with the bride whom the Eternal has taken as God’s lot

and may the bride rejoice with the Husband of her youth while uttering words of praise.

 

This Ketuba was reaccepted and reconfirmed on Thursday evening the sixth of Sivan 5780 corresponding to May 28^th, 2020 by the holy Jewish community in the land of elk and honey.

 

May this document bind these two together until the coming of the Messianic Age.

Give me a break! Torah Portion Preview on Parashat Behar – Behukkotai

Parashat Behar – Behukkotai is the final double header of portions at the end of Leviticus.

The names come from the first words in each portion: B'har (Hebrew for "on the mountain") - Bechukotai ("with My laws") in the book of Leviticus, the priestly book of holiness.

These portions implore us to give ourselves, the land, and others, a break, in order to rejewvenate, regenerate, and recalibrate.

 

And oy do we need a break now from the exhaustion brought on by the stress of isolation and endless Zoom meetings which leads my two "Coronnials" (as in return of the Millennial) to call me a "Zoombie!"

 

There are three opportunities for breaks of seven:

sabbath, 7th day of rest, a day devoted to rejewvenation.

what Rabbi AJ Heschel calls a “palace in time”

With seemingly endless to do lists it is vital to note that we are human beings not human doings, and ,dayeinu, enough is enough.

 

Sabbatical, 7th yr of letting the land rest and forgiving debts inspiring us to regenerate.

While scholars see it as an early form of soil conservation, our 

Rabbis found a moral lesson, people don't own the land, God does!  

Even the wealthy are in a poor person's place which helps sensitize the rich to the needs of the poor.

Even the land needs a break and must rest.

During covid we see a bluer sky and sparkly stars.

Our mountain peaks appear clearer in view, our air is cleaner, our rivers are purer (event the murky waters of Venice are clear), we're driving less (and earning auto insurance premium dividends)

Yet our farmers are having issues distributing food and are forced to plow crops under and let their lands lie fallow because of falling demand even as more and more people flock to our food banks!

 

Jubilee 7X7, 50th year marked by the shofar on Yom Kippur, year of release of Hebrew slaves and their families, of the land from private ownership and all its inhabitants from debt

We find the citation on Philly's Liberty Bell from our portion :

 "You shall hallow the 50th yr and Proclaim liberty throughout the land...It shall be a jubilee to you and you shall return every person's possessions, and everyone to their family (Lev. 25:10)."

This prevented the accumulation of wealth among the biblical "1%" which stressed ecological and re-distributive justice in order to recalibrate societal wealth.

 

7 Questions to reflect upon:

 

1.Are you getting enough rest?  What constitutes a break in this current covid crisis?

2.How can you best rejewvenate—physically, emotionally, intellectually, socially, spiritually as we practice social distancing? 

3.How can we use Shabbat rest to cope when we have to self quarantine, to mourn, to undergo treatment, or to move through a challenge? 

4.In what ways can we safely and fruitfully let some parts of our lives lie “fallow” for a while? 

5.How can we support and honor periods of rest, retreat, and sabbaticals that are so essential for safety and health, replenishment and growth? 

6.What are we doing to care for the marginalized during this covid crisis: the undocumented, the imprisoned, the homeless, the poor?  Do we value the wealth of our pocketbook over the wisdom of our elderly--where do our priorities lie as we prepare to move from "safe at home" to "safer at home"?

7.What are can we do to care for our planet as we respond to ecological and economic re-distributive justice challenges?

 

And one final bonus question in summation: What does it mean to climb the mountain Behar of breaks to walk in my commandments Behukkotai in this Covid crisis break?

As we climb the covid mountain, may we use God’s commandments to give ourselves, our land and others, a break in order that we rejewvenate, regenerate and recalibrate.