Parshat Yitro is packed with some of the most profound words ever uttered and ever transmitted. Those words are considered to be at the core of western society. What the non-Jewish world refers to as the Ten Commandments, the Jewish world refers to as the עשרת הדברות/Eseret HaDibrot/The Ten Statements. This is important to point out because in our division of the ten, we have a statement of faith and nine commandments. Much can be said about the 10 Statements. Often we explain that the first five on one tablet are positive in their wording and the second five on the other tablet are all prohibitive in their wording. The other way of dividing up the two tablets is found in looking at the subjects of the two tablets, the first tablet is בין אדם למקום/between us and God, and the second is בין אדם לחבירו/between us and other people.
Religion in general, and Judaism in specific, is about the way that we relate to God just as much as how we relate to other people. In Judaism, we also see this as being divided into rituals and ethics. Oftentimes people get too drawn into one path or the other. For far too long we have allowed for a vision of our religion as being merely about ethics or as being only about the defining rituals we practice. In the Talmud there is a discussion about the words we use and the effect they have. In talking to a convert, it says that we may not assert that a mouth that has eaten non-kosher things cannot speak words of Torah. We can extrapolate from this that food we eat affects the words we say. To put it more basically, kosher food = kosher words and ritual = value.
For some time, Jews in the more liberal movements have been replacing Judaism with ethical living and more conservative movements have likewise belittled ethics and asserted a pure adherence to our ritual laws. The Jews of today need to fight the impulse to move to either of those extremes and instead must see that our religion cannot have one without the other. Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, who famously marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King jr., wrote about this at length in his two-volume work, תורה מן שמיים/Heavenly Torah. One time when he was in Israel, he addressed a group of Reform Rabbis and told them that they must care more about keeping kosher and adhering to Jewish ritual laws. On the same trip, he met with Orthodox Rabbis and asserted that they must not only care about the kashrut of their restaurants but also the ethics of their banks.
To live a complete Jewish life we must be cognizant of our Jewish ethics and rituals. The two tablets of the revelation that were given to us through Moses in this week’s portion, remind us that our religion is not only about doing what is right and is not only about separate dishes. It is about both. Our Jewish lives must have ethics that are informed by our religion and our people. And our Jewish lives must be firmly rooted in adherence to our rituals and religious observances. That is how we continue to maintain our rich heritage that harkens back to the day the words of this week’s portion were transmitted on Mt. Sinai thousands of years ago.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Hearshen
Shiva for Adam Scott Cadranel
Our condolences go out to the Cadranel family on the loss of Adam Scott Cadranel on Tuesday. Shiva will be held tonight and on Sunday, February 7 at 7:00 pm on Zoom here. Passcode: 667752 and Meeting ID is 854 7877 4673.
TONIGHT!
D'var Torah
Rabbi Hearshen's Video D'var Torahs can be viewed each Friday on: Our Facebook page and now on our website. The Parashat this week is Beshalach.
Candlelighting time this week is 5:55 pm. Shabbat ends at 6:55 pm.
Shabbat Dodik Badalbayev for Father Boris Badalbayev Stephen Friedman for Mother Sherry Friedman Steven Feldman for Father Nathan Feldman Sukey Shemaria for Father Melvin Hoffman Sylvia Benator for Grandfather Yitshak Galanti Sylvia Benator for Grandmother Mazaltov Reina Galanti
Sunday Angie Weiland for Father Victor Maslia Dan D. Maslia for Brother Victor Maslia Donna Maslia for Father Victor Maslia Elena Marks for Father Victor Maslia Lucy Maslia for Brother-in-law Victor Maslia Richard Maslia for Father Victor Maslia
Monday Marguerite Merlin for Brother Gordon Mitchell Sheila Butler for Grandfather Nathan Rosenberg Sidney Tourial for Grandmother Reina Tourial Walter Diamond for Father-in-law Louis Rabinowitz
Tuesday Betty Roistacher for Sister Renee Stein Hal Rabinowitz for Father Ben Rabinowitz Ila Galanti for Nephew Jason Eric Greenberg Marilyn Mitchell for Mother Sylvia Rich Phyllis Cohen for Mother Sylvia Rich
Thursday Birdie Benator for Son Dr. Victor A. Benator Josiah V. Benator for Son Dr. Victor A. Benator Murray Israel for Mother Dora Israel
Help OVS While You Shop!
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Community Events
The Breman Museum Atlanta Jewish History Talks: Atlanta's Old Jewish Neighborhood February 18 at 10:30 am Join Associate Professor of History at Georgia State University, Dr. Marni Davis, as she discusses her research on the old Jewish neighborhood of Atlanta.
The class will be moderated by ethnographer of the Atlanta Sephardic community, our very own Dan Maslia. Click here to register.
Click here for listings of other community events.
