B'RESHIT/ GENESIS

GOD SAID TO NOAH*

Melody and some words, traditional; remainder by Rabbi Arthur Waskow *

* Copyright (c) 2007 by Rabbi Arthur Waskow. All rights reserved.

God said to Noah, The earth's getting hotter, hotter,
God said to Noah, The earth's getting hotter, hotter,
Yet she is My (clap) beloved daughter, daughter -
Children of the Lord.

CHORUS: Rise and shine and give God the glory glory
Rise and shine and give God the glory glory
Rise and shine and (clap!) give God the glory glory
Children of the Lord!

People are making My air too smoky, smoky
People are making My air too smoky, smoky

When Abraham Sees God in Oak Trees

Dear Friends,

The Torah portion Vayeira (Gen. 18:1 through 22: 24) itakes its name" from its first word. This word is usually translated "appeared," but it comes from the root for "see," and the same root appears in a different form right afterwards.

The second word is "YHWH." That is usually translated "the Lord," but since this sacred unpronounceable Name with no vowels can only be "pronounced" by breathing --- "Yyyyhhhhwwwwhhhh" - I translate it as "the Breath of Life" or "the Wind/ Breath/ Spirit of the world."

The first sentence says "YHWH brought-about-being-SEEN to [Abraham] in [b'] the oaks of Mamre."

A sermon for Kol Nidre 5768
By Rabbi Burt Jacobson

My fiancé Diane and I set aside the last Sunday in July as a day to spend together. Our plan was to drive to Marin County, and to hike on Mt. Tamalpais. It was a lovely sun-drenched morning. After I woke up, meditated and prayed, and had eaten my breakfast, I turned my cell phone on. There was a message from my brother Stuart who, with his wife Jean, were vacationing in Colorado, staying in a cabin in the mountains.

"Hi! Just calling to say I love you. This morning I was sitting on the porch looking out over the valley a few hundred feet below, and a butterfly came up and landed on my hand. I watched as the butterfly scoped out my hand with his tongue -- for about two to three minutes. Then, it flew away. Within seconds a bee flew up to me, about two feet away and, hanging in the air, wings flapping in a blur, directly facing me, looked at me for a minute or longer, turned maybe 150 degrees and looked into the window of our cabin for another minute or so, turned back to me for another minute or two and then flew off. Well, I love you. Take care . . ."

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow

[This essay is Chapter XVII of the book GODWRESTLING -- ROUND 2 (Jewish Lights). For copies of the whole book at a discounted price, write Office@shalomctr.org ]

‘ What is the relationship between the Jewish family and the two broader families within which it is nestled: the human race and our web of living earth? How should the Jewish people address questions that do not uniquely affect Jews, but arise within the broader planetary life?

One such issue arose late in the 1970s. It was, you might say, the most universal question imaginable: the possible death of the entire human race. Yet for many Jews it seemed to echo their own most terrible, unique experience.

BEFORE THERE WAS A BEFORE
By Arthur Waskow, David Waskow, & Shoshana Waskow

[Copyright © 1984 by the authors. All rights reserved. These stories of the Creation were originally written in 1974, when David Waskow was ten and Shoshana Waskow was seven. They were published in 1984.

[To get a copy of this book, see the note at the bottom of this excerpt. The note at the end also includes comments on the book by Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time, and Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People.

[What follows is the introduction to this midrashic story of the Creation. It is followed by each of the Seven Days of Creation. – AW]

The Tent of Abraham: Stories of Hope and Peace for Jews, Christians and Muslims (Beacon Press, 2006). By Joan Chittister, OSB; Murshid Saadi Shakur Chisti; & Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Foreword by Karen Armstrong. *

Reviewed by Claire Gorfinkel *

For some time now, I have longed for a study group that would consider common themes in Jewish, Muslim and Christian texts. But as is so often the case, in my longing I have created a set of expectations that are virtually impossible to fulfill.

I wanted a group with both men and women, Jews, Christians and Muslims who were well grounded in their faith traditions, who would meet for disciplined study over a substantial amount of time, and who would engage issues of both faith and politics, God and the Middle East conflict.

SHALOM CENTER HONORS CINDY SHEEHAN
& 3 PHILADELPHIANS AS "PROPHETIC VOICES"

More than 250 people joined with The Shalom Center Sunday, February 5, at a Philadelphia synagogue to honor the prophetic voices of Cindy Sheehan and three Philadelphia activists.

The event was covered with long news stories and photos by both Philadelphia daily newspapers and by three TV stations.

Eight rabbis, two cantors, and three choirs from various congregations took part in the event, which was held at the Reconstructionist synagogue Mishkan Shalom.

"We are members of the human race first and we are Americans second," Sheehan said during the ceremony. "We are members of the human race first and Jews second, Muslims second, Christians second, Iraqis second, Israelis second, Palestinians second. Our love of our fellow human beings does not stop at the border."

By Rabbi Arthur Waskow 11/21/2005

The story of Abraham's death ascribes power to two places, a tomb and a well:

Now these are the days and the years of Avraham, which he lived:
A hundred years and seventy years and five years, then he expired.
Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Makhpelah (Doubling) in the field that Abraham had acquired.
There were buried Abraham and Sarah his wife.
Now it was after Abraham's death, that God blessed Isaac his son.
And Isaac sat by the Well of the Living-One Who-Sees-Me.
(Gen. 25: 7-8a, 9-11.)

The tomb is "acquired"; at the well, one "sits" and "is seen." Let us explore the meanings of these two places, these two life-paths.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, in GODWRESTLING -- ROUND 2, 12/10/2004

[This essay was originally written for the book GODWRESTLING, published in 1978, and then incorporated in GODWRESTLING — ROUND 2 (Jewish Lights, 1996; available by clicking on the "Bo