(no subject)

[cellio]

It looks like the consensus in the Torah-study group is to go on to Leviticus. Good. We're also going to try to focus more on some of the standard commentaries, to the point where the rabbi would like volunteers who will, e.g., take the relevant Rashi home, absorb it, and present it, as opposed to more on-the-fly stuff. Sounds cool. I'd be happy to help with that. :-)

We have one person in the group who is always looking for "how this is relevant today", and who just doesn't seem to get into the historical aspects at all, let alone the theology and philosophy and stuff. He'll probably be disappointed by our decision (he wasn't there this week, though he was last week), but he'll just have to cope.

Last night we had a congregational dinner after an earlier-than-usual service. It was nice to be able to share Shabbat dinner with like-minded people, and sing songs, and actually bentch in a group, and so on. (Bentching is saying the grace after meals -- after, because the Torah says "when you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall thank the Lord...".)

Comments

Cool...

[goljerp]

Friday night dinners can be lots o' fun. Good luck with Leviticus! (I'm tempted to promise to find the notes I took from my Leviticus class last year, but I know that I'm not going to actually do that. Sorry...)

And, as far as "what is relevant today", Leviticus is very relevant. What does it mean to have a priestly class? What's the deal with Aaron's sons who got zotted? Did they do anything wrong? How can we learn about grieving from what Aaron (doesn't) say? Of course, there will be weeks when this person will be bored, unless they get really creative...