A 100% VirJEWal Synagogue serving the needs of all backgrounds of the Jewish Community of
Central, NJ since 1983
Eli B. Perlman, Rabbi
Congregation Beit Shalom / Monroe Township is a unique Conservative Egalitarian Congregation. The difference between this and other congregations is that we are truly a family. We get together to pray, to learn, to laugh, to sing, to schmooze - and it is 100% VirJEWal. When someone is in need, we help each other in ways that continue to inspire everyone.
This Torah Reading opens with the mysterious rite of purification through the use of ashes of a red heifer (Para Aduma). Every Jew is required to relentlessly strive to achieve ritual purity. Yet, while the Para Aduma purifies the individual, the one who officiates at the ritual is, at the same time, rendered spiritually impure until evening! It is a strange rite that can give us insight into our own lives. How many times do we, while helping others, make the mistake of claiming excessive pride and practicing self-aggrandizement? Our motives as well as our deeds should always be pure.
Through riot and insurrection, the law of G-d and the concept of holiness are paramount. Even Moshe and Aharon are not without fault. The is illustrated by the famous episode of Moshe striking the rock.
The next thing we see is that thirty-eight years have passed, literally overnight! With the wilderness generation condemned to die before reaching Canaan, the Torah omits the events of these years, briefly mentioning the deaths of Miryam and Aharon, who, despite their human frailties and faults - like all of us - were forces for good in a nation that persisted in its rebellious ways before Almighty G-d.
Then, skirting the southern tip of Canaan, the Nation avoids the hostile Edomites and defeats Sichon and Og, two Amorite Kings, on the east bank of the River Jordan. At the close of our Sidra, the Nation is perched directly across the Jordan from Jericho, Canaan.
Why do we read a Haftorah? The reading of a Haftorah dates back to the Second Jewish Commonwealth, during the era of the Greek empire. Our enemies recognized the centrality of the Torah to us and banned its reading. In response, specific sections of the Prophets were substituted that captured the teaching of the weekly Sidra. Although the reading of Torah has long since been restored, the Haftorah remains an integral part of Shabbat and Yom Tov experience to help enhance our Torah learning.
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