Adam Carpenter – Head of Jewish Studies Primary

Weekly Torah Portion

Parashat Beha’alotkha Numbers 8:1 – 12:16

In this week’s action and drama packed Parashah, Moses faces several challenges to his leadership. He must contend with the complaints of the Israelites, who, struggling with their newly found freedom and their “monotonous” manna diet, rally against Moses and God for the lack of meat in the wilderness. Moses’s siblings, Aaron and Miriam, also confront Moses, criticising him for his marriage to and treatment of his wife Tzipporah.

Family Discussion

One interpretation of the conflict between Aaron, Miriam and Moses focuses on the jealousy felt by Moses’ siblings, which results in them engaging in gossip and slanderous speech about Moses. Discuss the power of our words and how slander and gossip can damage relationships and reputations.

Shavu’ot/שבועות @ Emanuel

Last Monday, the entire school gathered together for a Shavu’ot ceremony that combined multiple themes and messages of the ancient harvest festival and the time of giving/receiving the Torah. Primary students came to school with a wonderful selection of decorated baskets brimming with food donations for Oz Harvest. Our ceremony was conducted by Jewish Life leaders in the Primary and High School and included a beautiful Torah reading by Chloe Corne and prayers led by Chloe and Gabriel Sebban. Year K students were on the stage singing ‘Eretz Tzvat Chalav u-Devash’ and Year 2 performed the traditional Shavu’ot song ‘Saleinu al Keteifeinu’.

Representatives of Oz Harvest were invited to address staff and students about their activities in the community and the new Oz Harvest Market in Kensington, a supermarket that uses rescued and donated food and operates by the principle of ‘take what you need, give what you can’ (http://www.ozharvest.org/market/). We explored the connections between Oz Harvest, the custom of bringing in bikkurim (first fruits traditionally brought to the Temple on Shavu’ot) and the mitzvot of tzedakah (righteous giving) and ba’al tashchit (not wasting or destroying).

High School and Primary school students shared their thoughts and similes comparing the Torah to devash/honey and an etz chayim/a tree of life. Here is a sample of what they shared:

Lily Besser

The Torah is as sweet as honey, pure and rich. The Torah is rich with the precious words of our Jewish heritage.

Niek Nathan

The Torah is like honey and the Jewish people are like bees. We are spread around the world, busy with our lives collecting nectar. We come together to share in the Torah, with its complex honeycomb of stories and sweet teachings.

Jade Reuveny

The use of honey serves a sweet service yet is used in conjunction with other substances. Similarly, the words of the Torah have to be interpreted into our own lives and current society for them to be functional commandments and morals. In modern times, it’s common to extract the principle from the words of the Torah and combine them with modern values and morals to create that same cohesion provided by honey.

So, just as we need to be able to find the balance of honey and a combination of other flavours in order to enjoy a balanced meal, likewise, we need to be able to sustain the morals of the Torah yet maintaining a progressive outlook in light of today’s enlightened society. Without the sweetness of the honey, you wouldn’t be able to enjoy all the sweet flavours, just as a life without Torah and Mitzvot would leave one without sweet gestures to perform or the rewarding benefits of working towards Tikkun Olam.

It is said that bees are responsible for one in every three bites of food we eat, so I challenge you to recognise every third action and see if it has any correlation to the teachings of the Torah or the deeds of the Mitzvot. In our performing mitzvot we are not only helping someone else but enhancing and sweetening our lives.

Tamarah Aaron

The Torah is a tree of life, its teachings ground us and give us strong roots to live and grow. Our Jewish community is like a tree that is fed by the nourishing waters of the Torah.

Jasper Sellinger

The Torah is like a tree of life – its teachings sustain our lives and keep us growing as people. Like the growth rings of a tree, we keep on learning and growing from our knowledge and understanding of its teachings.

Joshua New

The five books of the Torah can be symbolic of the tree of life, just as Adam and Chavah, in the Garden of Eden, were presented with the tree of life, we are presented with the Torah.

It is what we choose to do with the Torah, and how we create our own understanding of the Torah, that truly matter. Some people will choose to live their whole life feeding off the tree of life, studying Torah. Some may occasionally eat from the tree of life, still practising their religion but not as much. Some may even choose to grow and care for the tree so it continues to live and to strive, these people being those who study the Talmud, who create the Jewish law and who find ways in which to keep the Jewish religion alive by relating the Torah to current times and events so that we can still find its relevance in our lives today.

The five books that the Torah is comprised of, the central part of Judaism, are like the roots of a tree. They are the foundation which keeps the Jewish religion alive. Next, the trunk is symbolic of the foundation, the structure holding Judaism up, the people who create the laws of Judaism, the Halakhah.

The branches can be interpreted as the different branches of Judaism such as Orthodox, Reform/Progressive and Conservative streams. Lastly, the leaves are symbolic of every individual and the way in which they live their lives based on the teachings and morals taken from the Torah.

Beau Glass

The Torah, like the tree, has many components and attributes, each deserving of their own explanation. The tree is made of four strong segments, the roots, the trunk, the branches and the fruit. Each of these can be related to the Torah.

The roots of a tree are its connection with the past and its foundations. They are embedded into the soil and the base of the Earth, sustaining the tree with power and strength, essentially allowing the tree to grow and giving it nourishment. The Torah is the basis of the Jewish people which we can use to grow and establish our own understanding. Its roots also connect us to our past, as our people have read the Torah for millennia.

The trunk of a tree is its substance and weight. It is the support and body that can be seen and appreciated. This correlates to the Jewish people’s viewpoint of the written and oral aspects of the Torah. Without it, the entire tree of life wouldn’t exist and would collapse. The aspects of the Torah would be forgotten. However, due to the dedication of our people we are still able to retell and observe the stories of our ancestors.

The branches of a tree represent the multiple branches and denominations of Judaism in the modern world. One must realise the great differences between Jews around the world, yet we still all read from the same Torah and adhere to the same laws described. The Torah reaches out to every Jew and offers many pathways for connection. Also, another connection is the natural human instinct to grow and understand. With our arms outstretched, we truly can extend ourselves like the branches of trees.

The fruit on a tree signifies the rewards and gratification received following an experience requiring growth or learning. One could say that the Torah offers us fruit as well. Each time we read a passage, even though it is the same story every year, we have different elucidations. The Torah never ceases to provide for us. Just as we eat the same fruit from the tree we can always appreciate different features and characteristics displayed by the fruit. In the case of the Torah this comes in the form of mitzvot and the teaching of others.

The Torah is indeed, a tree of life.

Limmud Oz – This long weekend

Limmud Oz is on this long weekend at UNSW, offering a range of engaging sessions for adults and children exploring Israel, Jewish identity and the Jewish world. Tickets can be purchased online or at UNSW on the day. See the Community Announcements section for the full schedule. We hope to see you there!