Mishpatim Exodus 21:1 – 24:18  By Jen Smith   Mishpatim is so often read as “the boring laws portion,” prompting readers to think: Oxen, damages, loans, and responsibility…where is the thunder, lightning, and dramatic revelation? And yet, Mishpatim is the hinge between Sinai’s fire and the building of sacred space, even when something shifts at the end of the portion.  Moses ascends the mountain again, the mystical cloud rests, […]

Yitro Exodus 18:1-20:23 By Jen Smith I can’t believe we are already here! Parashat Yitro is my favorite Torah portion (doesn’t everyone have one?)  It is often remembered as the moment of the Israelites’ revelation of Torah at Mt. Sinai. But buried inside the spectacle of thunder, lightning, and earth shaking, is a single, and […]

Beshalach Exodus 13:17-17:16  By Jen Smith  Parashat Beshalach is the Torah’s great liberation crescendo. The sea splits, slaves walk through terror into freedom, Miriam sings, and Israelites believe.  And yet, almost immediately, they panic. They complain about water, food, God, Moses, and virtually everything else. Kvech, kvech, kvetch!  Jewish tradition never sanitizes the story. Freedom, it turns out, is not a straight line.  According to midrash, the Sea of Reeds didn’t split at […]