Daily Kavanot
Writings of reflection by the Stephen Wise Temple clergy.
Each weekday morning, members of our mailing list receive the “Daily Kavanah,” which includes messages of thought, inspiration, and contemplation from our clergy, along with a schedule of events. Every Thursday, the “Daily Kavanah” turns into “Eyes on Wise,” our weekly newsletter featuring the latest news, photos, videos, stories, and tikkun olam opportunities from our community. Sign up and don’t miss out!
Daily Kavanah – Tuesday, June 13, 2023
In this week's Torah portion, Sh'lach Lecha, our ancestors allow the intimidating reports from their spies sent into the land of Canaan to discourage them from fulfilling God's instructions to enter the land and seize it. In fact, the Torah suggests that the Israelites, dismayed by the prospects of invasion, resolve to return to Egypt for safety. In response, God condemns the Israelites to wander the desert for 40 years, until only Joshua and Caleb—the two spies who protest the Israelite complaints—remain to lead a new generation into Canaan. One of the many lessons we may derive from the tale of our ancestors' response to the report of the spies comes from the courage shown by Joshua and Caleb, who defiantly protest the reports of their fellow spies, as well as the panicked cries of their fellow Israelites to return to Egypt. The Torah reveals that even as Moses and Aaron, [...]
Daily Kavanah – Monday, June 12, 2023
In this week's Torah portion, Sh'lach Lecha, our ancestors allow the intimidating reports from their spies sent into the land of Canaan to discourage them from fulfilling God's instructions to enter the land and seize it. In fact, the Torah suggests that the Israelites, dismayed by the prospects of invasion, resolve to return to Egypt for safety. In response, God condemns the Israelites to wander the desert for 40 years, until only Joshua and Caleb—the two spies who protest the Israelite complaints—remain to lead a new generation into Canaan. The tragic tale of Shlach Lecha weaves a rich fabric containing a multitude of applicable lessons, including the pitfalls of succumbing to fear. As a biological impulse designed to promote individual survival, fear is designed to help the individual organism successfully evade danger. However, to do so, fear obscures potential choices from our mindscape to promote a quick resolution to the [...]
Daily Kavanah – Shabbat Message From Rabbi Yoshi – Friday, June 9, 2023
This Shabbat we read from parashat B'ha'alot'cha, whose name is taken from the rather unusual word used to describe the lighting of the menorah in the Tabernacle and then the Temple. We would expect to see the word we are familiar with from lighting Shabbat and festival candles: l'hadlik ("to kindle"). This word, b'ha'alot'cha (בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ), is connected to a Hebrew root that is known to many Jews: aliyah (עליה), "to go up." Voices in our tradition ascribe spiritual meaning to this word choice, meaning which connects both to our daily lives and to this moment in our secular calendar. The Talmud instructs us that this unusual form (which also appears in Exodus when the menorah is first mentioned) teaches us something about our inner lives. We are commanded to light the menorah "so that the flame ascends of itself." (Talmud, Shabbat 21a) Many commentators understand the menorah here as a metaphor [...]
Daily Kavanah – Thursday, June 8, 2023
I have officiated at nearly a dozen gay and lesbian weddings over the course of my career and attended several more. Each has been remarkable in their own way. I remember the first wedding that happened rather quickly during the brief window where same-sex marriages were first legalized in California in 2008. The mother of one of our Wise school children and her partner were so eager to get married that they scheduled their wedding the week after marriages were permitted. Unfortunately, that time period was short-lived and it wasn't until 2013 that same-sex marriages were legal throughout the nation. My wife and I had only attended our first same-sex marriage when two of our closest friends celebrated their own marriage at Camp Hess-Kramer, though the laws of the state and the nation did not support them. They’ve been married for 30 years. What's most heartening about the gay [...]
Daily Kavanah – Wednesday, June 7, 2023
There is a strange ritual detailed in last week’s Torah portion, called the Sotah. It seeks to allay the concerns of a jealous husband by proving the innocence or guilt of the wife he suspects of adultery. (Read an analysis here.) Under the guidance of the Kohan, the woman drinks a special concoction mixed from the dust of the Tabernacle’s floor as the priest recites an incantation. If she’s innocent, she goes home cleansed of guilt; if she’s guilty, the Torah says that her thighs will sag and her belly distend. Given the exceedingly low probability of that happening solely as a result of drinking the mixture, it’s more than likely that she’ll be sent home to her husband exonerated. Now, from a modern perspective, there are countless issues with this practice, chief among them that there is no equivalent ritual to prove a man’s innocence or guilt. Scholars [...]