Dor L’Dor	r«us‰k r«us
Temple Beth-El Religious School January 29, 2003          Number 19		5763 yca 25

The contact phone # during Religious School and Hebrew School hours is 382-4286.

Mishpatim
Exodus 21:1 - 24:18

· One who injures his fellow becomes liable for five items: for depreciation, for pain, for healing, for loss of time, and for degradation. How is it with depreciation? If he put out his fellow’s eye, cut off his arm, or broke his leg, the injured person is considered as if he were a slave, being sold in the marketplace, and a valuation is made as to how much he was worth previously and how much he is worth now. (Talmud, Bava Kama 83b)

• An eye for an eye… We have learned “an eye for [literally, ‘beneath’] an eye”—that means financial compensation (Talmud, Bava Kama 84c). One can say that this is hinted at in the Torah because it should have written “an eye for an eye” rather than “an eye beneath [tachat] an eye.” This hints to us that the punishment is beneath the eye. The three Hebrew letters for the Hebrew word ayin—“eye”—are ayin, yod, nun. If we take the letters that are directly “beneath” each of these letters, i.e., that follow them in the alphabet, we get the three letters pei, kaf, samech, which, when rearranged, yield the Hebrew word kesef, “money.” (Gaon of Vilna in Torah Gems, volume 2, p. 151)

When Jews read a biblical text, we read it with layers of interpretation from the Talmud, midrash, and other commentaries. One of the reasons we differ from Christians in our understanding of key religious concepts is because although we may be looking at the same text, we are wearing different lenses. How do you think this is true regarding understanding texts? How is it true regarding our perceptions of religious ideas like the Messiah, sin, and redemption or of Jewish biblical characters like Moses?

How do the Jewish and Christian approaches to such issues as justice and vengeance affect people’s attitudes toward fighting terrorism and making peace in light of 9/11 and the tensions in the Middle East?

Those of you who question the method of interchanging letters to get kesef from ayin might consider the classic Stanley Kubrick film 2001. The name of the computer in that film is HAL, which Kubrick derived from IBM, the letters that are immediately “beneath” the letters HAL in the English alphabet. This construct is called t’murah.

Norman M. Cohen is the senior rabbi of Bet Shalom Congregation, Minnetonka, MN.

Taken  from:   http://uahc.org/torah/hashavua.shtml

Using Resources from the Web

Please be careful which sources you use from the web.  The links provided by our website have been approved for you to use in your classes but even then be careful.   When pulling Biblical passages  from the web, use www.jewish.com.  Avoid using Christian interpretations of  the Bible  and  definitely avoid information provided by Messianic Jewish web sites.   If you have any questions, please email me the website and I will help you decide.

Questions to Ask About the Web Page

Is it clear who is responsible for the contents of the page?

Is there a link to a page describing the purpose of the sponsoring organization?

Is there a way of verifying the legitimacy of the page's sponsor? That is, is there a phone number or postal address to contact for more information? (Simply an email address is not enough.)

Is it clear who wrote the material and are the author's qualifications for writing on this topic clearly stated?

If the material is protected by copyright, is the name of the copyright holder given?

Are the sources for any factual information clearly listed so they can be verified in another source?

Is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and typographical errors? (These kinds of errors not only indicate a lack of quality control, but can actually produce inaccuracies in information.)

Is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of the content of the material?

Are there dates on the page to indicate:

1. When the page was written?
2. When the page was first placed on the Web?
3. When the page was last revised?

taken from: http://www2.widener.edu/Wolfgram-Memorial-Library/webevaluation/inform.htm

Rabbi Hara Person to lead Teachers' In-Service February 9th, 2003

We will be having a teacher in-service in the Block Conference Room on Sunday, February 9th from 8:00 AM. To 8:45 A.M.  This is for teachers only.  Coffee, donuts and bagels will be served at 8:00 A.M.; the meeting will start at 8:10 A.M.  Rabbi Hara Person is the editor of clickonJudaism.org, as well as editor of the UAHC Press. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.