Ruach HaYam teaching presented by Penina Weinberg February 28 2021 We will compare parashat Terumah (the week’s Torah reading) to 1 Kings, where Solomon builds the temple with corvee labor, resulting in the immediate rebellion of the Northern Kingdom when Solomon dies. We will mine the texts for what it means to come to an enterprise (or our lives) with an inclined/willing heart, vs an imposed obligation. We will note that those who built and decorated the mishkan were all genders – craft persons of all materials, and that the mishkan was fabulous in its decoration. We will compare this…

Ruach HaYam teaching presented by Penina Weinberg January 21, 2021 This is a study about the heart of Judah. We will look at what may possibly form/transform Judah’s heart, and read an interesting rabbinic commentary that illustrates how Judah’s heart enables him to “draw near” to his estranged brother Joseph “in order to arouse Joseph’s love and spark his compassion.” I will suggest that Judah’s heart is steeped in the maternal/divine connection with his mother Leah. It is further tempered by Tamar’s lesson about righteousness. Judah first leads his brothers in saving Joseph’s life, then demonstrates great love for his…

Ruach HaYam teaching presented by Penina Weinber Picture is a photo of a small hannukiah lit in the midst of a great cold wind on the cobblestone front porch of an empty house on a Maine beach on the 6th day of Hanukkah in 2019. No, we’re not at Hanukkah yet, but we are at the Jewish calendar date 3 Kislev, the beginning of the month in which Hanukkah falls, and the darkest month of the year. We are two days after the new moon of Kislev. We can take hope in candles lit against the darkness. We are also…