T orah P ortion
Bridging the Worldly and the Heavenly
BY RABBI JON CUTLER
Parshat Yitro
“The grand premise of religion
is that man is able to surpass
himself; that man who is part
of this world may enter into
a relationship with Him who
is greater than the world.”
(Abraham Joshua Herschel)
CHAPTERS 19 AND 20 in
this week’s Torah reading,
Yitro, are among the most
difficult and mysterious narra-
tives in the whole of Torah.

God reveals himself on Mount
Sinai to the people of Israel
using his “voice,” which is
heard through a mountain
enshrouded by smoke and fire.

These few verses may be among
all the verses in Torah which
both conceals and defines.

God appears in the earthly
world, the world of flesh and
bone, the world of mortality
and Moses on Mount Sinai
enters the transcendent world
of angels and immorality, a
world unfettered by time and
space. And when God speaks,
shattering the barrier that
exists between the world of
flesh, the Torah tells us: “all
the people who were in the
camp trembled.” (Exodus
19: 16) After the recitation
of the Decalogue, the Torah
further tells us “All the people
Attack Continued from Page 10
about what was happening
inside the synagogue, the
last two years of streaming
at Congregation Beth Israel
generated much more detail.

Watching videos of previous
services, viewers can see that
Cytron-Walker, a transplant
from Michigan, has become
a real Texan since becoming
Beth Israel’s rabbi in 2006
and frequently slips “y’all”
20 JANUARY 20, 2022
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Jan. 21
Jan. 28
4:49 p.m.

4:57 p.m.

witnessed the thunder and
lightning, the blare of the horn
and the mountain smoking;
and when the people saw it,
they fell back and stood at a
distance. ‘You [Moses] speak to
us, and we will obey, but let not
God speak to us, lest we die.’”
(Exodus 20: 15-16)
After a pause in the narra-
tive, the Torah picks up the
story to tell us that Moses
together with Aaron, his two
sons and a group of elders
numbering 70 ascended and
“they beheld God, and they ate
and drank.” (Exodus 24: 11)
It was as though the veil that
separated the mortal from the
immortal world had been lifted.

But only Moses could go up
the mountain, into the divine
realm, spending 40 days and
nights concealed and covered
by the cloud enshrouded over
the mountain. Moses had
crossed over and disappeared
into the realm of the unknown.

The Midrash elaborates the
Torah account. Rabbi Joshua
ben Levi envisions Moses,
after ascending the mountain,
standing in the divine domain.

And Moses’ presence is
immediately challenged. The
ministering angels object to
Moses’ presence saying: “what
business does one born of
woman have in our midst.”
Moses is an intruder, a
mortal figure in a world of
pure spirit and immateriality.

God replies that Moses has
come to receive the Torah, to
which the angels protested by
proclaiming “this precious item
which has been in Your posses-
sion since before creation You
will now give to mere flesh and
blood?” At this point in Rabbi
Joshua’s ingenious story, God
turns to Moses and asks him
to justify why He, God, should
give the Torah to Moses and
the children of Israel. That’s
an odd request. Why should
God have to justify anything
He does? Master of the divine
world, He need only speak, and
it becomes. He commands, and
it is done.

But Moses steps forward
and asks God about the content
of the Torah. “I am the Lord
your God who brought you out
of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2) and
turning to the angels Moses
declares “Did you go down
to Egypt? Were you enslaved
there?” The Torah has nothing
to do with your experiences.

What else is written in the
Torah, Moses asks? God replies,
“You shall have no other gods
beside me.” (Exodus 20:3)
Turning to the angels Moses
says: “Do you live among idol
worshippers?” And Moses goes
down the list of command-
ments. None of them apply to
this otherworldly region that
Moses has entered.

The angels having been
overcome, concede and Moses
returns with the tablets, the
letters having been engraved
onto the tablets by the finger of
God. (Exodus 31:18)
Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish
recognized that the tablets
of stone upon which were
engraved the letters of the
commandments were a symbol
that connected this world and
the transcendent world that
Moses had just left. The tablets
were the physical connection
between the world of flesh
and blood and the world of
the transcendent, the symbol
linking the two realms.

And hence Shimon ben
Lakish described the spiri-
tual essence of those letters as
written with black fire upon
white fire, sealed with fire and
embraced with bands of fire.

The Torah was a fusing between
the physical and the spiri-
tual, between the substance of
human life, and the profound
words with its spiritual power
to lift the human being into
a life of sanctity and wonder.

(Jerusalem Talmud, Shekalim
6:1) Never again would God
reach down and lift the veil
between this world and the
world of the ministering
angels. Never again would God
reveal himself so openly, to
an entire people, awe-inspiring
the senses, and allowing the
Divine to descend from the
heavenly world into the world
of flesh and blood.

It is impossible to imagine,
that this story can only
approximate the experience
of revelation. Even after those
who experienced the moment
when the finger of God touched
the living letters inscribed on
stone, the Israelites still turned
to a golden calf.

Hence, we humans, live in
the eternal struggle between
the flesh and the Divine, the
worldly and the heavenly,
the absurd and the transcen-
dent. And every rabbi, every
student, every scholar who
studies the Torah brings to
life new interpretations which
bridge once again the worldly
and the heavenly, the flesh and
the Divine, the reenactment of
Matan Torah, the giving of the
Torah. l
into his speech. They can see
that Cytron-Walker likes to
intersperse his livestreamed
services with videos of cantors
and choirs from around the
world singing some of the
prayers in the service. And
they can see firsthand evidence
that Cytron-Walker may be, as
Smith lovingly identified him
in a Zoom vigil, the “worst
singer in the world.”
Strangers could even see
what Cytron-Walker was
planning to teach in a Torah
study session; his lesson plan
for the day was posted to
Sefaria, an online database
of Jewish texts. In it, Cytron-
Walker planned to talk about
the sense of uncertainty and
stress felt by many during
the pandemic. He planned to
finish with a comment from
Moshe Greenberg, an influen-
tial 20th-century Bible scholar,
on the verse from Exodus 7:3,
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.”
That comment
had resonance for the situation that
Cytron-Walker found himself
in during services. “While
events unfold under the provi-
dence of God,” Greenberg
wrote, “their unfolding is
always according to the
motives of the human beings
through whom God’s will is
done without realizing it.”
In the wake of the incident,
Asin said she was heartened
by the supportive response
from across and beyond the
Jewish community. She also
said she didn’t think that the
unprecedented transparency of
the latest assault on American
Jews would change the shape
of antisemitism in the country.

“I’m personally hopeful —
and skeptical that the public
nature of this event will have
any impact,” she said. l
JEWISH EXPONENT
Rabbi Jon Cutler is co-president
of the Board of Rabbis of Greater
Philadelphia and rabbi of Beth
Israel Congregation of Chester
County. The Board of Rabbis
is proud to provide diverse
perspectives on Torah commentary
for the Jewish Exponent. The
opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not
reflect the view of the Board of
Rabbis. JTA’s Ron Kampeas contributed
reporting. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



C ommunity
COMMUNITYBRIEFS Kehillas to Sponsor Night of Jewish Learning
THE KEHILLAH OF Delaware County and the
Kehillah of Chester County are teaming up on Jan. 22
for “Kallah: A Night of Jewish Learning 2022.”
Kallah is an ancient term originally used to
describe a gathering of scholars.

The online event from 7:15-10:15 p.m. will center
around the theme of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers).

Event highlights include a performance at 7:45 p.m.

of “Ethics of the Fathers AKA: The Gangster and The
Grandpa,” a one-man show written and performed by
Jesse Bernstein and directed by Deborah Baer Mozes,
the artistic director of Theatre Ariel. A Q&A with
Bernstein follows.

At 9 p.m., classes on Pirkei Avot will be taught by
local rabbis and scholars.

A final gathering and l’hitraot follow at 10 p.m.

The cost is $10 ($5 for students), but nobody will
be turned away for a lack of funds. Contact Shelley
Rappaport at chestercounty@kehillah.jewishphilly.org.

New Accessible Icon to Debut at Perelman, JCC
Perelman Jewish Day School and the Kaiserman Jewish
Community Center will host on Jan. 25 a ceremonial
“first parking spot painting” to mark the organizations
adopting the New Accessible Icon to mark designated
parking spaces for persons with disabilities.

The icon depicts independence and motion by
positioning the silhouette with its body leaning
forward, head up and arms cocked back over the
wheels of the chair. The prior icon featured a silhou-
ette rigidly sitting upright in a wheelchair.

The icon stencil was provided by Einstein
Healthcare Network’s Jewish Health Resource Center
and MossRehab. The latter adopted the new icon in
2014 and successfully lobbied the City of Philadelphia
to adopt it in 2019.

The day school and JCC, which share a campus
in Wynnewood, are joining other area institu-
tions that have adopted the icon, such as Citizens
Bank Park, Philadelphia Museum of Art and
Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Program to Tell How Bulgarian Jews Survived
the Holocaust
In honor of International Holocaust Remembrance
Day, the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community
Relations Council and AJC Philadelphia/Southern
New Jersey are hosting a program that details histor-
ical events associated with Bulgaria’s resistance of
pressures from Germany during World War II to
deport the 50,000 Jews living there.

Joseph Benatov, who is the director of the Modern
Hebrew Language Program at the University of
Pennsylvania, will discuss the competing national
narratives from this time period while Philadelphia
County Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi
will reflect on his family’s survival experience.

To register for the event, which runs on Jan. 26
from 7-8:15 p.m., contact the JCRC at 215-832-0500. l
— Compiled by Andy Gotlieb
COMMUNITYCALENDAR FRIDAY, JAN. 21
Branching Out Exhibit
The Old City Jewish Arts Center will
host “Branching Out: A Celebration
of Trees” by award-winning artist
Diana T. Myers of Elkins Park until
Jan. 30. The exhibit commemorates
the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat
and honors the four seasons. Private
showings can also be arranged by
contacting dianatmyers@gmail.com.

119 N. Third St., Philadelphia.

Parsha for Life
Join Rabbi Alexander Coleman,
Jewish educator and psychotherapist
at the Institute for Jewish Ethics, at
9 a.m. for a weekly journey through
the Torah portion of the week with
eternal lessons on personal growth
and spirituality. Go to ijethics.org/
weekly-torah-portion.html to receive
the Zoom link and password.

Shabbatones Concert
Congregation Mikveh Israel
invites you to join us for an evening
of Jewish choral ensemble with
the University of Pennsylvania
Shabbatones, “A Shabbat a Cappella
Experience.” Services begin at 4:45
p.m. Singing commences at 6 p.m.,
followed by dinner. Reservations are
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM required; call 215-922-5446. 44 N.

Fourth St., Philadelphia.

SUNDAY, JAN. 23
Journalist Talk
Congregation Adath Jeshurun
presents “The View from Jerusalem.”
NPR journalist Daniel Estrin will
share his experience as a frontline
correspondent covering the politics,
culture, technology and everyday
happenings from Israel. The 11 a.m.

event will be live on Zoom. Register
at adathjeshurun.info/form/daniel-
estrin.html. Genealogy Lecture
Sydney Cruice Dixon, a professional
genealogist, will present “Analyzing
Evidence and Sources for
Genealogical Research” as part of
Jewish Genealogical and Archival
Society of Greater Philadelphia’s
lecture series. Check-in is at 1 p.m.,
and the program starts at 1:30 p.m.

For more information, visit jgasgp.org.

MONDAY, JAN. 24
Tikvah Support Group
The Tikvah Friends and Family Support
Group is a facilitated space to provide
support and resources to parents,
family members, friends and caregivers
of those with the lived experience of
mental illness. Join faciltators Alexis
Bracy and Neen David at 6 p.m. Call
215-832-0671 for details.

Mahjong Game
Melrose B’nai Israel Emanu-El
Sisterhood invites the community to
join our weekly mahjong game at 7
p.m. Cost is $36 per year or free with
MBIEE Sisterhood membership. For
more information, call 215-635-1505
or email office@mbiee.org. 8339 Old
York Road, Elkins Park.

Virtual Bingo
Old York Road Temple-Beth Am
Sisterhood invites you to join us for a
night of bingo at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Tickets
range from $18-25 per person and
include three bingo cards and one to five
raffle tickets. For further information,
contact cin.garber@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 26
Woman Rabbi Celebration
In June 1972, Sally J. Priesand
became the first woman to be
publicly ordained as a rabbi in the
United States. 2022 marks the 50th
anniversary of her ordination. M’kor
Shalom will have Priesand join us
JEWISH EXPONENT
virtually at 7 p.m. Visit mkorshalom.

org/priesand for more information.

Holocaust Lecture
Bulgaria successfully resisted
German pressures to deport the
50,000 Jews living in Bulgaria.

Join the Jewish Community
Relations Council at 7 p.m. on
Zoom for an overview of the facts
surrounding these historical events
in honor of International Holocaust
Remembrance Day. Call 215-832-
0650 for details.

THURSDAY, JAN. 27
Film Screening
Philadelphia Jewish Film and
Media’s first film of 2022 is here.

“Persian Lessons” follows a young
Jewish man who is saved from
execution by the Nazis by pretending
to be Persian and tasked with
teaching Farsi to the head of camp.

In commemoration of International
Holocaust Remembrance Day,
“Persian Lessons” will stream though
Feb. 3. phillyjfm.org/event/persian-
lessons. Author Lecture
Gratz College, in partnership with
One Book, One Jewish Community
with Jewish Studies, Hillel and
Alumni Relations at Drexel
University presents “People Love
Dead Jews: An Evening with Author
Dara Horn.” Reading, interview and
book signing will be online and
in-person at the Drexel University
Bossone Research Enterprise Center
in Mitchell Auditorium. For more
information, contact mcohen@gratz.

edu or 215-635-7300, ext. 155. l
The Charles Freedman
Post #706
Jewish War Veterans
of America
are looking for men,
if you served in any
service, to join.

If you are interested
please call
Paul Ostroff at
215-870-4510 (cell)
or 215-673-1248 (home)
JANUARY 20, 2022
21