How do I enjoy Shabbat with all its prohibitions?

The truth is that Shabbat can be enjoyed because of its prohibitions. We live in the 21st century, where stress is a way of life. We run around at a thousand miles an hour all week (except when we’re stuck, cursing, in traffic). Answering phones, checking emails, reading text messages, paying bills, giving/taking instructions- life is hectic. We eat on the run; barely have time for our families and battle to nurture our souls.

Shabbat is time-out. You are not allowed to answer the phone. You may not deal with your business affairs. Driving is verboten. Your business associates, clients, and friends learn to accept it. You may be tempted to “check in on the office” when you’re on vacation. On Shabbat you have no choice. That’s the advantage of the “prohibitions”- they’re non-negotiable.


We run around at a thousand miles an hour all week (except when we’re stuck, cursing, in traffic). Answering phones, checking emails, reading text messages, paying bills, giving/taking instructions- life is hectic. On Shabbat you do sit and eat a meal as a family. You might even catch up on some sleep. You dedicate time to prayer, meditation and a bit of study. It’s actually refreshing.

Besides, much of our stress centers on our thinking we’re in control. Since we believe we’re in charge, we feel we have to carry the full weight of life on our shoulders.

Shabbat refocuses our perspective. The Shabbat prohibitions are designed to make us realize that we cannot always do things as and when we please.

Shabbat coaches us to defer to Higher Authority - at least for 24 hours a week. Then, we step into the week’s work-whirlwind relaxed, ready to focus and secure in the belief that Someone-Up-There is looking after our interests.

You don’t enjoy only Shabbat with its prohibitions; you enjoy the whole week. (Rabbi Ari Shishler at AskMoses.com)


Glass artist extraordinaire Tamara Baskin created this Hamsa with the symbol for the twelve tribes. Tamara was born and raised in Israel but began her art career in the United States. She is educated in multiple media but has recently focused her work on fused glass.

12 tribes, 3 artists, 2 works of art

Victor Halvani is a Russian born Israeli artist whose interest in Torah is seen in his sculptures and paintings. Here we see his view of the 12 tribes.



The Breastplate or Hoshen above comes from an Israeli couple. Lorelei Kellman Gruss was born in New York City in 1961 and emigrated to Israel in 1971. Lorelei apprenticed with some of the most prominent Israeli crafts people ,experiencing the early eighties revival of Judaic art. Her inlay and marquetry techniques are self tought and world renown. Alex Gruss was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1957 and later moved to Israel. He was educated in history at Hebrew University and animation art at Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem. Important works of art have been conceived by his infinite creativity and originality.

Heroes among us

Parshat Pinchas tells of the heroic deed of Pinchas, who jumped up with spear in his hand to save the Jewish people from a plague of immorality. When the moment called for bold action, Pinchas was ready and willing to step forward.

Later in the parsha, God announces who will become the successor to Moses as leader of the Jewish people. Surprisingly, it is not the heroic Pinchas. Nor is it another great hero, Calev, who bravely stood up to protest, when the spies recommended not to enter the Land of Israel.

Instead, Joshua was chosen to succeed Moses. Why?

The Talmud explains that the greatness of Joshua was that he stayed by Moses' side - day-in, day-out. No, Joshua didn't perform any incredible heroics that earned him front-page headlines. But in his own quiet and consistent way, Joshua made it his priority to draw close to God, absorb Jewish wisdom, and do whatever he could to help others do the same. In fact, the Talmud says that Joshua came to the synagogue early each morning - to help set up the chairs!

Think about it: These humble acts of dedication are what God values most, even more than dramatic demonstrations of bravery and heroics. Teachers, public servants, dedicated parents - these are the true Jewish heroes of yesterday and today.


Laura Lilien of Canaan Online is the artist behind this stone depiction of the 12 tribes. Laura was inspired by the energy of nature and the simplicity of Canaanite and Phoenician cultures.

And Happy Birthday to the United States of America... and a big hug to all its heroes past, present and future! If you are looking at some pretty subtle patriotic jewelry look here at what Sarit Wolfus sent me this week.

12 tribes, 9 candles, 8 days, 1 artist

I am well aware that we are no where near Channukah, but this Channukiah made by Lynn Rae Lowe which represents the 12 Tribes is perfect for this week's parsha which divided the land between the tribes. Ms. Lowe says "The artist Kandinsky wrote a wonderful book called Concerning the Spiritual in Art. In it, he basically says that the artist is a very blessed soul, and that each one has a responsibility to return his or her gift to society. Like all of these artists, I'm returning the gift that I have in the best way that I can." What a wonderful way to approach life and work!

Pinhas Numbers 25:10-30:1

Rabbi Tracee Rosen on Friday July 14, 2006 spoke these words as part of her Sermon in Utah.

In this week’s Torah portion, Pinhas, Moses and Elazar the High Priest are instructed to conduct a census of the Israelites: “Count the heads of all the community of Israelites from twenty years and up by their fathers’ houses, everyone who goes out in the army of Israel. (Numbers 26:2)” While ostensibly they are to count “all the community of Israelites,” the latter half of the verse qualifies this statement by limiting the count to all males over the age of twenty, those who are eligible to be drafted for military service.

Just like the first census of the Israelites at the beginning of the Book of Numbers, women, children, slaves, resident foreigners, etc. aren’t actually counted in the census. Painfully, when we deal with the texts of antiquity, we are often confronted with a past that was male-dominated, sexist and exclusivist, reflecting the outlook of people at a particular point in time. Fortunately for us, we Jews have always been interpretive readers of text, not fundamentalist literalists. What the text meant 2,500 years ago is not what it was construed to mean 1,000 years ago, or what it has to mean today.

When the signers of the Declaration of Independence affixed their signatures 230 years ago to a document which affirmed that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…” what was self-evident to them was that all free, white, property-owning, adult males were endowed with certain unalienable rights, as those were the individuals who were privileged with the status of citizenship. However, even if it was only unconsciously, Jefferson laid the groundwork for the later women’s movements and civil right’s movements to claim for themselves the basic tenet of equality.

So, too, this basic value in the Torah, that all people count, needs to be expanded in our day beyond the narrow literalist reading of the verse. This is the consummate Jewish act. The 19th century Hassidic master, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger, known by his mystically oriented Torah commentary, Sefat Emet, The Language of Truth, offers a wonderful insight into the need for the two census activities in B’midbar. The first census, he says, was needed for the process of giving of the Torah; the second was related to the settlement in the Land of Israel. “Just as each person has a unique and special portion of the Torah, so too, each person has a designated portion in the land…Every census in the Torah is for the purpose of standing each person on his/her ‘root’ (the place of grounding which enables someone to reach upward to achieve their human potential and purpose).”

For the Sefat Emet, the census of the Torah is not merely for the mundane purpose of assembling troops to conquer the land of Israel, it has a higher and more mystical purpose of directing each individual to his or her destiny. We can almost imagine his vision of such a numbering process: “You, Number 602,434, Rachel daughter of Golda, here is your unique piece of Torah that you are meant to share with the world. Here is your land, your place in your community. Now go out, live your true potential, help create that bridge between the upper and lower realms which will pave the way to tikkun olam, repair of our broken world.”

We know, by the way, that this unambiguously male-dominated view of the world is not the last word in a dynamic, ever-evolving Torah. Even in this week’s portion, we have a rather limited case of the five daughters of Tzelophehad who challenge the biblical law that only sons may inherit the property of their fathers. When their case is decided, they prevail, and are allowed to inherit their father’s property. They, too, are made to count among the citizens of Israel, so much so, that like the chieftains of the Israelite tribes, they, too, are enumerated by name.

The beautiful Tallit above is from Iris Quilts... it depicts the 12 tribes and was created by IrisQuilts. I don't think a bunch of men wandering the desert for decades ever looked this lovely.