Va’Eira, Brotherhood

Confronting Egypt by Laya Crust

This week’s Torah portion presents the first wave of plagues against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. At the beginning of the Torah reading, Gd talks to Moses tracing His relationship back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Gd points out to Moshe that He is more open to Moshe than He had been to his forefathers. This link between Moshe and Gd allows Moshe to fully act as an agent of redemption and miracles.

There are parallels and contrasts between the Book of Genesis and the Book of Exodus. The most glaring contrast is the role of family in the two books. There are many stories of brothers and their relationships with each other. Sibling relationships in the Book of Genesis are fractious, but in the Book of Exodus (Shemot), there is family unity.

Cain murders his brother Abel. Isaac is kept away from his half-brother, Ishmael. Jacob and Esau have a relationship founded on deceit.

Family Dynamics by Laya Crust

The other story we all know is the jealousy of Jacob’s 10 sons toward his favourite child, Joseph.

A Grievous Sin by Laya crust

At first, they plan to kill Joseph but then soften their stance and merely sell him into slavery. Of course, slavery was probably a death sentence.

That is the family dynamic in the history of the fledgling Jewish nation. Abraham was selected to lead a new people who would follow Gd’s laws and ethics. The story we read in Va’Era, this week’s parashah, is about Abraham’s descendants enslaved in Egypt, but with a change in that family dynamic.

We are introduced to Moshe, a man who risks everything to save his brethren. He is not jealous or arrogant and welcomes his brother Aaron as an equal. Aaron, three years older than Moshe, takes the lesser role, allowing his younger brother to lead the way. The two men accept Gd’s direction. Their partnership allows them to stand before the ruler of Egypt and free their brethren. Miriam is Moshe and Aaron’s sister. She is the sister who risked everything to save her baby brother Moshe from certain death. Later Miriam joins her brothers and becomes a leader of the people in her own right.

It is a beautiful contrast to the painful relationships in the Book of Genesis. It is a lesson that if we act as caring partners, and work in cooperation for the good of the community/ city/ country/ world, we can make monumental changes for freedom and equality.

Shabbat Shalom,

Laya

The illustrations you have seen in this post are part of the upcoming book “ILLUMINATIONS”. Stay tuned for the 2022 publication!

If you would like to get weekly reminders of these blog posts just click on the “Follow” notice in the top right hand corner.

Va’Eira, Brotherhood

Confronting Egypt by Laya Crust

This week’s Torah portion presents the first wave of plagues against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. At the beginning of the Torah reading, Gd talks to Moses tracing His relationship back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Gd points out to Moshe that He is more open to Moshe than He had been to his forefathers. This link between Moshe and Gd allows Moshe to fully act as an agent of redemption and miracles.

There are parallels and contrasts between the Book of Genesis and the Book of Exodus. The most glaring contrast is the role of family in the two books. There are many stories of brothers and their relationships with each other. Sibling relationships in the Book of Genesis are fractious, but in the Book of Exodus (Shemot), there is family unity.

Cain murders his brother Abel. Isaac is kept away from his half-brother, Ishmael. Jacob and Esau have a relationship founded on deceit.

Family Dynamics by Laya Crust

The other story we all know is the jealousy of Jacob’s 10 sons toward his favourite child, Joseph.

A Grievous Sin by Laya crust

At first, they plan to kill Joseph but then soften their stance and merely sell him into slavery. Of course, slavery was probably a death sentence.

That is the family dynamic in the history of the fledgling Jewish nation. Abraham was selected to lead a new people who would follow Gd’s laws and ethics. The story we read in Va’Era, this week’s parashah, is about Abraham’s descendants enslaved in Egypt, but with a change in that family dynamic.

We are introduced to Moshe, a man who risks everything to save his brethren. He is not jealous or arrogant and welcomes his brother Aaron as an equal. Aaron, three years older than Moshe, takes the lesser role, allowing his younger brother to lead the way. The two men accept Gd’s direction. Their partnership allows them to stand before the ruler of Egypt and free their brethren. Miriam is Moshe and Aaron’s sister. She is the sister who risked everything to save her baby brother Moshe from certain death. Later Miriam joins her brothers and becomes a leader of the people in her own right.

It is a beautiful contrast to the painful relationships in the Book of Genesis. It is a lesson that if we act as caring partners, and work in cooperation for the good of the community/ city/ country/ world, we can make monumental changes for freedom and equality.

Shabbat Shalom,

Laya

The illustrations you have seen in this post are part of the upcoming book “ILLUMINATIONS”. Stay tuned for the 2022 publication!

If you would like to get weekly reminders of these blog posts just click on the “Follow” notice in the top right hand corner.

A Rosh HaShana Card

art and design by Laya Crust

Rosh HaShana starts next week, and I am reposting a do-it-yourself  pop-up card with a pomegranate theme.

The pomegranate is beautiful. It’s one of the biblical seven species of Israel, and it’s a favourite fruit for the new year. It is often used as a special fruit for a blessing on the second night of Rosh HaShana. There is a theory that each pomegranate has 613 seeds- the number of “mitzvot” or commandments we were given to observe.  By choosing the pomegranate we are acknowledging the 613 commandments.

We want our friends, relatives-  and ourselves- to have a happy, worry free, healthy, peaceful, year.  Here is a New Year’s card that you can make yourself. Go ahead and have some fun.

Start by printing the picture below on an 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper: We’ll call it ” Model 1″

Fold the sheet in half lengthwise.

Take your page and cut along the solid line through both halves of the paper. DO NOT cut through that blank space in the centre of the half circle near the words “without any”.Now you have cut the shape of a pomegranate.

Fold the page in half widthwise. The message “Shana Tova u’Metukah” (in Hebrew) will be on one side and all the text will be on the other.

Fold the page as shown above.
Pull the pomegranate gently towards you.  The pomegranate should extend out and the rest of the card folds in the opposite way. Does that make sense? So, below you can see all the steps.And here is the ultimate greeting!..

So get out the honey cake and a cup of tea, print up a couple of pages from “Model 1” and with just a pair of scissors a piece of paper and some patience you can wow your friends and impress your family with a 3-D card!

If you are a teacher you might even want to do this with your class.

All the best for a wonderful, healthy and peaceful  New Year!

Laya and family

Rosh HaShana- Happy New Year!

art and design by Laya Crust

Rosh HaShana always seems to creep up before we know it, and this year more than ever. September has just started. We just enjoyed Labour Day. Students are getting back to class. And, guess what?  Rosh HaShana starts next week. To make things a little better I thought we could do a craft together- make a pop-up card with a pomegranate theme.

The pomegranate is beautiful. It’s one of the biblical seven species of Israel, and it’s a favourite fruit for the new year. It is often used as a special fruit for a blessing on the second night of Rosh HaShana. There is a theory that each pomegranate has 613 seeds- the number of “mitzvot” or commandments we were given to observe.  By choosing the pomegranate we are acknowledging the 613 commandments.

We want our friends, relatives-  and ourselves- to have a happy, worry free, healthy, peaceful, year.  Here is a New Year’s card that you can make yourself. Go ahead and have some fun.

Start by printing the picture below on an 8 1/2″ x 11″ paper: We’ll call it ” Model 1″

Fold the sheet in half lengthwise.

Take your page and cut along the solid line through both halves of the paper. DO NOT cut through that blank space in the centre of the half circle near the words “without any”.Now you have cut the shape of a pomegranate.

Fold the page in half widthwise. The message “Shana Tova u’Metukah” (in Hebrew) will be on one side and all the text will be on the other.

Fold the page as shown above.
Pull the pomegranate gently towards you.  The pomegranate should extend out and the rest of the card folds in the opposite way. Does that make sense? So, below you can see all the steps.And here is the ultimate greeting!..

So get out the honey cake and a cup of tea, print up a couple of pages from “Model 1” and with just a pair of scissors a piece of paper and some patience you can wow your friends and impress your family with a 3-D card!

If you are a teacher you might even want to do this with your class.

All the best for a wonderful, healthy and peaceful  New Year!

Laya and family

Holocaust Education Week

This year is the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. For the past 35 years Toronto has hosted “Holocaust Education Week”- a week of lectures, performances, and discussions. Some of the presentations are given by survivors of the Holocaust- Jews who survived unimaginable misery- persecution, labour camps, death marches, death camps, and witnessed the murders/ executions of friends family and neighbours.

This year’s theme is “Liberation: Aftermath & Rebirth”. The title is promising, after all rebirth is something positive. However the pain and trauma continues even when there is rebirth.

The presentations have been extraordinary. (for the list of programmes go to http://holocaustcentre.com/HEW)  On Wednesday night, November 4, I attended a panel discussion entitled, “Holocaust Legacies: Born in Bergen -Belsen”. The four panelists, all of whom are Jewish, were born either in Bergen Belsen before the liberation or in the Bergen Belsen DP Camp (Displaced Persons Camp) after the liberation. They immigrated to Canada as small children. At the presentation they shared their experiences of being raised by parents traumatized by the Holocaust.

photograph of young children at the Bergen Belsen DP camp, from the JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee archives.  http://archives.jdc.org/history-of-jdc/?s=archivestopnav

Their parents didn’t have families to support them emotionally. They had to process their trauma by themselves without guidance or mentors. It wasn’t until the very public Eichmann trial in 1961  (http://remember.org/eichmann/intro ) that the extent of the Nazi atrocities became public knowledge. Until the trial survivors usually kept their stories to themselves. Often the stories were too atrocious to be believed or the survivors couldn’t bear to tell their stories. Although the blanket of silence was lifted by the trial in 1961, a majority of survivors continued to keep their pain and scars secret, causing emotional hardship for themselves and their children.

In a film clip shown at the lecture one “Bergen Belsen baby” related how people don’t understand the depth of horror of the Shoah (Holocaust). People say,  “There have been other genocides and mass murders- Hiroshima, Rwanda, Cambodia, and more…” Pondering the difference between those genocides and the Shoah are clear. The Shoah was the only genocide that was carefully planned to be the international destruction of an entire religion. It was the only genocide that degraded people to the level of a commodity to be killed and resold- reusing the clothing of victims, using hair as cushion stuffing, bones as soap, skin as lampshades, human beings as science experiments. Unbelievable, yet that was the depth of the depravity.

HEW is an amazing and important programme. We are given the opportunity to hear stories and witness history. We see before us heroism, strength, courage, optimism and growth.

With the cruelty being enacted in the world around us we can learn from the victories of those who survived. The lesson is: be strong. Do good things. Don’t stand idly by. And I think we also have to endeavour to look at the world and see the beauty around us every day.

And this is one of the best times of the year to enjoy the beauty around us.

Have a Shabbat Shalom and remember to appreciate your family, friends, freedom and the beauty of nature.

Ki Teitze

art by Laya Crust

Ki Teitze: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 21: 10 – 25: 19

Haftarah- Isaiah 54: 1-10

This week’s Torah reading is devoted to rules and laws that affect family and community life. The laws look at relationships between husbands and wives, parents and children, neighbours, the underprivileged, and even between humans and animals. This is the parsha that includes the unexpected  decree that before taking eggs out of a nest one must shoo away the mother bird- supposedly to save the mother bird the anguish of seeing its  (future) young being abducted.

art by Laya Crust

The range of laws and guidelines is impressive. They look at family and seemingly personal issues – the unloved wife, the rebellious child, a lost object… and treat those issues with the same gravity as crimes such as murder. The poor and weak members of society are also noticed in this parsha. The treatment of one’s servants is addressed.  All those must be cared for and treated with dignity.

Laws concerning women are quite prominent here. Yibbum or levirate marriage, unloved wives, questioned virginity, and the treatment of women who have been captured in war are all considered in this parsha.

art by Laya Crust

To our modern eyes the reading is often disturbing, but we have to remember what was going on in biblical times. Abuse and murder of women was ignored because it was seen as being under the jurisdiction and purview of the husband or father. In those days women had no status and no rights. They left their  home and family to lead a probably cloistered life with their husband’s family. Judaism recognized these injustices and established laws to erase the inequality and unfairness.

Many of the laws listed in Ki Teitzei  were ground breaking. For the first time a woman’s status and treatment were deemed important enough to discuss. Women were recognized as deserving respect and protection.

Judaism is a model for a just and generous society.   “And thou shalt remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing.” Deuteronomy 24: 22).  That one phrase communicates humility and the pursuit of integrity and justice.

Have a meaningful Shabbat,

Laya