PDF of Torah Portion from JPS--In case you didn't see this on the side bar

PDF of this week's parasha from the Jewish Publication Society

Lech Lecha

Happy Birthday to me!  It was my birthday when I recorded this podcast….of course, when you listen to it…it will be over and I will simply be old.

Here is the link to the article about Jboomers.  http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/boomers_needs_being_neglected_communitys_peril

You can find Jboomers on Facebook.  If you are interested in attending the Jboomers Klezmer Brunch at City Winery on Nov 21, send a note to Jboomers through facebook.

New York Sheep and Wool, Oct 16-17 in Rhinebeck, NY.  You can look for my skein entries in the novice category.  (1 skein is purple and pink, the other two are grey, pink and blue and very sparkly).  Maybe I’ll even win a ribbon or something!  The last time I entered an artistic type contest was when I was 10  or 11 years old!  (I won!)

http://www.sheepandwool.com/

Thank you Linda Hirschhorn for giving me permission to play her song “Sarah and Hagar” as performed by Vocolot on their Album Heart Beat.   Heart Beat is available at Itunes.  You can find more information about Linda and Vocolot by clicking on the links below.

http://www.lindahirschhorn.com/

http://www.vocolot.com/

Two Contests

Donation Drawing:

If you donate to Torah Threads during the month of October you can win either a personalized yad or a skein of handspun wool.

You can send a donation by clicking on the paypal link at torahthreads.blogspot.com

Essay

If you submit a short essay about the relationship between the children Ishmael and Isaac, your feelings about the pre-ordained strife mentioned in this week’s portion and/or the implications of the strife arising from the relationship of Sarah and Hagar, you are eligible to win a personalized yad or a skein of handspun wool.  I will read the winning essay on a show in early November.  Please submit your essays to me at:  torahthreads@gmail.com

                                 

Our Sponsor, Frisky Lamb Farm is now taking orders for fresh, 100% grass fed, humanely raised lamb on our 75 acre pesticide free farm.  If you live in the Binghamton area you can pick up the meat directly from the farm.  If you live in NY, we can make arrangements for delivery in early December.

The chart below shows relationship of Torah to other forms of Jewish Literature.  More on this in the coming weeks

Show Notes Parshat Noah 5771

Special Thanks to Rabbi Arthur Waskow, author of Godwrestling-Round 2, founder of The Shalom Center, theshalomcenter.org, for allowing me to use his "Haftarah for a Rainbow Covenant". You can find his work based on Torah teachings at the Shalom Center website or in his book.  He has done amazing work for many years.  You will undoubtedly hear me speak many times in the future about the concept of eco-kashrut which I learned first from him.  I thank him for inspiring me throughout the years.  You can find the text for the Poem “Haftarah for a Rainbow Covenant” at TheShalomCenter.org.
Special Thanks to Glenn Manion & Suzanne Smithline and Squeaky Clean for letting me use Glenn's "The Marvelous Relationship" from their "Pull Together album".  Pull Together is their school assembly program on character education.  The program help students learn that they will need to accept people of all backgrounds and value each other's talents so that they can work together to solve global problems.  This song, based on something Glenn learned in high school biology helps show that even a little bird can make a contribution to the world.  This is one small example of their genius and talent!  They are amazing people as well as fabulous musicians.  Go to their website, www.gmfmusic.com to learn more about them.  You can buy their album at Itunes. 

Biblical Criticism:  Some References & a Short version explanation

The Documentary Hypothesis

Scholars believe that the biblical text went through four basic strands of editing commonly denoted as the J-E-P-D strands.  The J strand is described as J because it stands for the Yawahist strand—the Strand using tettrgramaton—the Four letter name of God which we do not pronounce today.  The  letter yod which begins the Hebrew name of God is transposed into English as a J, which is why Jehovah’s witnesses use the J in their attempt to pronounce God’s ineffable name.  Approximately 10 C. BCE

The E strand is the strand known as the Elohist strand. It uses the term elohim frequently.  900-800 BCE

The P strand is the strand known as the Priestly strand.  It is the text placed to elevate the status of the priesthood and is prominent in the book of Leviticus. 8^th C-6^th C BCE

The D strand is the strand known as the “Deuteronomy strand”.  It is probably the latest editing and features texts that comport to the modifications of the book of Deuteronomy.  600-400 C BCE.

For more information you can look at MyJewishLearning.com. 

For information about the Shabbat of Healing for the Climate go to Theshalomcenter.org, or Hazon.org.

Blessing On Seeing a Rainbow:

Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh zokher

hab'rit v'ne'eman bivrito v'kayam b'ma'amaro.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to God's covenant,

and keeps God's promise. 

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה
אֱלהֵינוּ מֶלֶך-הָעולָם
זוכֵר הַבְּרִית וְנֶאֱמָן בִּבְרִיתו
וְקַיָּם בְּמַאֲמָרו.

Noah

Genesis 6:9-11:32

Two versions of the Story

J

God saw humanity’s wickedness and God regretted that God had made them.  The Eternal’s heart was saddened

Then God said to Noah, “Go into the ark for you alone have I found righteous….take with you seven pairs of clean and one pair of unclean animals, and seen pairs of birds. I will send forty days and nights of rain.

After seven days the Flood came.  Rain fell for forty days and nights.  Noah sent out a dove, but the dove found no place to rest; he waited seven days, and the dove came back with an olive leaf.  After another seven days the dove went out but did not return.

Noah left he ark.  He built an altar and sacrificed of every clean animal and clean bird.  God in turn promised never to bring another flood. 

P

God saw how corrupt humanity was and God said to Noah:  “I have decided to put an end to all flesh.

Make yourself an ark.  Take with you two of everything that lives, male and female, of birds, cattle, and creeping things.

In the six-hundredth year of Noah’s life in the second month, on the seventeenth day the rain began.  The waters swelled for one hundred and fifty days.  At the end of that time the waters diminished.   Noah sent out a raven.  It went to and fro until the waters had dried up.

In Noah’s six hundred and first year, on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, he and his family left the ark.  God then made a covenant with Noah and set God’s rainbow in the sky as a sign that God would not bring another flood.