Friday, February 6, 2026/20 Shevat, 5786

Friday, February 6, 2026/20 Shevat, 5786

Parashat Yitro Exodus 18:1–20:23

Haftarah Isaiah 6:1-7:6; 9:5-6

מִזְבַּח אֲדָמָה תַּעֲשֶׂה־לִּי וְזָבַחְתָּ עָלָיו אֶת־עֹלֹתֶיךָ וְאֶת־שְׁלָמֶיךָ אֶת־צֹאנְךָ וְאֶת־בְּקָרֶךָ בְּכׇל־הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַזְכִּיר אֶת־שְׁמִי אָבוֹא אֵלֶיךָ וּבֵרַכְתִּיךָ׃

Make for Me an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come to you and bless you. (Exodus 20:21)

At the end of Parashat Yitro, God commands the Israelites to build altars for their sacrifices to God. Now that they have the Torah, it’s getting serious — they need to be able to put Torah into action, translate the hearing into doing.

These altars need to be made of unhewn stones, simple, organic, unaltered from their natural state. Yet directly following this command, we read that God will be present in every place where the divine name is mentioned.

Okay, so do they need to build altars, or is it enough to just say the name? But isn’t the name unpronounceable?

And something else feels confusing: Why does it say, “I will cause My name to be mentioned” rather than “You will mention My name?” The contrast works even better in the Hebrew, where the difference is really only one letter: אזכיר – azkir – instead of תזכיר – tazkir.

The Spanish medieval commentator Rabbeinu Bahya also wondered about that. He wrote that God’s blessing presence began to unfold as soon as the Torah was given and received. Though altars and rituals will enhance and hasten the unfolding, Bahya argues, the sheer presence of God already fills the world like the fragrance of roses sweeter than wine, like frankincense or myrrh in a summer garden at night — causing people to want to pronounce God’s name and build altars, like in a spiral of blessing and praise that embraces the entire world. By being there, God makes the people want to mention God’s name, in an attempt to create an intimate connection — which is what saying the name of a person, or an entity, is. Thus, by causing God’s unpronounceable name to be mentioned, God, in the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, “pierced the thick silence that fills the distance between God and the human mind.”

In this week’s readings, it is not only humans who are inspired to praise God. In the haftarah to Yitro, the prophet Isaiah witnesses a scene of angelic devotion – like Moses’ receiving of the Torah another kind of revelation:

(…) I beheld my Sovereign seated on a high and lofty throne; and the skirts of God’s robe filled the temple. Seraphs stood in attendance, each with six wings—two covering the face, two covering the body, and two to fly with. And one would call to the other, “Holy, holy, holy! God of Hosts—Whose presence fills all the earth!” (Isaiah 6:1-3)

The last verse is part of the Kedusha in the Amidah, the words when worshippers traditionally rise up on their toes three times: Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh.

In a poetic sense, the angels’ exclamation “Whose presence fills the earth” connects with Rabbeinu Bahya’s interpretation of Exodus 20:21: God is already omnipresent both on earth and in the heavens, on Mount Sinai and in the Temple, causing all those who sense it to mention, to praise God’s name and draw close to it – almost a physical act, like building an altar.

Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Julia Knobloch

More Torah Tidbits

Hadas Cootware

Torah School Coordinator

Hadas Cootware has been teaching Hebrew and Jewish Studies for over a decade, joining our Temple Beth El Community in 2018. Born and raised in Israel with Hebrew as her native language, she previously served as a combat soldier and operations officer in the IDF. Drawing on her studies in acting and psychology, she published a children’s book in Hebrew, The Marshmallow Story, which focuses on delayed gratification. Outside of teaching, she is the proud mother of her son, Henry, and loves to travel.

TBEtorahschool@bethelsp.org

Ilan Davidson

Cantor

Cantor Ilan Davidson has been pleasing audiences with his singing since before he could read. At age five, he began singing with his Cantor, Philip Moddel, and hasn’t shut up since. At ten, he made his Operatic debut with the Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen, as a street urchin. Since then, he has performed roles in opera and musical theatre, performing, directing, and producing world-class productions.

Among his many accomplishments, Cantor Davidson is also known as a contemporary Jewish songwriter and performer, having delighted audiences all over the world, including Israel and Lithuania with the soulful sounds of his music. His recordings, Stained Glass (1995) and In A Hanukkah Mood (2007) are collections of original and covered songs by himself and many contemporary Jewish artists. His most recent recording, God Is In This Place (2020), is a collection of original liturgical pieces for the Friday night Shabbat Service, commissioned and written in honor of his 25th Anniversary as the Cantor of Temple Beth El.

Cantor Davidson left the stage and in 1995 joined the Temple Beth El family, in San Pedro, where, in his nearly 30 years of service, he has brought many new programs and much enthusiasm to all he does. Coming from a long line of Cantors, it must have been Besheret for Cantor Davidson, although talented in all areas of musical performance, to finally settle down into his career as Hazzan for Temple Beth El in San Pedro, California. In 2007, Cantor Davidson founded a new foundation, KindredSPIRITS, producing an annual world humanitarian aid event. KindredSPIRITS premiered on June 5, 2008 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, adding that prestigious concert hall to the ever growing list of venues around the world, where Davidson has performed. During the 10 years of humanitarian events, Global KindredSPIRITS, Inc., as an official 501©3, raised awareness and close to $500,000 for its beneficiaries over the decade.
As a past president of the South Coast Interfaith Council, Ilan fought for tolerance and understanding of ALL faiths in a difficult climate. For the past 7 years, Cantor Davidson has been service as an LA County Commissioner, representing the 4th District on the Human Relations Commission, where he currently serves as President. Whether it is raising his voice for justice, Hazzanut, Pop, Opera, Musical Theatre, or folk music, Cantor Ilan Davidson shares his soul and genuine love in every note.

When asked about his finest accomplishment, Cantor Ilan invariably responds, “After all the great concerts, services, and roles, my finest role in life is that of husband to my beautiful wife, Jodi, and daddy to my gorgeous daughters, Jordan and Zoe.”

cantor@bethelsp.org

Office: (310) 833-2467 Ext. 106

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