Tag Archives: Torah Portion
Behaalotecha: The Journey of Grass
Then Moses said to Hobab, son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are journeying to the place about which the L‑rd said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Go with us, and we will be good to you.” -Numbers … Continue reading
Behar-Bechukotai: Christians by Choice
But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, … Continue reading
Emor: Being Your Slave What Should I Do?
And G-d said to Moses: … [a Kohen] shall not contaminate himself [through contact with] the dead of his people. Except for his closest kin–his mother, father, son, daughter or brother. Or for his virgin sister… who has not married … Continue reading
Shoshie’s Rules
In Parashat Emor we are commanded, “Do not desecrate My Holy Name, and I shall be sanctified within the Children of Israel.” These two mitzvot (commandments), desecrating God’s Name and sanctifying it, can be interpreted as very general principles that … Continue reading
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: Why We Fail to Walk with God
My ordinances you shall do, and My statutes you shall observe, to walk with them, I am the Lord, Your G-d. -Leviticus 18:4 What does the Torah mean “to walk with them?” The Ksav Sofer, a famous Hungarian rabbi, commented … Continue reading
The Torah’s Great Principle
Rabbi Akiva said, “Love your fellow as yourself” is a great principle of the Torah. A similar principle is gleaned from the famous story of a proselyte who wished to convert to Judaism on condition that someone would teach him … Continue reading
Tazria-Metzora: Time Out
Tzara’at, the skin discoloration mistranslated for millennia as “leprosy,” is a curious disease. It is not contagious—it was only acquired by virtue of speaking badly of other people. It was a physical skin discoloration caused by a spiritual defect. The … Continue reading
Shemini: Chesed to the Stranger
The following you shall abominate among the birds — they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, and the black vulture; the stork; herons of every variety; the hoopoe, and the bat. -Leviticus 11:13,19 (JPS … Continue reading
Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach: Mercy
So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The Lord … Continue reading
