In this week’s Torah portion, Shelach, the Jewish people have completed the short trek from Mount Sinai to the Land of Israel. God tells them to send the heads of each tribe as spies to spy out the Land of Israel. After 40 days the spies return. Ten...
Naso is the longest portion in the weekly readings of Torah with 176 verses. After detailing the priestly purpose in the book of Leviticus, we come to the Book of Numbers and guess what? The first two portions begin with a census. Naso begins with an...
As the fourth book of the Torah opens, God orders Moses and Aaron to take a census of the people, specifically those males who are of the age of conscription. The Israelites still have many challenges to face, as they continue their journey from Mount...
By Rabbi James Stone Goodman
• Published May 16, 2012
O holy parshat Behar, you are speaking to me in the voice of metaphor, poetics, images. We call an image a mashal — a parable, an example. You open with the mashal: Begin with keeping the Sabbath of the land (Leviticus 25:2). The Sabbath of the land;...
A favorite Jewish folktale of mine tells of a group of monks at a monastery who over time lost sight of their own behaviors and treated each other with disrespect. Once known for living in an atmosphere of good will and human decency, the monks increasingly...
By Rabbi Roxanne J.S. Shapiro
• Published April 25, 2012
The double portion Tazria-Metzora is abundant with everything we need to know about dealing with skin diseases and bodily infections. Offering us more than a search on the Internet, we are taught not only the signs of these diseases, but how we should...
By Rabbi Josef Davidson
• Published April 11, 2012
One of my favorite stories is found in a small, but important book by Rabbi Marc Gellman entitled, “Does God Have a Big Toe?” It is a collection of midrash that is written for children but also teaches the adults who read the short selections to them....
I admit that I have a love affair with matzah. From the simplicity of matzah spread thick with whipped cream cheese, to the burnt edges of the hand-made shmura matzah. Yet, there is more to matzah than its mouth feel. Indeed matzah has personality,...
By Rabbi Mordecai Miller
• Published March 21, 2012
“Animal Sacrifice!” Not exactly a concept that excites modern sensibilities in Western society. Yet this is what confronts us every year as we begin the third book of the Torah, Vayikra or Leviticus. Setting aside our aversions to the notion for...
Throughout the Jewish year there are several Shabbatot/Sabbaths which have an added significance. This week will end with one: Shabbat Parah (the Sabbath of Parah Adumah/the Red Heifer), one of a series of special Shabbatot which lead up to Passover....
Crises in faith — we all have them at one time or another. Each of us can become overwhelmed by life and what it often brings to us when we have other plans. These crises can come from many different sources — the loss of a job, the death of a loved...
BY RABBI DALE SCHREIBER
• Published February 29, 2012
This week’s portion, Tetzaveh, begins with commandments to raise an eternal flame and to find people who are wise hearted to build a sanctuary where God’s presence would be visible. Tetzaveh, from the root word command, is paired with a special Sabbath...
