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torah commentary
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Broken promises addressed by Torah
Naso, Numbers 4:21-7:89 Parsha Naso is interesting. While a great deal of the sedra refers to its name, identifying the offerings and count of the leaders of each tribe, or nasiam, there are iso...
May 17, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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Our firstborn no longer belong to God
Bamidbar, Numbers 1:1-4:20 Once upon a time, a long time ago, every firstborn belonged to God. We were always supposed to give the first of all “our fruits” to God, literally. Now, let’s go way b...
May 09, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend
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<i>Rabbi Aaron Bisno</i>
Shabbat as a utopian ideal
Behar-Behukotai, Leviticus 25:1-27:34 This week’s Torah reading is drawn from a double portion, Behar-Behukotai. Behar is associated with the laws of sabbatical; that is, we are instructed to al...
May 02, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 4 4 recommendations | email to a friend
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<i>Rabbi Scott Aaron</i>
You kiss your mother with that mouth? Blasphemy then and now
Parshat Emor, Leviticus 21:1 – 24:23 This week’s portion ends with a troubling story of blasphemy, social isolation and death.  (I know … a lot of our Torah portions have troubling stories of bla...
Apr 25, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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<i>Rabbi James Gibson</i>
‘Can’t we all just get along?’
Achare Mot–Kedoshim, Leviticus 16:1-20:27 Those famous words, “Can’t we all just get along?” were plaintively said by Rodney King, whose beating at the hands of the Los Angeles Police more than ...
Apr 18, 2013 | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend
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<i>Rabbi Joe Hample</i>
Getting it together
Tazria-Metzora, Leviticus 12:1-15:33 Just between you and me, I feel a lot of ambivalence.  I’m full of faith and doubt, calm and stress, gloom and hope.  I’m an introverted extrovert, a sloppy p...
Apr 10, 2013 | 1 1 comments | 6 6 recommendations | email to a friend
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Archives
The light at death's door Achare — Kedoshim Leviticus 16:1-20:27
by Rabbi Mark Joel Mahler
Apr 29, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 15 15 recommendations | email to a friend
My family and I chuckled when we learned the name of the new presidential pup: Bo. That was the name of our family’s dog from 1992 to 2005. My wife chose the name because of its double entendre i...
Kosher means more than just food, Tazria-Metzora, Leviticus 12:1-15:33
by Rabbi David C. Novitsky
Apr 22, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 14 14 recommendations | email to a friend
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter makes a connection between last week’s parsha, Shemini, and this week’s, Tazria-Metzora. In Shemini, the Torah enumerates the various species of birds, animals and fish that ...
Don’t be silent for the wrong reasons
by Rabbi Barbara AB Symons
Apr 16, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 12 12 recommendations | email to a friend
This week, Aaron was silent. Aaron, whose sons died “at the instance of the Lord” for offering alien fire, was silent. That was how his mourning manifested itself. Too often, however, we are sil...
Ah, freedom, Shabbat Chol Hamoed
by Rabbi Jessica E. Locketz
Apr 13, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 19 19 recommendations | email to a friend
There is a song that my friends and I used to listen to at camp. In fact, it was a sort of theme song as we gathered each summer to escape the pressures of school and parents alike. I no longer r...
Rituals enhance worship at this season, Tzav, Leviticus 6:1-8:36
by Rabbi Stephanie Wolfe
Apr 01, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 14 14 recommendations | email to a friend
The majority of this week’s parsha, Tzav, focuses on ancient rituals of the temple and priesthood. We continue to learn about the various types of sacrifices; how to do them; when to eat them; who...
Depth perception needed for relationships, Leviticus 1:1-5:26
by Rabbi Eli Seidman
Mar 25, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 13 13 recommendations | email to a friend
How would you like to be a passenger in a car driven by a person with no depth perception? Depth perception is the ability to judge the distance between things. When you are driving, it is necessar...
Big Tent Judaism, Exodus 35:1; 40:38; 12:1-20
by Rabbi Stephen E. Steindel
Mar 19, 2009 | 1 1 comments | 14 14 recommendations | email to a friend
The Book of Exodus, which we conclude this Shabbat, features a very specific focus in the last 16 of its chapters. Having described the enslavement of our ancestors in Egypt, the miraculous plagues...
Who speaks with Moses’ passion now? Ki Tissa, Exodus 30:11-34:35; Numbers 19:1-22
by Rabbi Ron Symons
Mar 11, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 9 9 recommendations | email to a friend
When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the tablets in hand to witness the idolatrous actions of the People of Israel, it is no wonder that he broke the tablets of the covenant. He was, after all...
Torah no mystery book, Tetzaveh, Exodus 27:20-30:10
by Rabbi Joseph S. Weiss
Mar 04, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 14 14 recommendations | email to a friend
The description presented in the previous and next number of Torah portions is quite puzzling. It elaborates the specific items, measurements and requirements for their construction, and also gives...
Face to face, we can create holy space, Terumah, Exodus 25:1-27:19
by Rabbi Amy B. Hertz
Feb 25, 2009 | 0 0 comments | 12 12 recommendations | email to a friend
The cherubim shall spread their wings upward, sheltering the cover with their wings, and the cherubim shall face one another. Their faces shall be turned toward the cover… there I will meet with y...