Weekly Torah Reading, Aharei Mot-Kedoshim, May 10, 2025

Weekly Torah Reading, Aharei Mot-Kedoshim, May 10, 2025 Leviticus 16:1 to 20:27 Loving Your Neighbor No doubt the most famous verse in this week’s double reading, Aḥarei Mot-Kedoshim, is Lev 19:18, “You shall love your neighbor like yourself.” Rabbi Akiva …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyikra, April 5, 2025

Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyikra, April 5, 2025 Leviticus 1:1-5:26 Heresies Avoided     Hebrew doesn’t have capital letters: the first letter in a sentence, or the first letter of a proper noun, is written the same size as a letter …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Pekudei, March 29, 2025

Weekly Torah Reading, Pekudei, March 29, 2025   The Opposite of Patience     This week’s reading ends the Torah’s account of the building of the mishkan, the portable sanctuary created to allow the Israelites to worship during their travels …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyakhel, March 22, 2025

Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyakhel, March 22, 2025 Mirrors and Their Meaning This week’s reading recounts in detail how the Israelites carried out God’s commandment to build a tabernacle (mishkan)—the moveable sanctuary that would serve as a kind of temple during …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Tetzavveh, March 8, 2025

  Exodus 27:20 – 30:10   Splendor in the Temple   This week’s Torah reading describes the special garments to be worn by the kohanim (priests) in the Temple. Those garments were no minor detail. In ancient Israel, clothes made …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Terumah, March 1, 2025

Weekly Torah Reading, Terumah, March 1, 2025 Exodus 25:1 – 27:19 A New Garden   At first glance, there might have seemed no reason for God to instruct the Israelites about building the mishkan, Israel’s sanctuary-in-the-desert, as recounted in this …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Mishpatim, February 22, 2025

Weekly Torah Reading, Mishpatim, February 22, 2025   Is Abortion Justifiable?   This week’s reading contains numerous laws governing various aspects of daily life. At first, some of these might seem far removed from our own daily lives. You’re probably …

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Weekly Torah Reading, Yitro, February 15, 2025

Weekly Torah Reading, Yitro, February 15, 2025 Exodus 18:1-20:23 Two Tablets? Ancient readers asked a question about the Ten Commandments, one that occurs to few people nowadays: Why did the Ten Commandments need to be written on two stone tablets? …

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