Weekly Torah Reading, Shabbat ha-Gadol, April 20, 2024
Some Tips for the Haggadah The whole reason for having a Passover seder is to carry out the Torah’s commandment, “And you shall tell your children” about the exodus from Egypt. But telling your children is often not so …
Weekly Torah Reading, Shemini, April 6, 2024
Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47 Why were Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu, struck dead in the desert tabernacle (mishkan)? Everything was all set for the inauguration of regular sacrificial worship in the mishkan, and then this tragedy—why? The Torah …
Weekly Torah Reading Shabbat Zakhor, March 23, 2024
Exodus 27:20-30:10, Deuteronomy 25:17-19 Remembering to Forget The Shabbat just preceding Purim is called “Shabbat Zakhor” because the Torah reading on that day ends with the commandment of Deut 25:17-19: Remember what Amalek did to you on …
Weekly Torah Reading, Pekudei, March 16, 2024
Exodus 38:21 – 40:38 Keep Saying That In general, rabbinic interpreters avoided recognizing repetitions in the biblical text as mere repetitions. The interpreters’ motto was “every word counts,” and this meant that no verse, or even part of a …
Weekly Torah Reading, Vayyakhel, March 9, 2024
Exodus 35:1-38:20 The More Mitzvot It is customary in different Jewish communities to recite regularly a certain rabbinic saying—a saying found in the Mishnah which, on reflection, seems a bit odd: “Rabbi Ḥananya ben ‘Akashya said: ‘The Holy …
Weekly Torah Reading, Ki Tissa, March 2, 2024
Exodus 30:1 – 34:35 Rules if Rhetoric No sooner had God finished telling the Israelites not to make statues or idols for worship (Exod 20:4-5) than here they go and do exactly that! Well, people sometimes choose to do …
Weekly Torah Reading, Tetzavveh, February 24, 2024
Exodus 27:20 – 30:10 Glorious Splendor 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 the kohen; kohanim …