Weekly Torah Reading, Purim, 2021
What to Remember The holiday of Purim, celebrated this week, commemorates the downfall of the wicked Haman, who sought to “kill off, destroy and massacre” all the Jews in the king’s domain. Haman’s plan was ultimately thwarted, but …
Weekly Torah Reading, Terumah, February 20, 2021
Exodus 25:1-27:19 Return to the Garden This week’s reading contains God’s instructions for the building of the mishkan, the traveling tabernacle (that is, a big tent) in which the Israelites will offer sacrifices to God. Hardly a detail is left …
Weekly Torah Reading, Mishpatim, February 13, 2021
Exodus 21:1-24:18 Watching for Free Could you be a good Talmudist? This week’s reading is full of different rules and regulations: the Hebrew slave who wants to remain a slave; the goring ox; the burning field, and so forth. Some …
Weekly Torah Reading, Yitro, February 6, 2021
Exodus 18:1-20:23 The Missing Two Letters Ancient readers asked a question about the Ten Commandments, one that occurs to few people nowadays: Why did they need to be written on two stone tablets? One rectangular tablet certainly would …
Weekly Torah Reading Beshallaḥ January 30, 2021
Exodus 13:17-17:16 Two Great Songs This week’s reading prominently features the Song of the Sea—the song that the Israelites sang after their miraculous crossing of the Red Sea (Exodus 15). For this reason, this Shabbat is also known as …
Weekly Torah Reading, Bo’, January 23, 2021
Exodus chapters 10:1-13:16 Laws Endowed with Life Chapter 12 of this week’s reading contains the first commandments given to the people of Israel, starting with the laws of the new month and then moving on to the laws of …
Weekly Torah Reading, Va’era, January 25, 2020
Exodus 6:2-9:35 The Divine Signature The first two verses of this week’s reading have long posed a problem for interpreters. God says to Moses, “I am the Lord. But when I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it was …
Weekly Torah Reading, Shemot, January 9, 2021
Exodus 1:1-6:1 Destined for an Upgrade God first appeared to Moses at the burning bush on Mount Horeb, in Midian, where Moses had been shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks. He instructed Moses to go back to Egypt and demand that Pharaoh …