Weekly Torah Reading, Devarim, August 10, 2019
Mystery Man This week’s portion, Devarim, always precedes the reading of the book of Lamentations on the ninth of the Hebrew month of Ab, which commemorates of the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. As the name indicates, Lamentations consists …
Weekly Torah Reading, Mattot and Mas‘ei, August 2, 2019
In Israel: Mas ‘ei The Lex Talionis One of the most widespread legal principles in the ancient world was the lex [or “ius”] talionis, the law [or “right”] of retribution. A person who, for example, injured someone was …
Weekly Torah Reading, July 27, 2019
In Israel: Mattot The story of the tribes of Reuben and Gad in this week’s Torah reading contains a rather subtle message. Following Israel’s defeat of Midian, the Reubenites and Gadites realize that the territories conquered on the far …
Weekly Torah Reading, July 20, 2019
Weekly Torah Reading, July 20, 2019 In Israel: Pinehas The Priest Who Never Died Last week’s Torah reading ended with Pineḥas (known in English as Phineas) slaying a flagrantly offending couple, thereby turning aside God’s wrath. For his …
Weekly Torah Reading, July 13, 2019
In Israel: Balak Just Leave Us Alone In this week’s Torah reading, the pagan seer Balaam is hired to curse the people of Israel, but every time he tries, he ends up blessing them instead. In the first of these …
Weekly Torah Reading, July, 2019
In Israel, Hukkat: A Bit Too Confident This week’s reading relates that, toward the end of their forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites ran out of water. They complained bitterly to their leaders, Moses and Aaron: …
Weekly Torah Reading, June 29, 2019
Weekly Torah Reading, June 29, 2019 In Israel: Koraḥ Ganging Up on Moses This week’s Torah reading recounts the attempted revolt of Koraḥ and his allies. According to Num 16:3, the rebels “assembled” (vayyiqqahalu) against Moses and …
Weekly Torah Reading, June 22, 2019
Weekly Torah Reading, in Israel: Shelaḥ Lekha Memorable Threads This week’s Torah reading ends with the law of “fringes” or “tassels” (tzitzit). In pre-modern times, weavers used different means to finish off a piece of cloth so that it would …