Weekly Torah Reading, Naso, May 26, 2018
The Priestly Blessing Among all the different items covered in this week’s reading is a brief commandment to Aaron and his sons. As is well known, Aaron’s sons will henceforth be the kohanim, the hereditary priests in Israel, and …
Weekly Torah Reading: Shavu‘ot, Sunday, May 20, 2018
The Giving of the Rest of the Torah As everyone knows, the festival of Shavu‘ot commemorates the giving of the Torah. Year in and year out, we mark the day with special celebrations and readings in synagogue; some …
Weekly Torah Reading, May 12, 2018
In Israel: Be-Hukkotai: This week’s reading consists for the most part of a long list of misfortunes that will befall the people of Israel if they fail to keep God’s commandments. These punishments—diseases, drought, military defeat, and exile—are recited …
Weekly Torah Readings, May 5, 2018
Why Two Readings? As sometimes happens, the Torah portions read in synagogues within Israel and those read in synagogues outside of Israel are scheduled to be out of sync for a while. So, for the coming weeks, I’ll be …
Weekly Torah Reading, April 28, 2018
(Why Two Readings?) As sometimes happens, the Torah portions read in synagogues within Israel and those read in synagogues outside of Israel are scheduled to be out of sync for a while. So, for the coming weeks, I’ll be …
Weekly Torah Reading, April 21, 2018: in Israel, Aḥarei Mot-Kedoshim, Outside Israel, Tazria‘-Metzora‘
Why These Two Readings? As sometimes happens, the Torah readings in Israel and outside it are scheduled to be out of sync for a while. So, for the coming weeks, I’ll be including comments on both Torah readings, the …
Weekly Torah Reading in Israel, Tazria‘-Metzora‘, April 14, 2018
Weekly Torah Reading in Israel, Tazria‘-Metzora‘, April 14, 2018; Outside Israel, Shemini, April 14, 2018 Why These Two Readings? As sometimes happens, the Torah readings in Israel and outside it are scheduled to be out of sync for …
Torah Reading, Seventh Day of Passover, April 6, 2018
Don’t Forget My Bones With the last of the Ten Plagues, Pharaoh was forced to relent, and the Israelites left Egypt “with hand held high,” that is, full of confidence. Nevertheless, God did not lead them by the shortest …