Weekly Torah Reading July 30, 2016
In Israel: Mattot 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 to be …
Weekly Torah Reading July 23, 2016
In Israel: Pineḥas One and the Same Last week’s Torah reading ended with Phinehas (the common English spelling of Hebrew Pinḥas) slaying a flagrantly offending couple in the sight of all Israel, thereby turning back God’s wrath. This week’s …
Weekly Torah Reading July 16, 2016
In Israel: Balak 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 …
Weekly Torah Reading, July 8, 2016
In Israel: Ḥukkat “Rise up, O Well” This week’s Torah reading begins with the detailed procedure for purification from corpse contamination—a rather technical matter. But this section is then followed by a number of historical recitations and even two …
Weekly Torah Reading: July 2, 2016
In Israel: Koraḥ The Whole Garment Koraḥ is the villain of this week’s Torah reading, the leader of a foiled rebellion against Moses and Aaron. “Look, all of us are holy,” Koraḥ said to them. By this he …
Weekly Torah Reading, June 25, 2016
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 not …
Weekly Torah Reading, June 18, 2016
In Israel: Naso Continue or Stop? In this week’s reading, Moses gathers up the 70 elders of the people and stations them all around the Tent of Meeting (Num 11:24). Then God comes down in a cloud, and …