Weekly Torah Reading: Shelah Lekha June 13, 2015
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 unravel. One way was to …
Weekly Torah Reading: Beha’alotekha June 6, 2015
The Problem with Y-S-F In this week’s Torah Reading, Moses gathered up the 70 elders of the people and stationed them all around the Tent of Meeting (Num 11:24). Then God came down in a cloud, and the divine spirit …
Weekly Torah Reading: Naso, May 30, 2015
Do It the Hard Way Last week’s Torah reading began with a detailed census of Israel’s tribes. But the Levites were not included in this census; they were treated separately afterwards. The Torah says that there were three …
The Festival of Shavu‘ot, May 24, 2015
The Great Handoff The festival coming up on Sunday, Shavu‘ot (the “Feast of Weeks”), was the subject of some controversy in late biblical times. The reason was that, unlike other festivals, this one had no specific date. Instead, …
Torah Readings, May 16, 2015
In Israel This Week: Parshat BeHukkotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34): Giving Fair Warning This week’s Torah reading begins with a description of all the good that will be Israel’s if the people follow God’s laws. This brief section is followed, …
Torah Readings, May 9, 2015 In Israel This Week: Parshat BeHar (Leviticus 25:1-26:2): Using What You Know to Someone’s Disadvantage Ancient Israel was largely a farming economy. This week’s Torah portion stipulates that every seventh year is …
Torah Readings, May 2, 2015
Weekly Torah Readings, May 2, 2015 In Israel this week: Emor (Leviticus 21-24): “An Ox and its Offspring in a Single Day” There is a curious law in this week’s reading. Lev 22:27-28 commands: “When an ox or …
Torah Reading, April 25, 2015
Weekly Torah Readings, April 25 In Israel this week: Aharei-Mot and Kedoshim This week we read two combined portions, “Aharei Mot” and “Kedoshim.” Perhaps the most famous verse among all those to be read is Lev 19:18, “You shall …