This week’s Parasha is entitled Tazria, meaning “she conceives”. It is taken from the book of Leviticus 12:1- 13:59. Why would Adonai instruct Moses to tell women that during their menstruation, or after conceiving a child, that they are unclean and not allowed to enter the Sanctuary, and that whatever they touch is unclean? Or […]

Passover is approaching, and once again we will recite The Hallel. Of the psalms that make up The Hallel, I’ve really come to enjoy Psalm 114. The parting of the Red Sea, the encounter with God at Mt. Sinai, and the crossing of the Jordan are described pictorially, and almost humorously; “the mountains skipped like […]

Our parasha this Shabbat is entitled Tzav, meaning “Give the Command!” and covers Leviticus 6-8. It opens by describing the steps for restitution when someone has defrauded another over property. This includes finding lost property and lying about it or having something entrusted to you and lying to the owner saying that it was lost […]

The name of this week’s parasha is Vayikra, which means “and he called,” and covers Leviticus 1:1-6:7.  This parasha begins the book of Leviticus and presents instructions for making burnt offerings, grain offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings.  Whenever someone brought an animal for a burnt offering from the herd or flock, the […]

This week’s parasha is entitled Pekudei which means “accounting of.”  It covers Exodus 38:21-40:38. Moses commanded the Levites to write down everything that was used to make the Tabernacle of Testimony. Ithamar, son of Aaron, was in charge of keeping the list. (verse 21). These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle. […]

This week’s parasha, Vayakhel, means “And He assembled” and covers Exodus 35:1-38:20. It gives an account of how the Tabernacle and its furnishings were constructed. Moses assembled the people of Israel and reminded them to observe the Sabbath. Then he told them to take up a collection of materials to be used in making the […]

The parasha for this Shabbat is entitled Ki Tissa, meaning “When you take or carry out (having to do with the taking of a census)” and spans Exodus 30-34. Included in this section of the Torah are the commands to sanctify with sacred oil the tent of meeting, the altar, its tools and Aaron and […]

This week’s parasha is entitled Tetzaveh, which means, “you shall command.”  It covers Exodus 27:20-30:10.  This week’s parasha deals mainly with the vestments, or garments required for the priests and their consecration ceremony. The priests who served at the Tabernacle, and later at the Temple, were required to be descendants of Aaron, and the high […]

In Exodus 21, Adonai gave Israel laws regarding the humane treatment of Hebrew slaves.  Now, Hebrew slavery consisted of two types: one was if you committed a crime against another and could not pay restitution, in which case you would be sold as a slave.  The other type was if you owed money and were […]

Our parasha for this Shabbat, spanning Exodus 18-20 is one of the most significant in all the Torah, because it describes Israel’s encounter with God at Mt. Sinai, and the giving of the Ten Commandments. Interesting, that this parasha should be entitled Yitro, the name of Moses’ father-in-law. Yitro (Jethro) comes to Moses with Zipporah […]