Efrayimbenshalom

Koraj induce a un motín desafiando el liderazgo de Moshe y la entrega de la Kehuná (Ministerio) a Aharón. Se suman al motín dos enemigos de Moshe, Datán y Avirám, y 250 miembros distinguidos de la comunidad, que ofrecen el santo ketoret (incienso) para probar que son meritorios del Ministerio. La tierra se abre y traga a los rebeldes, mientras un fuego consume las ofrendas de ketoret.

La gente llora diciendo que prefieren volver a Egipto. Elohim decreta que la entrada de Israel a la Tierra debe ser demorada por cuarenta años, tiempo durante el cual la generación entera fallecerá en el desierto. Un grupo de judíos arrepentidos se abalanza sobre la montaña en el borde de la Tierra pero son rechazados por los Amalekitas y los Canaanitas.

Son entregadas las leyes de Menajot (ofrendas de harina, vino y aceite), así como el precepto de consagrar parte de la masa (jalá) a Elohim cuando se hornea pan. Un hombre viola el Shabat cuando carga ramas y es castigado con pena capital. Elohim instruye poner flecos (Tzitzit) en las cuatro puntas de las vestimentas para recordar la observancia de las Mitzvot (perceptos de HaShem).

Moshe envía doce espías a la Tierra de Canáan. Estos vuelven cuarenta días después, cargando un enorme racimo de uvas, una granada y un higo, para reportar sobre una exuberante y bondadosa tierra. Pero diez de los espías advierten que los habitantes de la tierra son gigantes y guerreros "más poderosos que nosotros"; sólo Caleb y Iehoshúa insisten en que la tierra puede ser conquistada, como Elohim indicó.

PARASHA NASÓ

According to the census of the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, a total of 8,580 Levites, men between 30 and 50 years of age, are counted to carry the tent of meeting. Elohim teaches Moshe the laws concerning the Sotah, a woman suspected of being unfaithful to her husband. He also receives the laws of the Nazir, who promises not to drink wine, to let his hair grow, and is forbidden to ritually defile himself, with the impurities of a dead person. Aaron and his descendants, the Kohanim, are instructed on how to bless the people of Israel.

Tazria-metzorah

Parshat Tazria continues with the laws of ritual purity and impurity. A woman who gives birth goes through a process of purification, which includes immersion in a mikveh (a pool of naturally gathered water) and bringing offerings to the Temple. On the eighth day of life, All males born must be circumcised.

The Metzora section begins to describe the process through which the recovered metzora is purified by the Cohen with a procedure that includes two doves, water from a spring, a clay pot, a piece of cedar wood, a purple ribbon, and a bouquet of myrtle.

In the Sinai Desert, Elohim commands a census of the twelve tribes of Israel. Moshe counts 603,550 men between the ages of 20 and 60; separately is counted the tribe of Levi, totaling 22,300 men one month of age and older. The Levites are to serve in the sanctuary, replacing the firstborn, whose numbers they approached, as the latter was disqualified for their participation in the idolatry of the Golden Calf. The 273 firstborns who did not have a Levite to replace them had to pay a "ransom" of five shekel to be redeemed from service. When the people set up camp to travel, the three Levitical clans dismantled and transported the sanctuary, then rearmed it in the center of the next place. Then they erected their tents around them: the Kehatites, who carried on their shoulders the utensils (the ark, the menorah, etc.) in their specially designed coverings, camped in the south; the Gershonites, in charge of the tapestries and curtains, to the west; and the families of Merari, who transported the wall panels and pillars, to the north. In front of the entrance to the sanctuary, to the east, were the tents of Moshe, Aaron, and their sons. Beyond the circle of the Levites, the twelve tribes camped in four groups of three tribes each. To the east were the tribes of Judah (pop. 74,600), Isaacar (54,400), and Zvulun (67,400); to the south, Reuben (46,500), Shimon (59,300) and Gad (45,650); to the west Ephraim (40,500), Menashe (32,200) and Binamien (35,400); and to the north Dan (62,700), Asher (41,500) and Naftali (53,400). This formation was also maintained while traveling. Each tribe had its nasí (prince or leader) and its flag with the tribe's color and emblem.

BEHAR-BEJUKKOTAI

At Mount Sinai, Elohim communicates to Moshe the laws of the sabbatical year. Every seventh year, all work on earth must cease, and its product must be left free for all to take, both human and animal. Followed by a fiftieth year with seven cycles of rest, the jubilee year, in which work on the land also ceases, all servants are sent free, and ancestral property in the Holy Land returns to the possession of its original owners. In the parasha Bechukotai, Elohim promises that if the Children of Israel observe his commands, they will enjoy material prosperity and live safely in their land. But he also gives a harsh "rebuke" warning of exile, persecution, and other sufferings that will befall them if they abandon their covenant with Elohim. However, "Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or look at them with disgust. I will not reject or cancel my promise to them because I am the Adon, their Elohim.

Emor

Vayikra 21:1-24:23

The Emor ("Tell them") section begins with the laws of the Kohanim, the Cohen Gadol, and Temple service: a Cohen cannot become ritually impure through contact with a corpse, except in the case of the death of a close relative. A Cohen cannot marry a divorced woman or a woman with a promiscuous past; the Cohen Gadol can marry only a maiden. A Cohen with a physical deformity cannot serve in the Holy Temple, Nor can a deformed animal be offered. The second part of Emor gives a list of the annual festivals of the Jewish calendar. The Passover offering on Nisan 14; the seven-day festival of Passover beginning on the 15th of Nisan; the barley offering called Omer on the second day of Passover and the beginning of the Counting of the Omer for the next 49 days, culminating in the festival of Shavuot on the fiftieth day; a "remembrance of the blowing of the shofar" on 1 Tishrei; a solemn fast day on the 10th of Tishrei; and the festival of Sukkot – during which one must live in a hut for seven days and take the "Four Species" – beginning on the 15th of Tishrei. Emor concludes with the incident of a man executed for blaspheming, the penalties for murder, and for insulting others or destroying their property (monetary compensation).

After the death of Nadav and Avihu, Elohim warns against entering "the holy place" without authorization. Only the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) can, once a year, on Yom Kippur, enter the innermost room of the Sanctuary to offer holy incense – ketoret to Elohim.

Kedoshimm begins with "You shall be holy, for I, Elohim your Lord, am holy"; this is followed by dozens of Mitzvot (injunctions of Abba Kadosh) through which the Jew sanctifies himself and relates to the holiness of Elohim. These include the prohibition against idolatry, the Mitzvah of charity, the principle of equality before the law, Shabbat, sexual morality, honesty in business, honor, and fear of parents, and the importance of life. Also in Kedoshim is the phrase that the great Rabbi Akiva taught that this is a cardinal principle of the Jewish faith and about which Hillel said: "This is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary" – Love your neighbor as yourself.

La gente está insatisfecha con el "lejem del cielo" (el maná) y demanda que Moshe les provea carne. Moshe designa 70 ancianos, a quienes emana de su propio espíritu, para asistirlo con la carga de gobernar al pueblo. Miriam habla negativamente de Moshe y es castigada con tzaráat - una especie de lepra; Moshe reza por su curación y toda la comunidad espera siete días para su recuperación.