The title of this week’s parsha (Torah portion) is called Tazria, which literally means, “You (male, singular) will cause to sow (as in sowing a seed in the earth), and it refers to a woman becoming pregnant. I must admit, that the parsha did not excite me as I was reading it. It starts with a discussion about the affects that birth have on a woman (from a spiritual point of view), and then veers off on the details of … Continue reading
This past week has been a busy one for us. The week started with Purim which includes dressing up in costume, getting so drunk you cannot tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys, and reading the book of Esther that is in the Tanach (bible). The book of Esther is an interesting book because it is the only book in Tanach that does not mention the name of god. And yet, if one looks carefully at … Continue reading
This year, Purim is literally on the heals of shabbat. As shabbat goes out, we find ourselves reading and listening to the Scroll of Esther being read. An interesting point about the Scroll of Esther is that you can also translate the Hebrew, Megilat Esther, to mean: revealing the hidden. Tzav is the command form of the verb to command, and our parsha (weekly Torah portion) begins with god telling Moshe (Moses) to command Aharon and his sons in regards … Continue reading
Next week we enter the week leading up to Purim. If we allow ourselves to believe that the energy of the Purim story is timeless, we might also come to realize that while the events of the coming week (and the past few weeks) might seem to be crazy or difficult, the truth of Purim is that there is a hidden goodness in these events, and at Purim, if we get high enough, the whole world will flip-flop, and things … Continue reading