Parsha B’meedbar: I am not a Number!

This week we start reading the 4th book of the Torah. Both it and the parsha (the weekly Torah portion) are called B’meedbar which means, “In the wilderness,” in Hebrew. (The book is called Numbers in English). The beginning of this book coincides with our moving away from Mt. Sinai and into a 39 year sojourn in the wilderness. What? Yes, you are correct. It took us 40 years from the time we left Egypt until we entered the Promised … Continue reading

Parsha Pinchas: A New Generation of Torah

It is that time again for a word or two on this week’s parsha (Torah portion).  The parsha is titled Pinchas (or Phineas for those of you with an English bent) and it is a strange beast.  The week before, we left our heroes fighting a plague for getting involved in idol worship and having Pinchas come to the rescue by killing a high ranking Jew and his Midianite lover.  In this parsha, Pinchas gets rewarded, and god tells Moshe … Continue reading