Holy Day Parsha: Freedom is not Just Another Word – It is about Giving

This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is an interesting parsha because what we read depends on where we are. If you are in Israel, then you will be reading parsha Shmini. If you are outside of Israel, then you will be reading a special Pesach (Passover) parsha. Is this because we Jews like to make things difficult? Not really. It goes back to our roots. Without going into all the details, it has to do with how a Jewish month begins … Continue reading

Parsha Meekaytz: Torah T’shuvah (Bless You!)

Happy Hanukah and welcome to my world of Torah ideas.  This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is always read on the Shabbat of Hanukah.  One aspect of Hanukah is about bringing light into the darkness, and the parsha, and Yoseph (Joseph) in particular, is all about waking people up from their darkness, so they can fix the things that they need to fix.  In the parlance of the tradition, Yoseph is all about doing tshuvah (literally an answer or to turn, … Continue reading