Tonight is a peaceful night after a beautiful day here in Eugene. This shabbat (Saturday) we read a parsha (weekly Torah portion) called Emor which means, “Tell.” Why? Because the parsha begins with haShem (god) telling Moshe (Moses) to TELL to the priests, the sons of Aharon a whole lot of things such as not to become tamae (mixed) by the soul of a member of the nation. The implication here is that the soul means when a person dies … Continue reading
First, what is an Omer? And why do we count them? And how does counting these… omers lead to self improvement (which I am implying by the title of this post)? The answer to the first two questions are easy. Omer is the Hebrew word for a sheaf of grain. The main Jewish sacred text, the Torah, tells us that we should bring sheaves of barley to the sacred place, the place where the divine infinite safely intersects our finite … Continue reading
We are on a roll. This week is our second double parsha (weekly Torah portion) in a row. It is called Acharai-Kedushim, though some call it Acharai mot-Kedushim. The reason for the extra word is because the first word, acharai, means after, and some people feel that is not a distinctive enough word. The second word means death. The name of the second of our two parshas is called Kedushim which is the plural form of the verb, “To separate … Continue reading
This week we have another of our famous double parshas (weekly Torah readings) and it is called Tazria-Metzora. Tazria is the name of the first parsha and means, “She will cause seed to be sewn.” Metzora is the name of the second parsha and refers to a person who has Tzaraat which is a spiritual malady and often mistranslated as leprosy. Seeing as we had our first double parsha a few weeks ago, I think I will go straight into … Continue reading
The parsha (weekly Torah portion) for this week is called Shmini and means, “8th,” as in the eighth day after Aharon and his sons began their initiation ritual. I find it very interesting that this is the first time we have moved beyond a concept of seven days. Seven is the directions: north, east, south, west, up, down, and center. It is also the number of days god took to create the world. So it represents the physical world or … Continue reading
Why is Pesach (Passover) 7 days? We have the first night seder meal, and then the next day (the first day of Pesach), we leave Egypt. Done. Why drag it out? The only thing I can think is that there must be something that happens on the 7th day that is at least as important. Let’s see… according to the Torah, we leave Egypt and travel 3 days and then turn around and back-track for 3 days until we come … Continue reading
The parsha (weekly Torah portion) is called Tzav which is the verb, “To command,” and one of the roots of the word mitzvah (or commandment). The parsha starts with god telling Moshe (Moses) to command Aharon and his sons on the laws of the olah offering – the olah offering on the flame of the altar all night until morning. The priests, who are Aharon and his sons, are then told how to deal with the ashes from the altar, … Continue reading
This week we start the third of the five books of haShem’s (god) words as scribed by Moshe (Moses). The book, and the parsha (weekly Torah portion) that we read are called vayikra which means, “And he called,” as in, “And he called to Moshe and haShem spoke to him,” which is how our parsha starts. God is calling to Moshe to tell the people about offerings or sacrifices. First we read that the acceptable animals that a person can … Continue reading
Tuesday starts the Jewish month of Nisan. This is the month of spring, the month of freedom. In 2 weeks we celebrate Pesach (Passover), the time we left Egypt and slavery. However, that is not the only thing to celebrate during this month. According to our tradition, Moshe (Moses) puts up the mishcan (tabernacle) on the first day of Nisan… which just happens to be… Today! The mishcan is a special structure that allows for the infinite creator to be … Continue reading
This week begins the season of double parshas (weekly Torah portions). For those of you asking yourselves what I am talking about, let me explain. The calender of the family of Yisrael is lunar based meaning that each month begins with the sighting of the new moon. Ordinarily, the year has twelve of these months. However, haShem (god) mentions that the month that includes the holiday of Pesach (Passover) is the month of spring. So, to keep the month of … Continue reading