Being a Cohen or priest in the family tradition of the sons of Yisrael, or what is commonly referred to as Judaism, blessings are a favorite topic of mine. Back when I lived in Jerusalem, orthodox Jews, when they found out I was a Cohen, would ask my to bless them. Also, every day, during the morning prayers, the Cohanim would bless the congregation. And at the Kotel (the western wall), during the week of Pesach (Passover) and Succot, hundreds … Continue reading
I am constantly surprised each week at the parsha (weekly Torah portion) because there is always so much there. This week’s parsha is yet another example of this: there are the teachings I have learned in the past, two wonderful teachings I heard recently, and a few more that I discovered as I read the parsha. I don’t know yet which I will share here and now. let’s see and find out. The parsha starts out with Aharon being told … Continue reading
Recently I have been in the market for an external hard drive for my computer. Last week I received an email from a local computer store for 66% discount on a 2 terabyte drive. I thought this was great and a few days later, I went to the store to buy it. When I got to the store, I grabbed the last drive they had and went to the cashier with my coupon. The manager came over and said the … Continue reading
Welcome to the Torah parsha (portion) of the week. I hope you all had a nice Shavuot and Shabbat. This week’s parsha had lots of things in it and I am not sure which I will actually share. So, hang in there and let’s find out! Once again I have been enjoying the names of the tribal leaders, so let me give them to you: for the tribe of Judah (thanksgiving): divination son of my-people-volunteer for the tribe of Yisachar … Continue reading
[Editor’s note: I originally wrote this in 2004, for an email list regarding the weekly Torah portion. I deliberately put it out after shabbat because, the energy of the parsha does not end with shabbat – it only starts to wane with the ending of shabbat. Think of the shabbat as the full moon for the parsha. It builds starting Wednesday until shabbat where it is at maximum strength. Then, after shabbat, the energy of the parsha wanes as the … Continue reading
This week’s parsha (weekly torah portion) is yet another double parsha, and it is a strange one. Nevertheless, it is one I like because it also gives us some hope and gives us some answers; it is a parsha for everybody. The beginning of the parsha is what I would show to anyone who thinks that the Torah is not pro-environment, for it talks about resting the land and it talks about human rights and welfare. For the people concerned … Continue reading
This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is an interesting one. It starts off talking about all the restrictions to a Cohen (priest), like who they can marry, who they can bury, or that only an unblemished Cohen can actually perform the sacrificial service. It talks about how pure a Cohen must be in order to eat from the sacred food (here are my ideas on “pure and impure” from a parsha we read a few weeks ago ), and to bring … Continue reading
This week we have a double parsha (weekly Torah portion) which deals with purity. (For those who don’t know, the Jewish calender is lunar based and needs to add an extra month every other year or so to keep the month of spring in the springtime. When that extra month is not there, like this year, we have to double up some of the parshas. And this week is one of those times.) The first parsha talks about the purity … Continue reading
Hello and welcome to the Thursday Shmooze. We haven’t had one for the last few weeks because of Passover, but now that the holydays have passed, it is time to shmooze! This week a friend brought me an interesting question. It starts with the end of Passover; specifically the splitting of the sea. Now according to the midrash, there was a man named Nachshom who was the first to walk into the sea. The water got up to his nose … Continue reading
At last we are getting to the weekly Torah portion (parsha) called Shmini. I say, “At last,” because our parsha has been preempted, for the last two shabbats, by the holy days involved with our becoming a people: Pesach (Passover). Shmini is an interesting parsha, recounting the first sacrifices made by the newly anointed priests in the newly created mishcan (tabernacle). At the climax, after haShem (god/dess) comes down on the people and eats the sacrifices, two of Aharon’s … Continue reading