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
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
Last week I did not write anything on the parsha (weekly Torah portion) because the parsha was a special one for Pesach (Passover). Perhaps I should have written about Pesach instead, for that is what the parsha was about. I was very busy cleaning my house of chometz (leavening), and myself of ego. This is one of the traditions I learned while I was in Israel: chometz is created by yeast eating the sugar in the grains and producing CO2, … Continue reading
This coming shabbat is called Shabbat Gadol (big or great shabbat), and I am hearing a lot about why this shabbat is called Shabbat Gadol. I am also hearing a lot about Pesach (Passover) which is less than 2 weeks away. I am hearing so much that I feel our poor little parsha (weekly Torah portion) is being left out in the cold. After all, it is kind of boring compared to Pesach. Pesach has lots of nooks and … Continue reading
This week, we start the 3rd book of the Torah: Vayikra (Leviticus). This week’s parsha (Torah portion) gets into the blood and guts of sacrifices. It is not one of the prettier parshas, but it is an important one nevertheless because it tells us how we can redeem ourselves when we sin, not just as a person, but also as a community or a community leader, including the high priest and the king. One of the things I like about … Continue reading
Hi y’all, Today is the first day of the first month of the year. Yeah, I know Rosh haShanah (the Jewish new year – literally: head of the year) is the new year, but I am just telling you what it said in one of the two parshas (weekly Torah portions) that we read this week. 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 … Continue reading