Hello from the heart of darkness… Ok, maybe I am exaggerating, but we are coming into the darkest week of the year, the week of the new moon closest to the winter solstice. And what do the children of Yisrael (Israel) do during the darkest week? They light candles! Now perhaps I should have saved this intro for the shabbat that falls during the week of Hanukah, but I couldn’t resist using it here. We’ll see how it fits into … Continue reading
Winter is coming. The days are getting short and cold and the nights, long and cold. It is the perfect time to go inside and work on oneself and face one’s demons. Funny I should say that because in the parsha (weekly Torah portion) we are reading this week, Yakov (Jacob) does just that. Before I satisfy your curiosity, however, I am going to give you a recap of the events in the parsha. If you recall from the end … Continue reading
This week our Torah portion (parsha) is called Generations (Toldot in Hebrew) because the parsha starts out by saying that these are the generations of Yitzhak (Isaac) son of Abraham. It tells us of the difficult pregnancy Rivka (Rebecca) had and her giving berth to twins: Asov (Esau) and Yakov (Jacob). It quickly hints at the character of the two, and then tells the tale of how Yakov bought the birthright of the firstborn from a tired Asov for a … Continue reading
Welcome to the wacky world of the Torah. This week we have lots of good action. The parsha (portion of the week) starts out with haShem (god) appearing to Abraham at the Trees of Reflection, where Abraham has been camping. God appears as 3 angels (the word for angel in Hebrew, mal’ach, means messenger) in the guise of men and Abraham begs them to stay for a foot washing and a meal. After they eat, the men/angels tell Abraham that … Continue reading
This week’s parsha (Torah portion) is called Lech l’cha which in Hebrew is a command to go to yourself. The person giving the command is god and he is commanding Avram (who becomes Avraham later in this parsha). What else is in the parsha, you ask? A good question, and I am glad you asked. Let me share with you a quick summary: God commands Avram to go to himself and from his homeland and the house of his father … Continue reading
Hello and welcome to the end…or is it really the beginning? I’m not really sure. Last Shabbat was the Shabbat of Succot and we read a special parsha (Torah portion). Then on Thursday in Israel (or Friday if you are outside of Israel) we read the final parsha of the Torah and also the beginning of the first parsha. Then, this coming Shabbat we will read the first parsha in its entirety. The end result of all this is that … Continue reading
We are about to enter into Rosh haShanah, and shabbat comes in on its coat-tails. So, while we are getting ready for the Jewish new year, and while there is still time, I want to take a moment to look at this week’s parsha (the Torah portion read on shabbat). It is called haAzinu. HaAzinu means, “Your ears,” and is the first word of this week’s parsha. If you recall from the end of the previous parsha, Moshe (Moses) was … Continue reading
Top of creation folks, This shabbat, according to the Yaakov (Jacob)/Israel family tradition is the anniversary of the first day of creation. Rosh haShanah, one of the 4 Jewish new years, celebrates the anniversary of the creation of the Adam. With the beginning of a new creation, we find in this parsha (weekly Torah portion), an explanation of what the last few parshas have been leading up to… But first, let us review the parsha. This is actually a double … Continue reading
Come on in, the water’s great! Just don’t forget to thank our host. This is how our parsha (weekly Torah portion) starts out. The parsha is called Key Tavoh which means, “Because you will come,” and begins by saying that because you will be coming in to the land haShem (god) promised to give you, you should take the first fruits of the ground and bring them to haShem’s house. We then read of the thanksgiving ritual we do with … Continue reading
We are coming down to the wire and the Torah portions are fast and furious. This week we read from the parsha (Torah portion) called Key taytzay which means when you go out. Our parsha starts out talking about what happens when we go out to war and find a beautiful woman among the captives. This leads into a bit regarding a man having two wives, one whom he loves and the other he hates, and if the hated wife’s … Continue reading